Keeping mullen and telling him he's gonna have to be buddy buddy with napier while he does all the recruiting should have been the correct choice. A mullen with the players on florida's roster would very easily be an 8-10 win team every season.
Mullen was fired because he didn’t want to recruit at all. He didn’t fire his buddy Grantham as DC. Lastly he treated Anthony Richardson like a scrub when he clearly was head and shoulders over Emory Jones. Mullen was stubborn and unable to make those tough decisions!
@@waynemurray2805 exactly incapable of firing your buddies if they can’t get the job done. I hate we could lose our prized recruits behind Billy incompetence. Stricklin needs to only give 3 year deals then renegotiate. That makes the Coach know you’re on borrowed time to prove it or you’re gone. Giving 7 years to Coach that Saban passed over as his OC, only had success in the Sun Belt should be grounds for his termination too. Incompetence across the board!
@@waynemurray2805 I think the issue with Napier is that he can't get anyone better to work with him. Austin Armstrong is still technically the DC, but he isn't calling plays anymore because Billy knows he wasn't good enough. The only issue is that Billy's attempt to fix it has hardly made a difference.
Emory sat and waited patiently behind Trask for almost 3 seasons. He earned that starting position while AR15 had no problem sitting behind him as a Freshman. Mullen has coached Tebow, Newton, Prescott & Trask. Mullen knows how to coach QBs. Mullen wouldve turned AR15 to a Heisman candidate if he didn’t get fired.
I’m not sticking up for Billy but I’m sick of the media complaining that they shouldn’t fired their friend Dan Mullen. Dude lost the locker room and didn’t wanna be there.
@random_guy9749 those the same players who could leave mullen should of gotten another chance Florida hasn't been Florida since 🙄 can't even win in the swamp
The problem with Mullen wasn't the play calling or something else on the field. Mullen had checked out of the game. Period. I don't know if he thought he was off to the NFL or whatever but Mullen just gave up on the team and the team gave up on him. Firing Mullen was a good call.
There isn't the tiniest piece of me that believes you are "right about the Mullen thing". Anybody who watched the 2021 season knows Dan quit on Florida football after 2020. He wouldn't even fire the defensive coordinator that led to the disastrous end of the 2020 season and some of the worst defenses in Florida football history. Give me a break.
I think Mullen is right and you're right at the same time. I think Mullen quit on the team but I think a big part of why is that Florida was expecting to get Georgia results while giving him a fraction of Georgia's budget. Mullen could have been more successful with more alumni financial support, and Mullen should have worked harder to get that support.
Facts! Mullen gave up on Florida, and he was loyal to Todd Grantham. The defense was atrocious and Mullen wouldn't fire him, so Florida got rid of Mullen.amd Grantham!
As a Bama fan, I hate to see the Gators football program struggling over these few years and their proud fan base. What a rich tradition and history to be embarrassed by these bad hires. The SEC needs Florida back and hunting in the East division and restoring that rivalry with confidense to win against uga. Your fanbase deserves better. It ultimately falls on the AD. Period ....
The facilities issue was a problem at one time, but that's not the reason Florida is terrible now. Bad coaching hires is the problem. Some of it was just bad luck.
As a Gator, 100% agree. UF has always been run by blue blood academics. They took the $$ FB earned and invested it across the board instead of back into FB. Result: UF has arguably the finest academic/research university in the south. But it’s been at the cost of the athletic dept, particularly FB. I also agree, Dan went a little nuts when the wheels went off but deserved another year. History will define Stricklin time at UF as a disaster
Historically, for many decades, the UAA would donate money to the general fund at UF. The UAA wasn't created out of thin air and at one time it required assistance from the school. The UAA has always, since then, donated money back to the school. UF is a university first there are many people on staff, faculty, students etc that donate time for various purposes that help out athletics. It's fitting that UAA slice off some money each year for UF's general fund. This money is not make it or break it type money. It's absurd to consider this money as a black mark against the UAA. The nerds in charge thing started with Bernie Machen about 20 years ago. Prior to that time, UF didn't have that problem. Machen was the idiot that tried to destroy the WLOCP for example. And don't buy into any of these rankings. They are heavily skewed and subjective. Not a single thing changed at UF when Ben Sasse took over but UF dropped like 30 or 40 spots in the rankings. Why? Because the rankings are made by leftists in academia and Ben Sasse is not a leftist. I'm not a Ben Sasse fan but this is how it works in academia. Dan Mullen deserved nothing, not even his buyout. He should have been fired in 2020. Stop listening to Matt Barrie and his drivel about UF. He knows nothing about the Mullen situation.
@@charlestoddsullivanforpres6628 disagree on Mullen but good insight on the UAA. However it was Machen that brought Meyer to UF, he will always be remembered for that.
@@adamb6370 Meyer was coming to UF no matter what, IMO. He was THE name in CFB at that time. Utah was undefeated and crushing everyone. Also, about Machen, he said that Meyer was the type to burn out really fast and he was right about that - but what did Machen do to mitigate or prevent that? Nothing. He let Meyer burn himself out and when it happened, it was Jeremy Foley trying to pick up the pieces. Foley gets too much heat, IMO.
This is getting ridiculous. Yes Florida was behind in facilities but Matt Barrie needs to come to terms that his buddy Dan Mullen was complicit in his firing by basically quiet quitting.
You give examples on why lsu didnt want napier which is the exact reasons why mullen was fired. If mullen and staff was su good why arent any of them coaching?
Not defending mullen.or his staff but once forec by major program many never coach again as reputation is killed. Right or wrong getting fired can kill career
@@RT22-pb2pp just so you know they coach the Gators want has been fired multiple times. Kiffin was left at the tarmac by USC. Also your point in not true majority of quality coaches get picked up when they are fired.
Dan Mullen could not recruit. He kept the worst DC (Grantham) because he was more loyal to a friend than the program. His job was toast when Sanford scored 52 points and the team celebrated like they beat Georgia afterwards...
Gator fans, Matt Barrie has no clue about the Gators program. He just looks at Mullen’s record and that he was fired. He doesn’t know all details concerning his firing. Nothing to see here.
If I hear any Kiffin talk I’m gonna cry. The fact the people think Kiffin would drop a better team to go put together pieces with no manual and less money. Yall are some crazy people
Florida has the same problem Miami had for years. They managed to win everything despite their alumni not having to pony up like other programs and their alumni convinced themselves their school was special enough and if they just hired The Right Guy that guy could win with what they gave him. Well that doesn't work any more, and there's a reason the two all time legendary coaches of Florida both left before their time. The investment has just never been there to be sustainable long term. Florida alumni are gonna have to start opening their wallets because they can't expect to eat filet mignon on a Wendy's budget.
Miami was worse because the administration was "stealing" money generated by the football program and putting it into literally everything except football. Donna Shalala was a crook of a president from an Athletics perspective and she paraded around Nevin Shapiro.
I was shocked when UF hired Napier after South Carolina passed on him to hire Beamer who had never even been a coordinator before. Napier went to school in SC and really wanted the SC job.
LSU fan here. Seeing Florida struggle is so strange to me because i grew up in the days where Florida was the team to fear every year by everyone. It was the Tim Tebow days(yes i’m old). I can’t wait to see Florida be competitive again and put the fear back in the SEC.
I respect Saban, but his analysis is off. We've given Napier plenty of time. Back-to-back losing seasons and the third guaranteed by November. We beat MSU but would've lost to Toledo. It's time. We're not competitive in any game that matters. He has no excuses left.
As a BAMA fan I believe timing is everything who is available and is willing to move and a good administration that is looking for the best available coach
As a Florida alum and massive gator football fan, we NEVER should have fired Dan Mullen. I always thought the hot seat talk around Mullen was insane and all that needed to happen was a change at DC. Anyone who thought and still does think he should have been fired is insane.
I agree. Firing Mullen was a mistake. All that behind the scenes nonsense would have eventually worked out. UF's problem is the same Miami had. I said this weeks ago. Firing Napier won't fix as anything because he's just a bandaid to a very serious scab that is the AD. And yes, one person can ruin a program. Shalala in Miami did just that and thank God for Kirk Herstreit calling us out on ESPN. I'm a big Canes fan but college football has always been better when the Big 3 of Florida are great.
Miami went through the same thing. Relying on prior years success instead of putting money into things. Miami put money into things in 2022 and look at where they are now.
So Barrie clearly has heard the other side of the story, as he cites the valid arguments for firing Mullen and his response at the end is basically “blah blah blah yeah whatever”
Matt is right. We should NOT have fired Dan Mullen. I would happily take him back tomorrow. Instead we should have fired Grantham, the worst defensive coordinator in Florida history. Great video, thanks for posting.
In Mullen’s worst year, you saw a competent game day product almost every week. Something we have only seen a handful of times under Billy. Billy’s best recruiting class wasn’t ranked as high as Mullen’s worst class. Everyone was complaining about 3rd and Grantham yet Grantham’s worst defenses are head and shoulders above anything we’ve seen from Billy. Billy’s offense isn’t on the same planet as Mullen’s. Mullen was hands down the best coach in the post-Urban era. He should have been given more time. Firing him after one bad season is absurd considering fans have done nothing but make excuses for Billy and his Mickey Mouse game day product over the last two years.
Dan Mullen? When you got a kid who threw opposing player's shoe, got penalized at LSU and Gators lost, that's on coaching staff and lack of discipline. Adios, Dan.
Its not that you were right Matt, We all wish Mullen would have worked out and if he took recruiting serious he would have... Mullen broke our hearts by showing loyalty to Grantham and not the brand, he was brought to Florida to protect the brand... Screw Grantham and screw Emory Jones... Gator Nation was right, because where are they now?
Mullen was a good offensive coach, maybe Florida best since Tebow days. Head coach? Grantham and Mullen’s dedication to him was the problem for the entire time. Even before widely recognized issues on defense, Gators were horrible in coverage and opponents regularly had 5+ unforced drops from wide open receivers… in most every game! Short yardage covering 10 yards away and running backwards BEFORE the snap is not good way to prevent first downs.
My dream was to get Muschamp on defense head coach and special teams, Tebow on recruiting, chaplain, and strength, conditioning, and flexibility (yes, recent injuries are a concern here), and Mullen as Offensive Head Coach. Need a GM, too, maybe from NFL (Detroit). At least CBN is finally being forced to have an OC to prevent horrific time management, etc by CBN his entire career at Florida.
We just watched the Mullen Bowl. Yes FSU could fire Norvell. The biggest difference between now and then is NIL, so maybe keep Norvell. Besides most people believe Mullen quit. Mullen when hired stated a place like UF should never have less than 7 wins after saying 8 or 9 wins. The locker room was lost. At press conferences fans often talked about how good a coach Mullen was; however, the recruiting was not their. Mullen got his golden parachute, but he didn't sign paperwork for some of the assistants let go and therefore some assistants didn't get taken care of. I will also say Mullen was the best hire the year he was hired. UF has the geography, facilities and the NIL money to compete. Basically CFB is now the NFL lite. Eventually turnout will be similar to the NFL. Ticket Sales will be based if the team is doing good or not. With all these seismic shift the UFAA may need everyone fired just like when a new coach comes in. Comparing pre and post NIL is a useless exercise. It will be interesting to see the actions taken to create a winner at UF. There is a lot more to say but as many have eluded, its not that fire Mullen was the wrong thing to do, but hire Napier was the wrong decision. However we also have to hold accountable the people that hired Napier. During the Mullen and Napier era progress was made in facilities and organization. This is a time for self reflection and could be a great opportunity. However with an interim president and an AD on shaky ground it may be a challenge, but one which can be overcame because the lessons are so obvious and change should be easy after the failure of Mullen and Napier. Napier does have a nice freshman class and some amazing legacy players this year to have the nucleus to build around. Ideally I would like a coach that can bring in a proven staff, perhaps keep some of the organizational structure UF paid 27 million for and hire the best GM. If any of the key people can be UF graduates that would be a plus. Then have the Spurrier, Urban and paid consultants like a Saban and other head of coaching trees look for the red flags of the coaches that make a short list. Stop giving golden parachutes to unproven coaches. Napier 27 Million. Why? Napier could never cover the spread with superior players at Louisiana. That's a potential red flag. Napier played hard to get and UF fell for it. I could see why the Saban blue print sold, but stop giving golden parachutes to unproven coaches. If your giving a golden parachute give it to a proven coach and have measurables that have a sliding scale if you have to fire the coach. Purposely short list atleast one coach that is not signed by Jimmy Sexton. UF has no choice but to make the absolute tuftiest decisions, so this gives me some reason for opportunism.
I get it, the UAA sucks and is the ultimate reason why Florida is where it is right now, but that doesn't make firing Mullen wrong. Defending him just because you work side by side and you can see a good side to him doesn't make what his last couple years at Florida were like. The culture was rotten on the inside. I actually feel bad for Billy trying to build that culture back up not only with the shitty UAA but with a toxic fanbase as well that is living in the past just as much.
Mullen's hysterical behavior during several games was just bizarre beyond description. I prayed every night the Gators would hire him and then as I watched him I prayed they would find a replacement
If you guys are right about Dan Mullen, then why isn't he coaching? It's been almost 3 years since he got fired. Because he burned out at Florida and he does not want to go back. He's got a nice cushy job being a broadcaster at ESPN.
All of the logical Florida fans can agree that hiring Billy Napier as Florida’s head coach (in hindsight) was the worst decision this program made this century. But let's not forget that after Florida lost to both LSU and Alabama in 2020, Mullen was sending signals to the NFL that he wanted to come coach there. Problem is the NFL didn't want him. After the SECCG loss to Bama, Mullen was mostly burned out at Florida. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that he stopped holding assistant coaches accountable, half-assed it on the recruiting trail, and didn't start the best players at each respectable decision his final year in Gainesville (mainly at QB). Speaking as a Florida fan, I had high hopes that he was going to be this generation's Steve Spurrier and be Florida’s head coach for the next 10+ years. It's unfortunate that Florida will be looking for its 5th head coach now within the last 10 years, but that is more of a major failure on the UAA's part than any of the last 4 coaches. I get Matt Barrie is tight with Mullen, but the writing was on the wall 3 years ago this November that Mullen was no longer a long-term answer for Florida. It's just unfortunate that Florida has an imbecile of a AD that went out on his own, without vetting any other candidates, and hired Napier to a ludicrous 7-year deal that absolutely was not merited.
The facility was being built while Mullen was there and Florida was making it to HIS liking. But he was fired before it was finished and they made it to Napier liking. This guy needs to do his homework a tad bit more
Firing Mullen was the right decision. Firing muschamp was the wrong decision. Back to present time. Napier needs a fourth year. I think he's got something good going. If all the naysayers would just shut up and let him do his thing through this year plus one. It will definitely be a positive light for a cruise to see our own fan base rooting our coach on. Administration is going to mess around and lose DJ. He's going to win a national championship somewhere. I'd like it to be at Florida
Mullens classes were not good. His record got better and there was no change in recruiting. He got a lot of guys to commit who were academically ineligible or transferred out immediately. Don’t forget giving up 52 to samford !!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure why Matt Barrie thinks he has to consume himself so heavily the Florida/Dan Mullen/Billy Napier carousel. It’s clear he’s just a third party injecting drama where there is none simply because he believes he’s best friends on the set with Mullen now. Barrie himself went to Arizona State for God’s sake. Mullen gave up and verbatim told UF reporters that he’s not concerned with recruiting during the year. At some point even Spurrier himself couldn’t draw up the best of plays if he wasn’t consistently recruiting and bring in talent each year. Mullen sealed his fate with that. We know Billy isn’t the guy going forward. But both scenarios are true. Don’t let gossip girl Matt Barrie try to tell you it’s an either/or scenario and he possesses all the facts.
Saban Kno Before Dem Championships Run He Knew In Order To Get Their He Had Da Beat Us In Da SEC Championship 💯‼️ He Kno Wat We About And Wat We Can Be 🧡💙 But Dis Year Not Da Case
Florida is one of the best programs in the country when it comes to all sports but the problem is that a lot of the teams that are good at football don't care if they are good in other sports they are dumping everything into football. You can debate whether firing Mullen was the right thing to do but he had Trask on the bench for 2yrs behind Franks and it took a injury to play him, He and the UAA didn't get along and his pettiness such as starting Richardson against UGA and making Marco Wilson team captain a week after the shoe throw or publicly saying he only recruits during the off season are just some of the things that were wrong to go along with a 4 win season and a toxic locker room. The biggest question to ask is why hasn't he been offered another coaching job after 2 yrs. I think Billy was a hot name at the time but was another lazy hire hoping it would work out and it hasn't so it is time to move on.
Mullen was definitely on the down , when we dropped him . He had his good seasons but was the laziest recruiter of all time and he rubbed people the wrong way at Florida and other places . He may be a better on field coach than Napier but I don’t think either are a good fit at Florida . Napier gone at the end of the year anyways .
You underestimate the stupidity and the self-preservation our administration is capable of. I’ve said it for weeks, we will fire Sun Belt Billy, hire somebody worse, and not address the NIL issues
That's exactly what I'm saying. Napier is not the main problem. The coach is only going to be as good as the AD and school president. We learned that the hard way at Miami. I'm glad we have Cristobal but I think Manny Diaz would have worked out if the school had invested in him as they did with Cristobal . Manny was a decent recruiter and young. He wasn't to bad, I mean he found Restrepo. You can argue that he's the best all around receiver in college football. My opinion
Boy if you don’t shut up about Dan Mullen! HE PUT HIS NAME IN THE NFL HAT didn’t he!?!?!?!?! Mind you, Mullen said “we’ll worry about that in recruiting season” 🤣 Mullen was great but when it’s all said & done he did that to himself!!! Who cares if you set next to him? WE WATCHED THE WHOLE SEASON 3x in a row 🤣
ah yes, Finebaum three years later finally admits what most of us knew. LSU didnt want Napier and that Napier was passed on by Saban to be OC. Absolutely terrible hire by Stricklin.
Matt Barrie, once again, proves he knows nothing about UF football or UF's campus. Neither does Saban, by the way. Former AD, Jeremy Foley, addressed facilities for YEARS. UF had no space. An athletic department cannot willy nilly just buy land or build things on a campus whenever it feels like it. UF had to relocate its entire baseball infrastructure. There was tons of buy-in when Meyer was there but there wasn't space.
What a bunch of piling on BS - very Weasley, Matt! You are folding like a lawn chair just because Saban shade a statement - great journalism bud - NOT!!!!
To see if Samford could score 60+ next time or If players would throw 2 shoes instead of one....or do you mean wait until the cupboard was even more bare than he was making it. SMH
lol.. Mullen was bi polar to people, staff and his wife had issues with Haile Plantation Karen’s. Maybe Strickland.. Add in he took a year off from caring got him fired. You can’t call run every down heck our punter went to nfl because of his crappy play calling and weak defense.. Gators need a better babysitter .. maybe players that can read...
Finebaum doesn't like Napier, but I think he's who the program needs at the moment. If he gets fired, success will be from the culture and program he's been building
That lineman that loafed down the field after an interception against Miami - Napier made him a team captain the next week. That is not winning culture.
@@charlestoddsullivanforpres6628 for sure a bad look. But I don't know the speed or health of that lineman on that one play, or the conversations with that player all week
No he's not. Elite play caller and that is it. In his entire career, in every regular season game in which Mullen played a ranked team but his team was ranked higher - he lost every single one of those games. That's not top tier. That's the definition of doing less with more.
I'm a Gator and we should have kept Mullen. I wanted Mullen back when they hired Muschamp. The knock on Mullen was recruiting. Well. 2 things. His recruiting record is better than Napier. Also, after NIL, you don't need to recruit anymore. Just pay the players the most and you win. Two things I didn't like about Mullen is he believes in seniority and doesn't punish players. That annoyed me. However, he can coach circles around Napier and we would be in a better place right now.
2:39, This has been proven right by him keeping himself as OC. Had a chance to save his job by hiring someone to help him and decided not to. DISASTER!
No you are NOT right about Mullen. Did he tell you about the PROBATION as well? SMH. Napier sucks but so did Mullen's deeciosn to stay with his buddies Grantham (unemployed) and Hevesy (Lowes). He didn't want to recruit and he quit. It's like you're trying to taint UF ahead of a coaching search. Let the Mullenn sh*t go.
![Brian Kelly takes OWNERSHIP over LSU's TOUGH loss to Alabama [INTERVIEW] | The Paul Finebaum Show](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/e8lApR546RM/mqdefault.jpg)
![Brian Kelly takes OWNERSHIP over LSU's TOUGH loss to Alabama [INTERVIEW] | The Paul Finebaum Show](/img/tr.png)
Firing Mullen was the correct decision. And hiring Napier was the wrong decision. Both can be true.
Straight Facts 💯
Wrong decision what was we last year ???? Did Napier lose the team how about the 2 lossing season he had
@@skullyready7786 English?
Keeping mullen and telling him he's gonna have to be buddy buddy with napier while he does all the recruiting should have been the correct choice. A mullen with the players on florida's roster would very easily be an 8-10 win team every season.
@@blades260 How does Napier possibly end up on the same staff as Mullen?
Mullen was fired because he didn’t want to recruit at all. He didn’t fire his buddy Grantham as DC. Lastly he treated Anthony Richardson like a scrub when he clearly was head and shoulders over Emory Jones. Mullen was stubborn and unable to make those tough decisions!
Like Billy, with Rob sales and Austin Armstrong?
@@waynemurray2805 exactly incapable of firing your buddies if they can’t get the job done. I hate we could lose our prized recruits behind Billy incompetence. Stricklin needs to only give 3 year deals then renegotiate. That makes the Coach know you’re on borrowed time to prove it or you’re gone. Giving 7 years to Coach that Saban passed over as his OC, only had success in the Sun Belt should be grounds for his termination too. Incompetence across the board!
@@waynemurray2805 I think the issue with Napier is that he can't get anyone better to work with him. Austin Armstrong is still technically the DC, but he isn't calling plays anymore because Billy knows he wasn't good enough. The only issue is that Billy's attempt to fix it has hardly made a difference.
Emory sat and waited patiently behind Trask for almost 3 seasons.
He earned that starting position while AR15 had no problem sitting behind him as a Freshman. Mullen has coached Tebow, Newton, Prescott & Trask. Mullen knows how to coach QBs. Mullen wouldve turned AR15 to a Heisman candidate if he didn’t get fired.
Barrie knows all of this, which makes what he’s doing that much more wrong smh
I’m not sticking up for Billy but I’m sick of the media complaining that they shouldn’t fired their friend Dan Mullen. Dude lost the locker room and didn’t wanna be there.
No he didn't after one year what has biĺly loss ? He never gain the team smh 🤦 mullen never got the chance !! How after one year he lost the team 🤔
@@skullyready7786Billy is great
@@skullyready7786bro had players dissing right after he left he been lost the locker room they let Samford drop 50 on purpose to get him out
@@skullyready7786Oh my god just because Napier is a total joke doesn’t mean Mullen deserved to stay
@random_guy9749 those the same players who could leave mullen should of gotten another chance Florida hasn't been Florida since 🙄 can't even win in the swamp
The problem with Mullen wasn't the play calling or something else on the field. Mullen had checked out of the game. Period. I don't know if he thought he was off to the NFL or whatever but Mullen just gave up on the team and the team gave up on him. Firing Mullen was a good call.
There isn't the tiniest piece of me that believes you are "right about the Mullen thing". Anybody who watched the 2021 season knows Dan quit on Florida football after 2020. He wouldn't even fire the defensive coordinator that led to the disastrous end of the 2020 season and some of the worst defenses in Florida football history. Give me a break.
I think Mullen is right and you're right at the same time. I think Mullen quit on the team but I think a big part of why is that Florida was expecting to get Georgia results while giving him a fraction of Georgia's budget. Mullen could have been more successful with more alumni financial support, and Mullen should have worked harder to get that support.
Facts! Mullen gave up on Florida, and he was loyal to Todd Grantham. The defense was atrocious and Mullen wouldn't fire him, so Florida got rid of Mullen.amd Grantham!
Current D is an improvement over Grantham?
Good thing we fired Mullen. We have done soooo much better with used car salesmen billy!
@@hoofhearted1833just because Napier turned out to be a disaster doesn’t mean firing Mullen was the wrong move
As a Bama fan, I hate to see the Gators football program struggling over these few years and their proud fan base. What a rich tradition and history to be embarrassed by these bad hires. The SEC needs Florida back and hunting in the East division and restoring that rivalry with confidense to win against uga. Your fanbase deserves better. It ultimately falls on the AD. Period ....
Dan Mullen is a top tier OC, a middle tier HC, and a bottom tier recruiter
Might be a good way to put it.
Yeah, shocking that people would listen to someone that's actually been out there and done it opposed to some talking heads on the internet...
The facilities issue was a problem at one time, but that's not the reason Florida is terrible now. Bad coaching hires is the problem. Some of it was just bad luck.
Mullen couldn't handle the pressure of Florida he should have stayed at Mississippi State . he quit on Florida.
Straight Facts 💯
How tho? I think we shoulda have kept him.
It looks to me like Florida quit on him.
Foley didn't like Mullen's act. He sent him down the road when he was AD.
As a Gator, 100% agree. UF has always been run by blue blood academics. They took the $$ FB earned and invested it across the board instead of back into FB. Result: UF has arguably the finest academic/research university in the south. But it’s been at the cost of the athletic dept, particularly FB. I also agree, Dan went a little nuts when the wheels went off but deserved another year. History will define Stricklin time at UF as a disaster
Historically, for many decades, the UAA would donate money to the general fund at UF. The UAA wasn't created out of thin air and at one time it required assistance from the school. The UAA has always, since then, donated money back to the school. UF is a university first there are many people on staff, faculty, students etc that donate time for various purposes that help out athletics. It's fitting that UAA slice off some money each year for UF's general fund. This money is not make it or break it type money. It's absurd to consider this money as a black mark against the UAA.
The nerds in charge thing started with Bernie Machen about 20 years ago. Prior to that time, UF didn't have that problem. Machen was the idiot that tried to destroy the WLOCP for example. And don't buy into any of these rankings. They are heavily skewed and subjective. Not a single thing changed at UF when Ben Sasse took over but UF dropped like 30 or 40 spots in the rankings. Why? Because the rankings are made by leftists in academia and Ben Sasse is not a leftist. I'm not a Ben Sasse fan but this is how it works in academia.
Dan Mullen deserved nothing, not even his buyout. He should have been fired in 2020. Stop listening to Matt Barrie and his drivel about UF. He knows nothing about the Mullen situation.
@@charlestoddsullivanforpres6628 disagree on Mullen but good insight on the UAA. However it was Machen that brought Meyer to UF, he will always be remembered for that.
@@adamb6370 Meyer was coming to UF no matter what, IMO. He was THE name in CFB at that time. Utah was undefeated and crushing everyone.
Also, about Machen, he said that Meyer was the type to burn out really fast and he was right about that - but what did Machen do to mitigate or prevent that? Nothing. He let Meyer burn himself out and when it happened, it was Jeremy Foley trying to pick up the pieces.
Foley gets too much heat, IMO.
This is getting ridiculous. Yes Florida was behind in facilities but Matt Barrie needs to come to terms that his buddy Dan Mullen was complicit in his firing by basically quiet quitting.
Brian Kelly was also a bad decision for LSU. Better than Napier but not good enough.
Sir u fool took kirby 6yrs get chip so according too u yr3 kirby should be gone
Problem is now that college football has gotten bigger everyone thinks their team should be in the championship game every year even if you're smu
@@willthompson9073 Facts
Hes had back to back 10 win seasons in the toughest division in college football, has had a hiesman winning qb, and an SEC championship birth.....
@@zackwhite8274 but some of the games LSU lost are unacceptable
You give examples on why lsu didnt want napier which is the exact reasons why mullen was fired. If mullen and staff was su good why arent any of them coaching?
Not defending mullen.or his staff but once forec by major program many never coach again as reputation is killed. Right or wrong getting fired can kill career
@@RT22-pb2pp just so you know they coach the Gators want has been fired multiple times. Kiffin was left at the tarmac by USC. Also your point in not true majority of quality coaches get picked up when they are fired.
Florida is heading down the road that Tennessee was on. It happens to all schools. Alabama was there before Tennessee.
All schools eventually go thru it unfortunately.....100% agree.
No you want to be right because he's your friend.
It's getting pathetic what this guy is spewing.
Dan Mullen could not recruit. He kept the worst DC (Grantham) because he was more loyal to a friend than the program. His job was toast when Sanford scored 52 points and the team celebrated like they beat Georgia afterwards...
Grantham coach circles around our DC today. He probably better on offense than Billy too lol
Seems like Mullen quit on FLORIDA
Gator fans, Matt Barrie has no clue about the Gators program. He just looks at Mullen’s record and that he was fired. He doesn’t know all details concerning his firing. Nothing to see here.
Napier was on Phillip Fulmer's list of candidates to replace Jeremy Pruitt.
Lucky Tennessee ignored his advice and hired Josh Heupel.
If I hear any Kiffin talk I’m gonna cry. The fact the people think Kiffin would drop a better team to go put together pieces with no manual and less money. Yall are some crazy people
Florida has the same problem Miami had for years. They managed to win everything despite their alumni not having to pony up like other programs and their alumni convinced themselves their school was special enough and if they just hired The Right Guy that guy could win with what they gave him.
Well that doesn't work any more, and there's a reason the two all time legendary coaches of Florida both left before their time. The investment has just never been there to be sustainable long term. Florida alumni are gonna have to start opening their wallets because they can't expect to eat filet mignon on a Wendy's budget.
Miami was worse because the administration was "stealing" money generated by the football program and putting it into literally everything except football. Donna Shalala was a crook of a president from an Athletics perspective and she paraded around Nevin Shapiro.
The revisionist history on Mullen is so absurd to me
I was shocked when UF hired Napier after South Carolina passed on him to hire Beamer who had never even been a coordinator before. Napier went to school in SC and really wanted the SC job.
I never knew this. I thought Napier only wanted the Florida job.
LSU fan here. Seeing Florida struggle is so strange to me because i grew up in the days where Florida was the team to fear every year by everyone. It was the Tim Tebow days(yes i’m old). I can’t wait to see Florida be competitive again and put the fear back in the SEC.
I respect Saban, but his analysis is off. We've given Napier plenty of time. Back-to-back losing seasons and the third guaranteed by November. We beat MSU but would've lost to Toledo. It's time. We're not competitive in any game that matters. He has no excuses left.
No your wrong about Mullen 1000%
I still can't believe they fired Mullen after one bad season for Napier.
This dude sucks Mullen off every show
There's a reason that no one has been interested in hiring Dan Mullen. Matt Barrie doesn't want to discuss any of that, however.
As a BAMA fan I believe timing is everything who is available and is willing to move and a good administration that is looking for the best available coach
As a Florida alum and massive gator football fan, we NEVER should have fired Dan Mullen. I always thought the hot seat talk around Mullen was insane and all that needed to happen was a change at DC. Anyone who thought and still does think he should have been fired is insane.
I agree. Firing Mullen was a mistake. All that behind the scenes nonsense would have eventually worked out. UF's problem is the same Miami had. I said this weeks ago. Firing Napier won't fix as anything because he's just a bandaid to a very serious scab that is the AD. And yes, one person can ruin a program. Shalala in Miami did just that and thank God for Kirk Herstreit calling us out on ESPN. I'm a big Canes fan but college football has always been better when the Big 3 of Florida are great.
I know several guys who played for Mullins at Miss St , they absolutely despised him. Said he made everything about himself instead of team.
Miami went through the same thing. Relying on prior years success instead of putting money into things. Miami put money into things in 2022 and look at where they are now.
So Barrie clearly has heard the other side of the story, as he cites the valid arguments for firing Mullen and his response at the end is basically “blah blah blah yeah whatever”
Mullen made friggin Miss State competitive, but couldn’t win it all at UF and it’s a Mullen problem? 🤔
Matt is right. We should NOT have fired Dan Mullen. I would happily take him back tomorrow. Instead we should have fired Grantham, the worst defensive coordinator in Florida history. Great video, thanks for posting.
And who refused to fire Todd Grantham?
If Spurrier didn't put up 70 pts a game Charlie Strong would take those honors
In Mullen’s worst year, you saw a competent game day product almost every week. Something we have only seen a handful of times under Billy. Billy’s best recruiting class wasn’t ranked as high as Mullen’s worst class. Everyone was complaining about 3rd and Grantham yet Grantham’s worst defenses are head and shoulders above anything we’ve seen from Billy. Billy’s offense isn’t on the same planet as Mullen’s. Mullen was hands down the best coach in the post-Urban era. He should have been given more time. Firing him after one bad season is absurd considering fans have done nothing but make excuses for Billy and his Mickey Mouse game day product over the last two years.
Dan Mullen? When you got a kid who threw opposing player's shoe, got penalized at LSU and Gators lost, that's on coaching staff and lack of discipline. Adios, Dan.
I’m so sick of this guy riding Mullen’s jock
Its not that you were right Matt, We all wish Mullen would have worked out and if he took recruiting serious he would have... Mullen broke our hearts by showing loyalty to Grantham and not the brand, he was brought to Florida to protect the brand... Screw Grantham and screw Emory Jones... Gator Nation was right, because where are they now?
Mullen was a good offensive coach, maybe Florida best since Tebow days. Head coach? Grantham and Mullen’s dedication to him was the problem for the entire time. Even before widely recognized issues on defense, Gators were horrible in coverage and opponents regularly had 5+ unforced drops from wide open receivers… in most every game! Short yardage covering 10 yards away and running backwards BEFORE the snap is not good way to prevent first downs.
My dream was to get Muschamp on defense head coach and special teams, Tebow on recruiting, chaplain, and strength, conditioning, and flexibility (yes, recent injuries are a concern here), and Mullen as Offensive Head Coach. Need a GM, too, maybe from NFL (Detroit). At least CBN is finally being forced to have an OC to prevent horrific time management, etc by CBN his entire career at Florida.
Mullen quit on the team. Shut up Matt Barrie!
We just watched the Mullen Bowl. Yes FSU could fire Norvell. The biggest difference between now and then is NIL, so maybe keep Norvell. Besides most people believe Mullen quit. Mullen when hired stated a place like UF should never have less than 7 wins after saying 8 or 9 wins. The locker room was lost. At press conferences fans often talked about how good a coach Mullen was; however, the recruiting was not their. Mullen got his golden parachute, but he didn't sign paperwork for some of the assistants let go and therefore some assistants didn't get taken care of. I will also say Mullen was the best hire the year he was hired. UF has the geography, facilities and the NIL money to compete. Basically CFB is now the NFL lite. Eventually turnout will be similar to the NFL. Ticket Sales will be based if the team is doing good or not. With all these seismic shift the UFAA may need everyone fired just like when a new coach comes in. Comparing pre and post NIL is a useless exercise. It will be interesting to see the actions taken to create a winner at UF. There is a lot more to say but as many have eluded, its not that fire Mullen was the wrong thing to do, but hire Napier was the wrong decision. However we also have to hold accountable the people that hired Napier. During the Mullen and Napier era progress was made in facilities and organization. This is a time for self reflection and could be a great opportunity. However with an interim president and an AD on shaky ground it may be a challenge, but one which can be overcame because the lessons are so obvious and change should be easy after the failure of Mullen and Napier. Napier does have a nice freshman class and some amazing legacy players this year to have the nucleus to build around. Ideally I would like a coach that can bring in a proven staff, perhaps keep some of the organizational structure UF paid 27 million for and hire the best GM. If any of the key people can be UF graduates that would be a plus. Then have the Spurrier, Urban and paid consultants like a Saban and other head of coaching trees look for the red flags of the coaches that make a short list. Stop giving golden parachutes to unproven coaches. Napier 27 Million. Why? Napier could never cover the spread with superior players at Louisiana. That's a potential red flag. Napier played hard to get and UF fell for it. I could see why the Saban blue print sold, but stop giving golden parachutes to unproven coaches. If your giving a golden parachute give it to a proven coach and have measurables that have a sliding scale if you have to fire the coach. Purposely short list atleast one coach that is not signed by Jimmy Sexton. UF has no choice but to make the absolute tuftiest decisions, so this gives me some reason for opportunism.
Every other team in the SEC wishs Dan Mullen was still FL’s coach.
I get it, the UAA sucks and is the ultimate reason why Florida is where it is right now, but that doesn't make firing Mullen wrong. Defending him just because you work side by side and you can see a good side to him doesn't make what his last couple years at Florida were like. The culture was rotten on the inside. I actually feel bad for Billy trying to build that culture back up not only with the shitty UAA but with a toxic fanbase as well that is living in the past just as much.
The AD needs to go.period.
Mullen's hysterical behavior during several games was just bizarre beyond description. I prayed every night the Gators would hire him and then as I watched him I prayed they would find a replacement
Mullen was as uncomfortable as Florida head coach position as he is NOW on-air as a commentator.
Mullen can coach, he refused to recruit
If you guys are right about Dan Mullen, then why isn't he coaching? It's been almost 3 years since he got fired.
Because he burned out at Florida and he does not want to go back. He's got a nice cushy job being a broadcaster at ESPN.
incoming rage bait: the reason nick said this is so it’s an easy win for everyone in the SEC (unless your mississippi state)
All of the logical Florida fans can agree that hiring Billy Napier as Florida’s head coach (in hindsight) was the worst decision this program made this century. But let's not forget that after Florida lost to both LSU and Alabama in 2020, Mullen was sending signals to the NFL that he wanted to come coach there. Problem is the NFL didn't want him.
After the SECCG loss to Bama, Mullen was mostly burned out at Florida. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that he stopped holding assistant coaches accountable, half-assed it on the recruiting trail, and didn't start the best players at each respectable decision his final year in Gainesville (mainly at QB). Speaking as a Florida fan, I had high hopes that he was going to be this generation's Steve Spurrier and be Florida’s head coach for the next 10+ years. It's unfortunate that Florida will be looking for its 5th head coach now within the last 10 years, but that is more of a major failure on the UAA's part than any of the last 4 coaches.
I get Matt Barrie is tight with Mullen, but the writing was on the wall 3 years ago this November that Mullen was no longer a long-term answer for Florida. It's just unfortunate that Florida has an imbecile of a AD that went out on his own, without vetting any other candidates, and hired Napier to a ludicrous 7-year deal that absolutely was not merited.
I was against firing Mullen. Dan Mullen is a great coach.
Like someone said in another comment, "top OC, mid HC, poor recruiter".
The facility was being built while Mullen was there and Florida was making it to HIS liking. But he was fired before it was finished and they made it to Napier liking. This guy needs to do his homework a tad bit more
What about the 2nd string about was on the way to beating Georgia and if he is healthy things are much differently
Napier is gonna be replaced with Lane Kiffen.
I understand why nick says this but no matter how bad someone is he never wants to say anything drastic at all
One of the dumbest moves UF has ever made - that is firing Mullen. Ever.
Nope.
Firing Mullen was the right decision. Firing muschamp was the wrong decision. Back to present time. Napier needs a fourth year. I think he's got something good going. If all the naysayers would just shut up and let him do his thing through this year plus one. It will definitely be a positive light for a cruise to see our own fan base rooting our coach on. Administration is going to mess around and lose DJ. He's going to win a national championship somewhere. I'd like it to be at Florida
Mullens classes were not good. His record got better and there was no change in recruiting. He got a lot of guys to commit who were academically ineligible or transferred out immediately. Don’t forget giving up 52 to samford !!!!!!!!!!!
Not sure why Matt Barrie thinks he has to consume himself so heavily the Florida/Dan Mullen/Billy Napier carousel. It’s clear he’s just a third party injecting drama where there is none simply because he believes he’s best friends on the set with Mullen now. Barrie himself went to Arizona State for God’s sake. Mullen gave up and verbatim told UF reporters that he’s not concerned with recruiting during the year. At some point even Spurrier himself couldn’t draw up the best of plays if he wasn’t consistently recruiting and bring in talent each year. Mullen sealed his fate with that. We know Billy isn’t the guy going forward. But both scenarios are true. Don’t let gossip girl Matt Barrie try to tell you it’s an either/or scenario and he possesses all the facts.
Saban Kno Before Dem Championships Run He Knew In Order To Get Their He Had Da Beat Us In Da SEC Championship 💯‼️ He Kno Wat We About And Wat We Can Be 🧡💙 But Dis Year Not Da Case
Can you translate. In English.
@ .
Florida is one of the best programs in the country when it comes to all sports but the problem is that a lot of the teams that are good at football don't care if they are good in other sports they are dumping everything into football. You can debate whether firing Mullen was the right thing to do but he had Trask on the bench for 2yrs behind Franks and it took a injury to play him, He and the UAA didn't get along and his pettiness such as starting Richardson against UGA and making Marco Wilson team captain a week after the shoe throw or publicly saying he only recruits during the off season are just some of the things that were wrong to go along with a 4 win season and a toxic locker room. The biggest question to ask is why hasn't he been offered another coaching job after 2 yrs. I think Billy was a hot name at the time but was another lazy hire hoping it would work out and it hasn't so it is time to move on.
Mullen was definitely on the down , when we dropped him . He had his good seasons but was the laziest recruiter of all time and he rubbed people the wrong way at Florida and other places . He may be a better on field coach than Napier but I don’t think either are a good fit at Florida . Napier gone at the end of the year anyways .
So many of Dan Mullen's assistant coaches that he wouldn't fire never worked again or had to take severe demotions.
BN is the same, when you give up over 500 yard to MS every coach that has anything to do with defense needs to go.
John Hevesey is literally working at Lowes
what a waste of good oxygen this whole conversation is.
You underestimate the stupidity and the self-preservation our administration is capable of. I’ve said it for weeks, we will fire Sun Belt Billy, hire somebody worse, and not address the NIL issues
That's exactly what I'm saying. Napier is not the main problem. The coach is only going to be as good as the AD and school president. We learned that the hard way at Miami. I'm glad we have Cristobal but I think Manny Diaz would have worked out if the school had invested in him as they did with Cristobal . Manny was a decent recruiter and young. He wasn't to bad, I mean he found Restrepo. You can argue that he's the best all around receiver in college football. My opinion
Boy if you don’t shut up about Dan Mullen! HE PUT HIS NAME IN THE NFL HAT didn’t he!?!?!?!?! Mind you, Mullen said “we’ll worry about that in recruiting season” 🤣 Mullen was great but when it’s all said & done he did that to himself!!! Who cares if you set next to him? WE WATCHED THE WHOLE SEASON 3x in a row 🤣
Parents don’t want their athletes to go to UF . Not a true conservative school anymore.
I would have kept Mullen. All day. We can buy players now
And Todd Grantham would put them in the wrong position on every play.
If barrie has a brain he knows how bad Mullen quit on the gators………so him doing this Mullen media tour is downright evil…
ah yes, Finebaum three years later finally admits what most of us knew. LSU didnt want Napier and that Napier was passed on by Saban to be OC. Absolutely terrible hire by Stricklin.
Matt Barrie, once again, proves he knows nothing about UF football or UF's campus. Neither does Saban, by the way. Former AD, Jeremy Foley, addressed facilities for YEARS. UF had no space. An athletic department cannot willy nilly just buy land or build things on a campus whenever it feels like it. UF had to relocate its entire baseball infrastructure. There was tons of buy-in when Meyer was there but there wasn't space.
Why do SEC fans put any stake in anything Finebaum has to say? Where did he play? Where did he coach? He's irrelevant and wrong most of the time. 😂
Mullen needed a new D coordinator in I do think he was let go too soon.
Mullen wouldn't fire Grantham when everyone knows he needed to at end of 2020. Mullen was a stubborn jackass who quit on Florida.
Paul is the biggest joke even to talk into a mike.
Florida will win 4 games this season
Mullen gave up
Sometimes it takes time, Napier has recruited very well, the sec is a tough road, just relax let the process play out
Norvell should be gone. Other than 1 season he’s been a terrible coach
What a bunch of piling on BS - very Weasley, Matt! You are folding like a lawn chair just because Saban shade a statement - great journalism bud - NOT!!!!
It would be nice if would hear that universities were investing in their academic facilities even more.
I believe Stricklin let Mullen go too quickly, not given sufficient time to see if he could have righted the dhip
To see if Samford could score 60+ next time or If players would throw 2 shoes instead of one....or do you mean wait until the cupboard was even more bare than he was making it. SMH
lol.. Mullen was bi polar to people, staff and his wife had issues with Haile Plantation Karen’s. Maybe Strickland.. Add in he took a year off from caring got him fired. You can’t call run every down heck our punter went to nfl because of his crappy play calling and weak defense.. Gators need a better babysitter .. maybe players that can read...
Napier is the second best coach in the sec
Finebaum doesn't like Napier, but I think he's who the program needs at the moment. If he gets fired, success will be from the culture and program he's been building
That lineman that loafed down the field after an interception against Miami - Napier made him a team captain the next week. That is not winning culture.
@@charlestoddsullivanforpres6628 for sure a bad look. But I don't know the speed or health of that lineman on that one play, or the conversations with that player all week
@@fitforfreelance It was obvious he gave upon the play and then he's a team captain. Just can't have that around.
Saban needs to retire. He is a person. NOT GOD.
I'm a Florida fan, and I agree, they shouldn't have fired Mullen. I was so pissed when they let him go. Mullen is definitely a top tier coach
No he's not. Elite play caller and that is it. In his entire career, in every regular season game in which Mullen played a ranked team but his team was ranked higher - he lost every single one of those games. That's not top tier. That's the definition of doing less with more.
Liar.
I'm a Gator and we should have kept Mullen. I wanted Mullen back when they hired Muschamp. The knock on Mullen was recruiting. Well. 2 things. His recruiting record is better than Napier. Also, after NIL, you don't need to recruit anymore. Just pay the players the most and you win. Two things I didn't like about Mullen is he believes in seniority and doesn't punish players. That annoyed me. However, he can coach circles around Napier and we would be in a better place right now.
Gators did win the Mullen Bowl. Programs don’t look good when Mullen leaves.
2:39, This has been proven right by him keeping himself as OC. Had a chance to save his job by hiring someone to help him and decided not to. DISASTER!
No you are NOT right about Mullen. Did he tell you about the PROBATION as well? SMH.
Napier sucks but so did Mullen's deeciosn to stay with his buddies Grantham (unemployed) and Hevesy (Lowes). He didn't want to recruit and he quit. It's like you're trying to taint UF ahead of a coaching search. Let the Mullenn sh*t go.