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The Florida Gators football team had a rollercoaster season last year and between the COVID layoff, the loss of their star tight end Kyle Pitts for a few games, their star quarterback’s race for the Heisman Trophy, there was no shortage of storylines surrounding the squad.
In the center of the circus was head coach Dan Mullen who was forced to juggle the various pressures of an unprecedented season. Despite the hurdles he faced in his path, the third-year skipper successfully navigated his team to a Southeastern Conference East Division title, earning him an appearance in the SEC title game as well as his third New Year’s Six bowl game in as many years.
Sure, the team finished with a three-game losing streak — two of which were against the best teams in the nation — to finish with an underwhelming 8-4 record. Still, it was an exciting team to follow as Mullen’s offense ranked among the very best in college football and was chock-full of electric talent.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman published his rankings of the current top 25 head coaches on Tuesday, and his opinion of Mullen is, much like Florida’s final record, quite underwhelming. Here is what he had to say.
16. Dan Mullen, Florida (2020 — No. 14): After a very successful run in Starkville — a tough place in a brutal division to sustain anything — Mullen is off to a strong start with three top-15 seasons at UF. Last season was a mixed bag. His team won the SEC East and beat UGA and gave mighty Alabama a game, but they also lost at home to a sorely depleted LSU team mired in a miserable season, then got annihilated by OU in the Cotton Bowl to end up 8-4. Mullen did himself no favors with his postgame comments after those embarrassing defeats. Still, Mullen is a terrific play caller and game-day coach.
Mullen has a chance to prove Feldman wrong in 2021, though it will be a bit of an uphill battle as next fall’s campaign is expected to lean strongly on a rebuilding approach. Nonetheless, the Gator Nation as a whole knows that their head coach is much better than the rankings suggested here.
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