1. Yes, we know how the Butch process works at Miami...when he's in his 40's. He was 49 his final season here. If we're being honest, a 64 y/o coach returning to a school 15 years later, after being out of coaching for 5 seasons, is worrisome. I mean, I know Howard Schnellenberger's process works here, too, but I don't want to hire him. Butch brings question marks like Mullen.
They all bring question marks. The age is certainly a risk for Butch, but I'm not that concerned because he's still young enough (same age as Saban, Carroll, Belichick, etc.) and we need to win now. Butch never won a championship and he is desperate for one.
2. Worrying about a fit with the QBs on the roster is kind of short-sighted. You can't make a coaching decision based on personnel that will be here possibly one more year at most. If a guy is it good coach you bring him in and let him build the roster and program for the future. This would be similar to UF shying away from Meyer because they only had Leak at the time. He found his QB. The rest is history.
I would agree if this was a rebuild. But this is a turnkey job with a QB projected by several analysts as a first round pick. We would likely be at least a year away from signing a big time mobile QB. The fanbase is dying for a winner. Do you think people will have three or four years of patience?
3. Dan Mullen has a high ceiling. He's only 43. He's still evolving as a head coach and all he's done his whole career is engineer great offenses, tutor award-winning QBs, and turn a doormat team into a viable program. This isn't Al Golden winning 8 games at Temple; he took MSU to a BCS Bowl game and had them ranked
[URL=https://www.canesinsight.com/usertag.php?do=list&action=hash&hash=1]#1 [/URL] during that season. They're ranked again. He's doing this at a severe talent disadvantage compared to 4 of the teams in his own division.
Any good coach at Miami has a high ceiling. Butch built the best team of all time. That's a high ceiling, too. I respect the job Mullen has done at Mississippi State, but let's not overstate that temporary
#1 ranking. Golden and Shannon had Miami ranked in the Top 10. Mullen finished that year getting handled by his rival and Georgia Tech.
4. As for his defense, I'm wiping away his first year because I'd do the same with all coaches walking into a disaster. From 2010-Present, his total defenses have averaged a ranking of 49th. Slightly above average. Now, keep in mind his defensive coordinator Goeff Collins was highly-coveted and plucked away by UF because nobody wants to coach or play in Starksville.
I go by yards per play (which doesn't factor in the slow pace of many SEC teams). His teams have been mediocre to bad in that category. His likely DC, Manny Diaz, was run out of Texas. We don't just need decent defense. We need a defensive revolution. It's been the plague of this program. I'm not sure Mullen gets us there.
5. Back to the QB issue, I'd argue Mullen is a great fit for Miami. The state of Florida is largely comprised of dual-threat QBs. Mullen's entire career has consisted of him turning these types of QBs into All-Americans capable of leading top offenses. Yes, he's a spread formation guy, but he still leans heavily on a power run game. He gets a lot of weapons involved and he spreads the field and knows how to use spacing and speed to kill a defense.
See
#2 . I'm sure he'd eventually get a guy to run his offense. But fans may have burned down his house by then. The Mullen QB isn't on the roster and he will struggle to sign him this year. So you are talking about a true freshman in 2017.
We can't underestimate the need for instant success given our existing talent and growing irrelevance.
6. He's got a better record than both Jimmy and Dennis before they were hired. I like to look past that and consider where they're coach, the competition, their style of play, etc. If CIS was around when JJ was hired we would've laughed at his best season being 8-4.
I don't question Mullen as a coach. He's good. But I question the fit and the timing.
