Dan Mullen

Daniel Mullen (born April 27, 1972) is an American former college football player and coach, and current television analyst with ABC and ESPN.

Mullen attended Trinity High School of Manchester, New Hampshire, where he helped lead the Pioneers to the state championship in 1988.

Mullen attended Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, where he lettered for two years playing tight end and was a first-team All-Centennial Conference selection his senior year.

He graduated in 1994 with a bachelor's degree in Education.

He went on to Wagner College, where he coached wide receivers and earned a master's degree in Education in 1996.

After serving as a graduate assistant at Syracuse and Notre Dame, Mullen was hired by Urban Meyer to coach QBs at Bowling Green from 2001 to 2002.

Mullen would stay in the same position with Meyer after the latter was hired by Utah where they both stayed for the 2003 and 2004 seasons.

Following an undefeated 2004 season which led to Utes QB Alex Smith being the first overall pick in the draft Meyer was hired by the University of Florida.

Mullen served as interim offensive coordinator for the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and led the team to a 35–7 win over the Pittsburgh Panthers.

After the victory Mullen would join Meyer's staff at Florida as offensive coordinator and QB coach.

As a coach, Mullen has coached several notable players, including quarterbacks Alex Smith (Utah), Heisman Trophy-winner Tim Tebow (Florida), Dak Prescott (Mississippi State), and Kyle Trask (Florida).

Mullen, along with former Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly, and former Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive coordinator Gary Crowton, are part of the so-called "New Hampshire mafia" as they all have strong connections to New Hampshire.

During his tenure at Utah, he also recruited and briefly coached Brian Johnson, a quarterback who led Utah to 13–0 and a Sugar Bowl victory for the 2008-2009 season.

On December 11, 2008, Mullen was hired as the head coach of Mississippi State by former Athletic Director Greg Byrne.

He served as the head football coach at Mississippi State University from 2009 to 2017 and the University of Florida from 2018 until 2021.

In his first season as head coach at Mississippi State in 2009, his team went 5–7 against the toughest schedule in the nation.

In 2010, his Bulldog team went 9–4 overall and 4–4 in the SEC including victories over Georgia, Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi; the four losses came to teams ranked in the top 12.

Mississippi State capped off the 2010 season by defeating traditional power Michigan in the 2011 Gator Bowl, 52–14, and achieved a number-15 ranking in the final AP poll.

In 2011, Mullen's Bulldogs entered the year ranked number 19 in the nation.

A loss to Auburn in the first SEC game of the year hurt the Bulldogs, and they went into the game vs Ole Miss with a 5–6 record.

They defeated the Rebels, 31–3, and defeated Wake Forest, 23–17, in the Music City Bowl to finish 7–6 on the year.

and his 2012 recruiting class was ranked 18th in the nation.

In 2012, Mississippi State opened with a win over Jackson State and a win over Auburn, the first time the Bulldogs defeated the Tigers since 2007.

Mississippi State had a 7–0 record, and a number 13 ranking, entering a game vs number 1, undefeated Alabama.

MSU lost, 38–7, and lost two more, to number 16 Texas A&M and number 9 LSU.

MSU defeated Arkansas, and was looking for a fourth straight win over Ole Miss, who was 5–6 going into the game, similar to MSU the year before.

The Bulldogs lost, 41–24, and then lost to Northwestern, 34–20, in the Gator Bowl to finish 8–5.

Mississippi State started the 2013 season against number 13 Oklahoma State, losing, 21–3.

They defeated Alcorn State, but lost to Auburn, 24–20.

They defeated Troy, Kentucky, and Bowling Green, and lost to LSU, South Carolina, Texas A&M, and Alabama, to drop to 4–6, traveling to Little Rock, Arkansas, to battle Arkansas.

MSU won, 24–17, in overtime, and was 5–6 entering the Ole Miss game.

In 2014, Mullen led the Bulldogs to one of the greatest seasons in school history.

He claimed his first Top 10 win at Mississippi State, as the Bulldogs knocked off #8 LSU, 34–29, at Death Valley, allowing them to enter the polls at #12.

He followed that up by beating #6 Texas A&M, 48–31, in Starkville, vaulting them to third in the nation.

A week later, they beat #2 Auburn, 38–23, which propelled them to the top spot in both major polls (as well as the inaugural College Football Playoff Top 25) —the highest ranking in Mississippi State's history, and the highest that any FBS team in Mississippi had been ranked at that late date in almost half a century.

Losses to Alabama and Mississippi ended any hope of a national championship.

MSU missed a game-winning field goal to send the game into overtime, and Dak Prescott got a 3-yard touchdown run on 4th and 2, giving Ole Miss the ball up 17–10.

Bo Wallace fumbled in the end zone, giving MSU the 17–10 victory, and for the first time in school history, a fourth straight bowl berth.

MSU defeated Rice, 44–7, in the Liberty Bowl to finish 7–6.

Mullen's first recruiting class at Mississippi State was ranked 19th in the nation by Scout.com.