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Dan Mullen is College Football's Most Under-Appreciated Coach

By Michael Luciano

Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators defeated the Virginia Cavaliers in the Orange Bowl Monday.
Dan Mullen and the Florida Gators defeated the Virginia Cavaliers in the Orange Bowl Monday. / Michael Reaves/Getty Images

Former Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen spent nearly all of the last decade in Starkville, building Mississippi State into a team you couldn't sleep on in the SEC West.

Mullen has since made a return to Gainesville, and has quietly done a sensational job of rebuilding the Gators, with Monday's 36-28 win over Virginia in the Orange Bowl capping off a fantastic 11-2 season, with their only losses coming against LSU and Georgia.

Folks, we need to talk about Mullen's consistent record for doing amazing work.

Mullen came into a team that had some of the worst offenses in recent Power 5 memory under Will Muschamp and Jim McElwain and his instantly gone 21-5 as head coach with players he mostly inherited. With the inconsistent Feleipe Franks and a longtime backup in Kyle Trask at quarterback over these last two seasons, Mullen has breathed life back into the Gator offense and has already led the Orange and Blue to back-to-back New Year's Six Bowl wins.

Even Steve Spurrier and Urban Meyer can't say that they've won 10 or more games in each their first two years in Gainesville. Mullen has done just that.

Florida is back, both in recruiting and on the field.

Mullen has brought the juice back into a program that suffered through two of the most frustrating coaching tenures imaginable under Muschamp and McElwain. His lack of an SEC title could be holding him back in the national conversation if he never gets over that hump, but that could change if the Gators play up to their talent level in 2020 and beyond.