Tag: FBS coaches

Where does Dan Mullen’s playing career rank against other FBS coaches?

Mullen was a two-year letterman at tight end for Ursinus College, earning first-team all-conference honors as a senior.

Though there are some (exceedingly rare) exceptions, almost all college and professional football coaches at least played the game at the college level. Florida coach Dan Mullen is among that crowd, though his collegiate playing career wasn’t particularly noteworthy.

Born in Pennsylvania but a graduate of high school in New Hampshire, Mullen returned to his birth state to attend Division III Ursinus College. He joined the football team as a junior and lettered as a tight end his final two years in college in 1992 and 1993.

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He may not have played at a very high level of college football, but his playing career was good enough to rank 73rd among the 130 FBS coaches in these rankings from ESPN.

A New Hampshire native, Mullen attended Ursinus College, a Division III program in Collegeville, Pennsylvania. He was a first-team all-conference tight end for Ursinus, where he started two seasons.

Mullen’s coaching career began immediately after he graduated college, joining Wagner as a receivers coach while also earning his Master’s Degree.

Though he only played two years of football beyond high school, the First Team All-Centennial Conference honor was a nice way for Mullen to end his playing career. However, it seems fairly apparent that coaching was always Mullen’s true calling.

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Where Steve Sarkisian lands on ESPN’s ranking of head coaches as players

ESPN ranked all head coaches in the FBS based on their playing careers, and Sarkisian landed within the top five.

Texas head coach Steve Sarkisian was quite the athlete in the 1990’s before he became one of the top play callers in college football.

ESPN recently ranked all 130 FBS head coaches based on their playing careers (link requires subscription). The ranking put an emphasis on which players made meaningful contributions in college, regardless of level. Those who were multiyear starters or award recipients of FBS teams get more credit, as do those who played professionally.

With that in mind, Sarkisian landed at No. 5 overall. Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald, Tennessee’s Josh Heupel, and Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy were the only current head coaches listed ahead of him.

Sarkisian first starred at quarterback for El Camino College, setting national junior college records in both completion percentage (72.4) and pass efficiency (203.8 rating). He then transferred to BYU and earned WAC offensive player of the year honors as a senior in 1996, when he led the nation in pass efficiency (173.56) and broke Steve Young’s career completion percentage record (65.2). He won the Sammy Baugh Trophy and then played three seasons in the CFL, starting for Saskatchewan in 1999.

It’s obviously not a must to have been a former player in order to be a successful collegiate coach, but it certainly provides unparalleled experience. In Sarkisian’s case, it was likely a key contributor to him becoming an offensive guru and elite quarterback developer.