Dan Mullen's name has come up when speaking about the next Head Coach of the Syracuse Orange football program.
But just because a name is brought up does not mean that it is an actual option.
People bring up names all the time whenever a job becomes available.
So why Mullen at Syracuse?
Well, he has ties to the Orange football program because he was a graduate assistant on the offensive side of the ball in 1998.
Since then, there does not seem to be any ties to Syracuse.
He has been a head coach at two Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools, leading the Mississippi State Bulldogs from 2009-17 with a record of 69-46 and then the Florida Gators from 2018 through most of the 2021 season, going 34-15.
Mullen has an overall coaching record of 103-61, which is far better than the 41-55 record that Syracuse endured in eight seasons under their last head coach, Dino Babers.
However, outside of being a coach with a winning record and having spent a year at Syracuse as a graduate assistant, what is it that makes Mullen a true viable candidate for the Orange?
He was let go from the Gators in less than a full four seasons and since then has been an analyst, stepping away from coaching for the last two years.
Mullen's price tag is also high, with his last stop, the Unicersity of Florida, paying him over $6 million per season, which would rise to over $7 million for each season.
Syracuse University has not been known to fork over that kind of money and if they finally opened up the checkbook, why not go for Jimbo Fisher for that amount of money? Fisher has coached the last two seasons while Mullen has been on a broadcasting set. He has led the Texas A&M Aggies to a win against the then #1-ranked Alabama Crimson Tide and numerous nationally Top 25-ranked teams. Head-to-head, Fisher's Aggies defeated Mullen's Gators in the 2020-21 season.
So, if Syracuse were to call Mullen, then they should call Fisher.
But both have little to no ties to the area, their price tags are higher than what Syracuse Univerdity is known for, and neither is a long-term fix, because if either were to succeed with the Orange, it stands to reason they would leave for a better job, especially after both tasting life in the SEC.
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