Dan Mullen's tenure as head coach of Florida football didn't last long. At this rate, the same might be said about current Gators head coach Billy Napier. But Mullen led the program from 2018 to 2021 before being ousted for failing to meet Gainesville, Florida's high expectations.
Brett McMurphy, a popular college football insider with the Action Network, shared a screenshot of one of Mullen's retweets which viewed his run as Florida's head football coach through rose-tinted glasses.
Mullen retweeted because the Gators are going through more struggles right now and he wants to drum up sympathy. Head coach Billy Napier is on the hot seat after Florida football was thumped 17-41 by the Miami Hurricanes. The outcome was never in question as Miami beat down Florida football in all three phases.
How Dan Mullen's demise with Florida football could mirror Billy Napier's arc
To add insult to injury, Florida's starting quarterback, Graham Mertz, was injured during the third quarter and did not return. Freshman QB DJ Lagway completed the game and led a touchdown-scoring drive in the fourth quarter. But he followed that up with an interception, though the game was already well beyond reach.
In sharing that retweet, Mullen glosses over his many struggles and ignores his decline, which has saddled Florida football and put them behind the eight ball for years. The Gators enter 2024 with two straight losing seasons. They haven't had a season with double-digit wins since 2019.
That stretch was a steady decline as the 2018 team finished the season ranked seventh. By 2021, Florida football had slipped to 6-6, second-to-last in the SEC East's division. Mullen didn't even get to the end of that season.
The wheels shouldn't have fallen off so quickly for Mullen. Florida football was still capable of top 10 recruiting classes almost every year. You have to go back to 2015 for the last time 247 Sports ranked the Gators outside their top 20 in recruiting rankings.
Napier couldn't turn the team around last year, and many expected him to be better this year. This matchup against the Miami Hurricanes was supposed to be a statement game. It was a statement in the wrong direction.
After the loss, Napier spoke to reporters, as per Zach Abolverdi of Gators Online.
“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. 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 how he felt, Napier gave an earnest response.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s embarrassing, to be quite honest with you. That’s how I feel. That’s how our kids feel,” Napier said.
Mullen was given four years, so Napier should be given more time. The Gators get a breather in Week 2 as they host Samford on Saturday, September 7 at 7:00 p.m. EST.
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