Mullen

[ceegar]

Why is everyone so enamored with Dan Mullen?  Probably the worst record of any coach against ranked teams.  Getting killed 2 weeks in a row.  Only decent win this year is LSU who is getting handled by Troy.  What is the affection?  I know our situation is not very good, but I don't see Mullen as an upgrade.

[ChicoHog]

It's all about "What Have You Done for me Lately" with the fans.  After whipping LSU everyone thought Mullen was the second coming.  Now after two beat downs everyone thinks he is not good.  He is somewhere in between.  LSU is n ot very good obviously and UGA is really good and Auburn is pretty good.  Mullen has been successful developing QBs, especially the big, power running types like Tebow, Prescott, and Fitzgerald but has never been a great recruiter and usually has mediocre to poor defenses.  It's all about the players and UGA and Auburn have a lot better players than Miss st. 

[bondhue]

1. Alabama  2. Georgia  3. Auburn     Top 3 SEC teams

You play two of them back to back on the road and you are going to lose 2, unless you are Bama

Mullen is a very good coach who does not have the built in advantages he would have at those 3 schools.

[lilRockNDubb]

He cheats just like everyone else. Leo Lewis

[Wildhog]

Still love Mullen.  He's at friggin' MSU.  He won 19 games over the '14 and '15 seasons, and is in a rebuilding period right now.  You have those sometimes at the MSU's (and Arkansas's) of the world.

[Boarcephus]

1. Alabama  2. Georgia  3. Auburn     Top 3 SEC teams

You play two of them back to back on the road and you are going to lose 2, unless you are Bama

Mullen is a very good coach who does not have the built in advantages he would have at those 3 schools.

This pretty much sums it up. He would have been a great fit at Arkansas.

[Großer Kriegschwein]

Still love Mullen.  He's at friggin' MSU.  He won 19 games over the '14 and '15 seasons, and is in a rebuilding period right now.  You have those sometimes at the MSU's (and Arkansas's) of the world.

[jcbville]

Because a lot of people here judge things based on 1 game like it's representative of actual history or future success. All the "I love Dan Mullen" thread started when they beat LSU so badly. Large number of people here are very myopic.

[jbcarol]

Will Sammon‏Verified account @WillSammon

how caddying for his son changed Dan Mullen's perspective and how he goes about being Mississippi State's coach

STARKVILLE — Dan Mullen quickly shook his head. He shrugged his shoulders. He delivered his words with a soft tone.

This was two weeks ago at Auburn minutes after Mississippi State suffered its second-straight lopsided loss to an elite SEC opponent. Mullen explained during the postgame press conference that maybe a couple of years ago he would've handled this particular defeat differently. But not now.

"I'm not going to go get frustrated and out of whack," Mullen said.

Mullen has never been a screamer. He has, in previous years, been curt, though. Just last year, for example, Mullen answered 20 questions in 3 minutes, 14 seconds after Mississippi State lost to BYU. When asked about players, he read stats from the box score.

"I don't like losing," Mullen said then. "I'm still me."

Mullen actually hates losing. That part of his personality has remained constant, his wife Megan said. What has changed the past couple of years — that BYU postgame press conference being a vintage outlier — is how Mullen has publicly responded to losing.

"How I react to both (winning and losing) ... I'm changing more into ... maybe instead of being so emotional about it," Mullen said, "you know, I have those emotions inside of me, but my outward expression is, 'What's next?'"

Mullen, 45, will be halfway through his ninth season after Mississippi State (3-2) hosts BYU (1-5) on Saturday (11 a.m., SEC Network). Experience in the coaching industry helps guide decisions and shape reactions to outcomes — but only so much. Perspective is often transformed by life outside of the workplace. Just ask Mullen.

"You know what might have helped?" Mullen said. "Two things may have helped me. Travel baseball and caddying."