Purdum’s Prudent Perceptions on why Dan Mullen stays at Mississippi State

I want to address my opinion on the Dan Mullen rumors that love to surface when the dumpster fires that are the Florida Gators and Tennessee Volunteers jobs become available. Saturday night Dan Mullen and the Mississippi St. Bulldogs took the number 1 team in the country to the brink of defeat in a game where we were in control for the most part and had more chances to win then Bama. Did we take advantage? No. But, we had many.

I feel almost certain that Dan went up to our recruits for 2018 and 2019 and said something to the extent of “With you on our team next year, we make one more play and win this game.” We are no longer having to say “With you, and this guy, and this guy, and a couple more guys, we can change this program and contend with Bama down the road.” The time very well could be now. Dan has arguably his best team returning next year, with a very talented 2018 recruiting class being put together, with a stud 2019 class already being formed. Dan has the program exactly where he wants it and the ceiling is not in sight. You have better job security than Nick Saban at this point. All signs point to the SEC West being where you want to be for the next 5 years.

• Ole Miss is, and will be, garbage you will dominate in recruiting (which is huge for 2019 because it is a stacked in state recruiting class) for years to come. They hate you and you love that. Why ruin a good thing?
• Texas A&M has no clue what is doing. Do they want Sumlin or do they not? They don’t know and it reflects throughout their program.
• LSU is a talented team but as someone pointed out to me on Twitter, Coach O doesn’t know how to beat Dan. Not sure if that is entirely relatable to the future of the Tigers, but we continue to play them tough these last 4 years with 2 victories during that span. So we are starting to figure them out and I think we can anticipate some further success against them.
• Arkansas. LOL.
• Bama will continue to be tough and obviously there will be years they are dominant and regardless of how good we are, we just won’t be able to beat them, especially in T-Town. However, games like this past Saturday can give our program hope towards better games in the future and I do think Dan is very very close to getting the Bama monkey off his back. Maybe in 2018?
• Auburn is a team I cannot figure out how to feel about going forward. Sure, they are very talented but they also have a serious track record of not being able to make good QBs which is kinda important. All Gus Bus’s best QBs have been transfers/JUCOs (Cam, Marshall, Stidham). When they play a high school recruited QB, their teams are noticeably different. I have heard this concern from many AU alumni who question Gus but he continues to win and find people wanting to transfer to AU so what can you do. We’ll see how they pan out over the next 5 years but if they don’t find a way to develop homegrown QBs, it could turn sideways fast for Gus.

Meanwhile if you jump ship to the Florida (which I see is the only logical job he would take, sorry Tennessee go enjoy your Grumors), what is the real the major advantage? Here are the most common ones I hear:

• Will you likely get some better athletes? Sure, but you will also be competing with Jimbo Fisher (FSU), Mark Richt (Miami), and Kirby Smart (UGA comes to Florida for recruits a lot) for all the blue chips. UF is possibly the 3^rd best program in the state. Woof. Plus that roster is going to need an overhaul to fit Dan’s offensive system which could take a few years. Would UF be willing to put up with Dan not winning immediately in his first couple years?
• Well, he has a better chance of winning a national title at UF. Perhaps, but it also could be incredibly more tough. Looking at the college football playoff, you pretty much have to go undefeated or ONLY 1 loss. Yes, the SEC East is much easier to navigate than the SEC West but UF brings other difficulties. You have to play FSU EVERY year. I would hate to have Jimbo Fisher on my schedule every year as my rivalry game that brings me no advantage in the SEC and only serves to hurt my chances of not making the playoff by potentially losing it. UF’s toughest SEC East game is against Saban 2.0 (Kirby) and oh yeah, you NEVER get to play it at home. This is the world’s largest cocktail party played in Jacksonville every year. You have one of the country’s toughest home field advantages and you NEVER get to use it against your toughest division rival. DUMB. Oh yeah, and every other year you go to Death Valley. So this is better than playing in the SEC West?
• Gainesville is better than Starkville. Just get out of here, I have been to Gainesville and was not impressed. Your tailgating is embarrassing. Starkville is a college town through in through with the hometown feel Dan and MEGAN love. Yep, you forgot about Megan didn’t you Florida. She was not a fan of yours. Well fun fact, Megan adores Starkville. Also, Megan loves golf and in 2019 we are hosting the US Women’s Amateur at Mossy Oaks and Old Waverly so she will no doubt want to be around for that. MIC DROP.

All of what I just wrote combines to point to Dan going nowhere and continuing to build both the MSU program and his loving family in Starkvegas. The ceiling has not been reached. He still has a lot to prove. He is doing just fine in Starkville. MSU can be a contender in the future. Sorry, just answering every national media headline regarding Dan leaving real quick. Dan you are OUR coach and I hope/believe I will get to enjoy you on the sideline for many years to come.