Job security is a fickle thing. Coaches can go from comfortable to the hot seat and back within the course of a single season (see Auburn’s Gus Malzahn). Coaches can go from winning back-to-back division titles to getting fired midseason (isn’t that neat?).
So, after two successful seasons in Gainesville which resulted in New Year’s Six Bowl titles, how safe is coach Dan Mullen’s job?
According to CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd, he’s among the safest in the country. Dodd rated every coach’s security on a five-point scale ranging from “0” or “untouchable” to “5” or “win or be fired.”
Mullen was labeled a “1” meaning his job is safe and secure, one of 43 FBS coaches in that category. He hasn’t proven enough to Dodd to be considered “untouchable” by Dodd like conference contemporaries Nick Saban and Kirby Smart. Nearly all of the 24 “untouchable” coaches are coaches that either just got hired this past offseason or are long-tenured coaches who have won conference titles.
Though Mullen has had a strong start to his UF head coaching career, he may need to win the SEC (or at least the SEC East) this season in order to make the jump from “safe and secure” to “untouchable.”
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