Meet a Candidate: Dan Mullen

A full rundown of the candidates can be found here.

Dan Mullen

2005-Present Florida (Offensive Coordinator/QB)
2003-2004 Utah (Quarterbacks)
2001-2002 Bowling Green (Quarterbacks)
1999-2000 Notre Dame (Graduate Assistant)
1998 Syracuse (Graduate Assistant)
1996-1997 Columbia (Wide Receivers)
1994-1995 Wagner (Wide Receivers)

Who is he?: Mullen is a long time Urban Meyer assistant who has been Florida’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach since 2005. Before that he was the quarterbacks coach for Meyer’s teams in Utah and Bowling Green. Over the years he has coached QBs such as Tim Tebow and Chris Leak (Florida), Alex Smith (Utah) and Josh Harris and Omar Jacobs (Bowling Green).

Mullen previously worked at Syracuse as a Graduate Assistant during the 1998 season (Big East championship and Orange Bowl appearance).

What does he bring to the job?: In one word: offense. Mullen has been in charge of some of the most prolific offenses over the past few years, and has helped develop Tim Tebow into a Heisman Trophy winner and Alex Smith into a number one NFL pick. Mullen is a master of the spread offense and would help make Syracuse a more dangerous team in the Big East.

Mullen, along with Steve Adazio, has also been an integral part of Florida’s highly successful recruiting over the past few years.

Why wouldn’t he be a good fit?: Mullen, like many of the other mentioned candidates, has no previous head coaching experience. Who knows how he would do at the head of a program. Recruiting in the Northeast could be a concern, but he seems to have had no trouble in getting commits from the area while at Florida. Could that success translate to keeping some of those kids “home” at Syracuse?

What are his chances?: Mullen would be my choice out of the non-head coach candidates. He is a talented offensive coach and recruiter and would likely be able to bring in some impact players to make an immediate difference. He has been a coach at Syracuse before so he is no stranger to the area. Overall I think he’s a strong candidate with a good chance, but he still appears to be trailing Skip Holtz, Turner Gill and even fellow Florida assistant Steve Adazio. In fact, Mullen hasn’t been confirmed to have interviewed for the position. In my opinion he would be a better choice than Steve Adazio or Mike Locksley if we go with an assistant to head the program. But Mullen could easily hold out for a more lucrative offer or a better situation. More SEC and Big 12 jobs are likely to open next year and he would be a prime candidate for those as well. I think in the end it would take a miracle to convince him to come to Syracuse.