The Florida Gators were turned down by Chip Kelly early in their coaching search, but eventually settled on former Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen. Mullen said it was difficult to leave Mississippi State, but added that he knew he couldn't pass up Florida."It was really hard because you have so many great memories, so many great friends," he said. "I got the phone call from Scott Stricklin and he said 'You're the guy we want to hire." Mullen added that after the conversation with Stricklin, his wife, Megan, knew that he was going to take the job. "She said, 'I might as well just go pack, because your face just lit up,'" he laughed. If Florida had hired Kelly, Mullen probably would have stayed at Mississippi State. I doubt he would have left for Texas A&M or any other coaching vacancy.
https://www.saturdaydownsouth.com/florida-football/dan-mullen-explains-hard-leave-mississippi-state-excited-florida-job/#:~:text=The%20Florida%20Gators%20were%20turned,Mississippi%20State%20coach%20Dan%20Mullen.&text=On%20Saturday%20morning's%20College%20GameDay,couldn't%20pass%20up%20Florida.Records show that former Tennessee Athletic Director John Currie pursued Dan Mullen. A day before Tennessee neared a deal that would have made Ohio State defensive coordinator
Greg Schiano its football coach,
John Currie remained in pursuit of Dan Mullen for the Vols' vacancy. Currie sent a message on Nov. 25 to Clint Dowdle, who is part of the sports agency group that represents Mullen, asking Dowdle to send Mullen a memorandum of understanding.
https://www.knoxnews.com/story/sports/college/university-of-tennessee/football/2018/03/23/tennessee-vols-dan-mullen-ut-football-john-currie-florida-gators-mississippi-state-texts-records/452597002/I compared Florida's schedule to our schedule over the past two years. Dan Mullen went 21-5, and Jimbo Fisher went 17-9 with a tougher schedule. In both years, they played Florida State instead of Clemson and avoided Alabama. In games against common opponents, Mullen went 6-4, and Fisher went 5-5. The difference was their win over Auburn, who Fisher is 0-2 against. Mullen is 0-2 vs Georgia, and Fisher is 0-1 vs Georgia. Mullen is 1-1 vs Kentucky, and Fisher is 1-0 vs Kentucky. Both coaches went 2-0 vs South Carolina and 1-1 vs LSU. Mullen is 1-0 against Mississippi State, and Fisher is 1-1 vs Mississippi State.
Both coaches are 2-0 in their respective bowl games. Mullen has NY6 bowl wins over 10-2 Michigan in the 2018 Peach Bowl and 9-4 ACC Coastal Division champion Virginia in the 2019 Orange Bowl. Fisher has a bowl wins over 9-3 North Carolina State in the 2018 Gator Bowl and 8-4 Oklahoma State in the 2019 Texas Bowl. Mullen has guided his team to more prestigious bowls because Florida finished second in the SEC East each of the last two years.
The home game against Florida on 10/10 will be an excellent opportunity for Jimbo Fisher to prove that he is a better coach than Dan Mullen.