I admit Ive twice thought "wow, he can actually make nice offense when he tries, surely he will realize scoring plints is better than ball control" then he immediately goes back to Mullening. He has had a 50th or worse scoring offense and a terrible redzone offense in something like 13 of the 16 years.
He isnt changing. He is the surgeon of punt.
I hear you and, to date, I agree.
That's what makes this upcoming Tennessee game so intriguing IMO: it's an overmatched opponent whom we've dominated of late coming here to play a night game in the Swamp. They're playing for pride, we're playing--possibly--for more.
Mullen has botched this type of game several times before--no clearer example of this than last year's LSU debacle; but really, the seeds of that were sown in almost every game before that when he had vanilla gameplans and playcalling after the georgia win.
Has he learned from that? Do we come out, dominate from the get-go with disciplined football on both sides of the ball and stomp on Tennessee early/often and cruise to a victory? Or do we try to win the game in second gear and "save ourselves" for the more crucial matchups later in the year vs georgia and--potentially--a rematch with Alabama?
Most importantly, how does the team come out? We can still dominate Tennessee with 100% effort/focus from the players, even IF Mullen and the staff are putting in 70% effort...that's IF the players have team leaders who are demanding focus, effort, and intensity in practice and the game this week. Last year's team took their lead from Mullen and was usually going through the motions vs overmatched opponents and it bit them in the ass. Have the players learned from that and made the improvements/adjustments in both focus and effort to become the team they are?
We'll see. But Go Gators on Saturday.
^I wrote that 2 weeks ago to ox; but it speaks to the exact scenario we've all been describing: Mullen simply not having what it takes.
The best coaches/teams don't "save themselves" for later games to not give opposing coaches more of the playbook: they go out to dominate early, often, and have full confidence they'll be able to execute or throw together wrinkles in the bigger games.
That's why recruits continue to flock to the same schools every year: they want to win and want to play for coaches who put them in positions to win.
The "play it safe" coaches don't win anymore. Not consistently, not over the course of the season.
Because, eventually, it costs you.
It's cost Mullen in EVERY season he's been here.
It's why none of us have any faith in him to be the future.
No doubt: he's a brilliant x's and o's guy at times. MUCH better than our previous two. MUCH better than many other coaches out there. But NOT consistently enough to win at the level the program/fans expect and his salary demands
