As a sprightly, 38-year-old Dan Mullen assumed the head coaching role at Mississippi State, the Pennsylvania native was noticeably inexperienced compared to his SEC peers.
Mullen earned a reputation as an “offensive guru” after leading Tim Tebow and the Florida offense to two national championships, and he joined Tennessee coach Lane Kiffin as the only coaches in the conference under the age of 50.
Now, after twelve years, an SEC Coach of the Year award, an East Division championship, and a remarkably consistent haircut, Mullen has evolved from a coaching rookie to a “wily veteran.”
“I’m pushing 50. In dog years, I’m way past that with SEC head coaching time,” Mullen said. “I don’t know. With that, I think just the experience in the league and being around this league for quite a long time, you’ve seen a lot of things.”
Mullen reflected on his evolution as a head coach Monday, becoming a more balanced and less controlling leader.
Through his tenure in Mississippi State, Mullen took near complete ownership of the special teams play calling, a responsibility he’s largely left to assistant coach Greg Knox since arriving in Gainesville.
“Early on as a coach if you said, ‘Hey, are you ever going to turn over special teams?’ I would have said no,” Mullen said. “I think involvement with special teams is critical. I’ve turned a lot of that over to Greg Knox. I didn't cut back my involvement, I just increased his involvement.”
His overall focus has centered on balance and time management, splitting his time between preparing play calls for the weekend and planning his practices and weekly schedules.
This development has nuanced how Mullen and his staff have handled the transition from Kyle Trask to Emory Jones and the loss of other standout players at UF.
Mullen noted the impulse to try and force the mold of a previous star onto their predecessor. However, his takeaway from more than two decades of coaching is to learn what each player does well and how best to communicate and teach an offense.
“I remember that going back to coaching Alex Smith,” Mullen said. “You’re thinking, ‘Hey, I must be this spectacular coach, I coached this guy to be the No. 1 pick. So when the next guy comes on, I'm just going to coach him the same way.’ It doesn't work that way. I don't need Emory to ever be like Kyle. I need Emory to be like Emory and my job is to get the best Emory I can get.
As a self-proclaimed veteran of the SEC, Mullen has encountered just about every bizarre and frustrating scenario the conference offers, from exhilarating Hail Mary victories to costly shoe tosses. The Florida boss believes that his imperfect record in these experiences serve as the greatest vessel for self-improvement.
“One of the greatest ways to learn is to make mistakes and learn from mistakes,” Mullen said. “Having been around for this many years, I’ve done things right. I’ve made mistakes. But I’ve been in a lot of different situations. It gives you experience in those situations on handing it.”
