- Jun 9, 2014
- 78,571
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Founding Member
First and 10: In the end, Dan Mullen has nobody to blame but Dan Mullen
2. A quick, ugly evolution
The overriding question, without an easy answer, is how did we get here?
How did a team that was a handful of plays away from beating Alabama in the SEC Championship Game last season, lose to one of the worst teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision?
There was a turning point moment, and it’s not what you think.
When former Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson left to become the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, Mullen lost his best recruiter and developer of offensive talent – and as important – the only check on his massive ego.
Johnson was the one coach, a source within the program told me, who could tell Mullen “no.” The one coach Mullen would listen to — not unlike how a previous Florida coach with a huge ego (Urban Meyer) could only hear “no” from one coach (Charlie Strong).
....
But they also were recruited by former coach Jim McElwain, an utter disaster of a head coach who failed miserably as a developer of talent and recognizing talent (remember Treon Harris over Will Grier?).
They were also players who developed significantly under Mullen and Johnson.
“He’s going to be a head coach in our league one day,” an NFL scout told me of Johnson.
2. A quick, ugly evolution
The overriding question, without an easy answer, is how did we get here?
How did a team that was a handful of plays away from beating Alabama in the SEC Championship Game last season, lose to one of the worst teams in the Football Bowl Subdivision?
There was a turning point moment, and it’s not what you think.
When former Florida offensive coordinator Brian Johnson left to become the quarterbacks coach for the Philadelphia Eagles, Mullen lost his best recruiter and developer of offensive talent – and as important – the only check on his massive ego.
Johnson was the one coach, a source within the program told me, who could tell Mullen “no.” The one coach Mullen would listen to — not unlike how a previous Florida coach with a huge ego (Urban Meyer) could only hear “no” from one coach (Charlie Strong).
....
But they also were recruited by former coach Jim McElwain, an utter disaster of a head coach who failed miserably as a developer of talent and recognizing talent (remember Treon Harris over Will Grier?).
They were also players who developed significantly under Mullen and Johnson.
“He’s going to be a head coach in our league one day,” an NFL scout told me of Johnson.
