- Jun 13, 2014
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Will Sammon of The Athletic interviewed Mullen about how he's changed last year's recruiting infrastructure (subscription req'd - seriously, just sub already!):
The vision behind Dan Mullen’s overhaul of Florida’s...
Excerpt:
When he was hired at Florida in November 2017 after nine seasons at Mississippi State, Mullen arrived with a vision of how he wanted his recruiting department to work. Last year wasn’t a great reflection of what Mullen had in mind. He knew this year had to be different.
“How I had it set up last year, I wasn’t pleased; I didn’t like how it all worked,” Mullen told The Athletic. “We made a bunch of changes.”
All recruiting staffs are different — some in subtle ways from one to the next, some in overt ways — and none are perfect. Comparisons are often made based on size, and Florida’s support staff has recently grown amid some turnover. Certainly, expanding helps, and Florida needed to bolster its group in a way similar to how conference peers such as Georgia and Auburn have over the past couple years. But that’s only part of the story, and, for the Gators, just adding bodies wasn’t going to be a cure-all. What’s the value of a large group without skillful managing, organization and direction?
“I’ve expanded it this year because I’m more comfortable in defining everybody’s position,” Mullen said. “I have a hard time hiring people just to hire people. I don’t need to (say to myself), ‘OK, this school has this many people so I’m just going to hire that many people.’ I’m not into that.”
The vision behind Dan Mullen’s overhaul of Florida’s...
Excerpt:
When he was hired at Florida in November 2017 after nine seasons at Mississippi State, Mullen arrived with a vision of how he wanted his recruiting department to work. Last year wasn’t a great reflection of what Mullen had in mind. He knew this year had to be different.
“How I had it set up last year, I wasn’t pleased; I didn’t like how it all worked,” Mullen told The Athletic. “We made a bunch of changes.”
All recruiting staffs are different — some in subtle ways from one to the next, some in overt ways — and none are perfect. Comparisons are often made based on size, and Florida’s support staff has recently grown amid some turnover. Certainly, expanding helps, and Florida needed to bolster its group in a way similar to how conference peers such as Georgia and Auburn have over the past couple years. But that’s only part of the story, and, for the Gators, just adding bodies wasn’t going to be a cure-all. What’s the value of a large group without skillful managing, organization and direction?
“I’ve expanded it this year because I’m more comfortable in defining everybody’s position,” Mullen said. “I have a hard time hiring people just to hire people. I don’t need to (say to myself), ‘OK, this school has this many people so I’m just going to hire that many people.’ I’m not into that.”
