Penn State fans are getting restless. They want a savior. How about Dan Mullen? Yes, seriously.
Dan Mullen had one bad season at Florida. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad coach. He’s not.
Dan Mullen’s UNLV team leads Mountain West in offense. He could develop the quarterbacks James Franklin couldn’t.
The then-Tennessee athletic director swapped texts with Dan Mullen, a sizable catch who would have placated Vols’ fans desires for a big fish. Mullen texted Currie to wish him “good luck” as Tennessee prepared to play its season finale.
“Hope the cold ones are good!’ Currie replied to Mullen, before messaging Mullen’s agent to have him get deal terms to Mullen.
Currie nearly had his catch in the boat. Then, Mullen wriggled off the hook.
Mullen accepted the Florida job instead of Tennessee. Currie’s search promptly jumped the rails. Tennessee became a punchline. It fired Currie and got stuck with Jeremy Pruitt as coach. Major faceplant.
Tennessee’s derailment comes to mind after Penn State’s sizable catch, Kalani Sitake, slipped off the hook. Sitake is staying at Brigham Young, and athletic director Pat Kraft’s search drags on.
Nittany Lions fans are getting restless. It’s been 52 days since Kraft served up James Franklin’s head, but the euphoria of a firing placates rabid fans for just a day or two. Then, they want a savior.
How about Mullen?
I’m serious.
Swallow your pride, Penn State. Dial Dan.
Mullen’s twist toward Florida once served as a pivot point for Tennessee’s disastrous coaching search, but he can become the solution to Kraft’s problems.
Dan Mullen could save Penn State football coaching search
Mullen might be a better fit for Penn State than Sitake anyway. He’s a native of Pennsylvania.
Sitake’s team is 11-1. He’s a good coach. He’s a great coach for BYU. Mullen’s UNLV team is 10-2. He’s a good coach, too.
Mullen crushed it at Mississippi State. He produced one bad season at Florida. That cost him his job. Fair enough, but that doesn’t make him a bad coach. He’s not. He’d be a good solution for Penn State’s predicament. Unlike eight years ago, Mullen doesn’t have a better offer on the other line.
As other potential targets come off the market — Jeff Brohm reportedly has decided to stay at Louisville — Penn State needs to move Mullen to the top of the board, especially at this late hour.
Naysayers would remind you Mullen got fired from his last big-boy job. Sure, he did, but guess what. Mullen’s Florida tenure looked better with every Billy Napier loss.
Of the six guys to coach Florida since Steve Spurrier, Mullen remains the best one not named Urban Meyer. He’s won at least 10 games in three of his past five seasons.
“Offensive genius,” Adam Breneman, a former Penn State tight end turned podcaster, wrote of Mullen on X.
Genius. Guru. Mastermind.
All words that have been used to describe Mullen.
Everyone’s a genius until they get punched in the face by Arvell Reese and Caleb Downs, but Mullen’s offense did once hang 46 points on Nick Saban’s defense.
How to sell Dan Mullen hire? Talk quarterbacks
The narrative Mullen is a poor recruiter is exaggerated. He signed a pair of top-10 classes at Florida. Three of his four classes at Florida outranked Penn State’s haul in those years.
Mullen didn’t recruit well in his final season at Florida. Also, the Gators didn’t have their NIL house in order. Seems relevant.
Mullen develops talent well, and we’ve never seen him cook from a perch like Penn State in the transfer era. Forget outdated in-home visits, where Mullen seems like he’d be a pickle out of its jar. The portal seems made for someone like Mullen, and Penn State will need plenty of transfers after this wasted recruiting cycle.
You could say Mullen has an inferior coaching record than Franklin. Well, it’s time to face reality. Someone with a better resume than Franklin isn’t walking through that door.
Anyway, that doesn’t mean Mullen wouldn’t get Penn State back to the playoff — and quickly. He would’ve qualified both Mississippi State and Florida for the 12-team playoff, if it had existed during his tenures.
He possesses a sharp mind for offense. He’s an excellent quarterback developer. UNLV leads the Mountain West in offense. Think Penn State could use that? That’s how you sell this hire.
Introductory news conference: “We’re pleased to announce we’ve hired a coach who developed Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott and Kyle Trask. The days of plodding offenses at Penn State are over. Pair Penn State’s resources with Dan’s record of quarterback development, and we can’t wait to see Dan coach Penn State’s first Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback. Look out, Ryan Day. We are coming.”
Then, crack a cold one. Toast the hire of a good coach who played a role in a coaching search gone haywire years ago, but now can pull Penn State’s search out of the ditch.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
