Dan Mullen, former head coach of the Florida Gators, recently stirred up conversation by retweeting a selectively favorable statistic about his tenure at Florida.
The timing of this retweet, however, seemed far from coincidental, as the Gators find themselves in a rough patch under current head coach Billy Napier.
The polarizing Napier entered the season on the hottest of hot seats … Following Saturday’s 41-17 blowout loss to rival Miami at The Swamp, it’s safe to say that the seat has now become scorching.
Mullen, who led the Gators from 2018 to 2021 before being dismissed, saw his tenure end due to unmet expectations in Gainesville.
The Gators have a storied football program with a passionate fan base, and Mullen’s inability to keep the team among the nation’s elite led to his departure.
As Florida struggles once again, Mullen – now an ESPN college football analyst – couldn’t help but throw a little salt in the Gators’ wound.
Adding to Florida’s woes, starting quarterback Graham Mertz was injured in the third quarter and did not return. Freshman QB DJ Lagway finished the game, managing to lead a touchdown drive in the fourth quarter but also throwing an interception when the game was already out of reach.
Mullen’s retweet conveniently overlooked the struggles that led to his own downfall and the subsequent decline of the Florida program.
Since Mullen’s departure, the Gators have endured two consecutive losing seasons and haven’t posted a double-digit win season since 2019.
The team’s trajectory under Mullen began with promise – the 2018 team finished ranked seventh in the nation – but by 2021, the Gators had slipped to a 6-6 record, placing second-to-last in the SEC East.
Mullen didn’t even finish that season.
Despite the disappointing end to Mullen’s tenure, Florida football continued to attract top-tier talent, consistently landing in the top 10 of recruiting classes.
The last time 247 Sports ranked the Gators outside the top 20 in recruiting was in 2015, underscoring the program’s potential that Mullen couldn’t fully capitalize on.
Napier has faced mounting pressure to turn the program around. The showdown against Miami was supposed to be a statement game for the Gators, but it ended up in total disaster.
“They beat us today, and I don’t have a ton of excuses. I think we struggled to produce any running game outside of one explosive,” Napier said following the embarrassing defeat.
“Obviously didn’t create a ton of explosives, and then obviously we had a couple key penalties, and then defensively, outside of 3rd down, didn’t do much.”
When asked about how he felt after the loss, Napier was candid: “Yeah, I mean, it’s embarrassing, to be quite honest with you. That’s how I feel. That’s how our kids feel.”
Florida has arguably the toughest schedule in the entire country. In other words, Napier and the Gators have their work cut out for them.
Having said that, if they struggle this Saturday against Samford, Napier will probably hand in his resignation himself.
As for Mullen, he certainly flashed promise at times, especially early in his Gainesville tenure. Some have wondered if Florida made a mistake by firing him so soon.
Don’t get me wrong – most Florida fans were sick and tired of Mullen in his final days and were supportive of the decision to let him go.
However, looking back now with the benefit of knowing how things have turned out, was it a mistake to not give him a longer leash???
