I don't hate Mullen. I wish him all the best and hope he has a long and successful career. I simply object to the media characterization that Gator fans wish they had Mullen back again. Some may, but I don't. Sure he called some good plays -- Adazzio calls some good plays too -- but that doesn't mean he is a particularly good game-day coach. It always seemed to me that he was excellent at designing plays on paper, as with some of the ones you pointed out, but just never had a feel for the flow of a game and no real knack for keeping offensive coordinators off balance. But that's just one opinion.
Rob Sent from my iPad On Oct 19, 2010, at 9:37 AM, jl...@comcast.net wrote: > I'm not sure where all this hate for Mullen comes from. Yes, he relied too > much on Tebow and Harvin, but most of the time it worked. He also came up > with some brilliant play calls: the jump pass, the Tebow rocker step, the > play right before the half against OSU where Tebow took a step towards the > LOS, then ran parallel to it before passing to Caldwell for the TD. > > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "jfranl" <jfr...@earthlink.net> > To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com > Sent: Tuesday, October 19, 2010 12:14:54 AM > Subject: RE: [gatortalk] I DON'T miss Dan Mullen > > Amen, Brother!! I don't want him back either. I always thought that > superior talent would trump a mediocre offensive play caller, but I guess I > was wrong. The wheels have fallen off the wagon! Fran > > > -----Original Message----- > From: gatortalk@googlegroups.com [mailto:gatort...@googlegroups.com] On > Behalf Of Badrish > Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 10:47 PM > To: gatortalk@googlegroups.com > Subject: Re: [gatortalk] I miss Dan Mullen > > I agree! > > On 10/19/10, wildeart...@gmail.com <wildeart...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Mullen was an unimaginative and uninspired play-caller who won so much > > because he had great players like Tebow and Harvin. We won in spite of his > > play-calling, not because of it. He showed that again Saturday night. > They > > didn't win because he had a great game plan, or because he called a good > > game. They won because we were so bad that they couldn't help it. They > tried > > to give us every chance to win, but we wouldn't take it. Adazzio is > > certainly worse, but I sure don't want Mullen back. > > > > Rob > > > > > > > > > > Sent from my iPad > > > > On Oct 17, 2010, at 11:16 AM, Scott Lucas <floridagat...@yahoo.com> wrote: > > > >> Let me preface this by saying some of you may not like this: We have not > >> been very good since Dan Mullen left, and HE may be the reason for > Urban's > >> success at Florida and previously. > >> > >> Let that sink in. > >> > >> Without Dan, Florida's offense is lifeless. A shell of its former self. > >> Former? Yes, former... as in when Mullen was here calling the shots. Oh > >> sure, Adazzio had a great offense against Cincinnati. Whoopie! It was > >> Cincinnati-- hardly a perennial power, not from a powerhouse conference, > >> and they got exactly what any middle of the road SEC would give them. > >> That is Adazzio's best game. A game in which he had 3 weeks to prepare. > >> He has not accomplished anything real other than that. > >> > >> As for Dan, why is he the key to UM's success? He makes his offense work > >> with what he has. He inherited Chris Leak, the offense was modified, and > >> we won with him. Won it all. We had our Tebow years, modified the > >> offense, and we won with him. Mullen leaves, we have a Leak clone, we > >> don't modify and we are losing horribly. But what has Dan done? He went > >> to an underachieving school. Looked at what he had, he modified and is > >> winning. He took a perennial cellar dweller and is making it work, with > >> someone else's recruits because a good carpenter can work with the tools > >> he has... > >> > >> Dan does what MUST be done to win. He ran the ball 29 out of 30 times > >> against us. Why? It was working and it was what he needed to do to win. > >> He saw what Alabama did to us up the middle, and he copied it. He say > >> what LSU did to us, and he copied it. He is adjusting... modifying. He > >> is doing what must be done to win, and he did it with far less quality of > >> player than Bama and LSU had. This does not bode well for us. > >> > >> Our coaches insist on running an offense that is ill suited for our > >> personnel. Dan wouldn't do this. We are trying to force TOO many square > >> pegs into round holes. Dan wouldn't do this either. > >> > >> You think it is just about Brantley? It is not. Without adequate > >> blocking, and by adequate I mean they open a hole occasionally, running > >> backs will go nowhere. Especially a 190 pound running back when you run > >> right up the middle. It doesn't matter how fast you are when all there > is > >> in front of you is a wall of defenders. We have no solid tight end > >> threat. We have hybrids. We have kids playing positions that they can > >> play but maybe shouldn't be playing, at least not yet. Dan wouldn't do > >> this. > >> > >> We have a complete and total lack of a deep threat. Are all these blue > >> chip recruits suddenly slow? Or can Brantley just not complete the long > >> ball? Or are we just plain not calling them? And where is the mention > of > >> our QB coach? Why have we heard nothing about him or in regards to him? > >> Is he all of a sudden a bad coach? I haven't heard his name mention > since > >> Tebow left. Wasn't Dan Mullen also our QB coach? > >> > >> Or, just maybe, this offensive line, supposedly the strength of the team, > >> can't even figure out what to do with this offense either. They may be > >> ill suited for the zone blocking and reads that the first half offense > >> relies on. They seem to do MUCH better in the second half when Brantley > >> starts throwing it around, when they are told to man up and block a > person > >> instead of an area. Again, an area in need of much change-- similar to > >> what Dan has done with MSU. Take what you have, evaluate it, figure out > >> what you do well, and then ride that horse. 29 out of 30 rushing plays. > >> The one pass? A shovel pass, practically a running play as well. Dan > >> does what you have to do to win. He does what works. > >> > >> We see this week in and week out, yet no adjustment, no improvement, no > >> change. Its as if we (and dare I say it?) are stubborn just like SOS was > >> when his passing game didn't work. What did Spurrier do when you > squashed > >> his passing? He continued to throw it, bound and determined to show the > >> world a thing or two and that it will work. Well, by then, it didn't... > >> and we would lose. I see that all over again, except this time it is > this > >> bastardization of the spread offense. When you stop our 3 or 4 plays, > >> that we call 10 times each a game, we don't seem to make any changes > until > >> the second half. > >> > >> So what happens in the second half? We let Brantley be Brantley! We > open > >> it up a little, we hit the quick routes DOWNFIELD and not behind the LOS. > >> We throw the out patterns, we mix it up, and we become more effective. > >> > >> Sure, the defense has relaxed. They already know they have us exactly > >> where they want us. They know we are not explosive and are no longer a > >> quick strike offense, so maybe they do drop back into a soft zone. But > in > >> the past 3 games, the offensive output, cohesiveness, drive sustaining > >> plays have been there!!! We have converted the third downs, and even > >> teams protecting a lead want to stop those. > >> > >> So why do we NOT do this going into the first half? Why not setup the > run > >> by passing? Make them defend that middle zone, soften the corners up, > and > >> force the defense to attack downfield in a pass rush which would create > >> running lanes when we do hand it off. Instead, the defense holds the > >> line, blitzes at will from the ends and pummels our backs and quarter > >> back. Yet, we do nothing til halftime to adjust? > >> > >> So what is the difference between Dan and no Dan? Effectiveness. > Period. > >> MSU came out with a game plan that worked. We did not. They scored ALL > >> of their points in the first quarter and then rode that game plan for an > >> entire 60 minutes and won. Dan did what they had to do to win. > >> > >> We came out with the same offense that hasn't worked in weeks. We beat > >> our head against that wall for 30 minutes. We made half time > adjustments, > >> and we moved the ball much more effectively just like in the Bama and LSU > >> games. Three games, all identical, and all with the same results. Those > >> coaches did what they had to do to win. > >> > >> I would love for the Gators come out and throw in the first have like we > >> have been forced to do in the second half. But, if we CHOSE to throw in > >> the first half, we set the tempo and we control the defense. By sticking > >> to this same ol' mockery of the spread, we are playing right into the > >> defense's game plan. We are NOT doing what we have to do to win. Its as > >> if we are trying to prove that this can and will work, results be damned! > >> You don't look at the Bama, LSU, and MSU defense and think we are going > to > >> run at them. We didn't change. Dan would have. > >> > >> We must change. We must adapt. And it must not happen during the > >> halftime speeches. > >> > >> Do SOMETHING! > >> > >> -- > >> GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > >> 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > >> 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > >> 2008 National Football Champions | > >> Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel > >> (1996), > >> Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > > > > -- > > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > > 2008 National Football Champions | > > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel > (1996), > > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > > -- > Sent from my mobile device > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions > 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions > 2008 National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) - Visit our website at www.gatornet.us
