Florida fires Dan Mullen: How did we get here, what's next for the Gators, who are Florida's coaching candidates? (2024)

Dan Mullen has been fired as Florida's head coach after Saturday night's loss to Missouri to drop the Gators to 5-6 season this season. What does this mean for the program? Who could be the targets for the program? And what's next? Check back with The Athletic as we continue to update this story.

(Photo: James Gilbert / Getty Images)

As Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin searches for the Gators’ next football coach during the next eight days or so, he needs to keep one piece of audio on his phone. When he pauses for a moment to consider the traits he seeks in the person he’ll hire, he needs to press play.

Kirby Smart’s voice should always snap the search into focus.

Dan Mullen was fired Sunday after what had been a dramatic decline of Florida football over the past two months. In truth, the Gators’ issues under Mullen had been festering for a while, as Allan Taylor and I detailed last month. And now, another enormous job, along with LSU and USC, is open.

Those jobs, plus Virginia Tech, Washington, TCU are open. And there are likely more coming. There are simply not enough proven coaching candidates out there to fill these vacancies.

Dan Mullen released a statement on being fired by Florida.

So where does Florida turn next? And where does this rank among the open jobs?

The Athletic's G. Allan Taylor breaks down Florida's move.

Dan Mullen was fired Sunday after what had been a dramatic decline of Florida football over the past two months. In truth, the Gators’ issues under Mullen had been festering for awhile, as Allan Taylor and I detailed last month. And now, another enormous job, along with LSU and USC, is open.

Those jobs, plus Virginia Tech, Washington, TCU are open. And there are likely more coming. There are simply not enough proven coaching candidates out there to fill these vacancies.

Bruce Feldman and Stewart Mandel react to Florida firing Dan Mullen and discuss the potential candidates to replace him.

Sprightly and self-assured, Dan Mullen spent two hours that June day orbiting donors and dignitaries and back-patting construction crews in fluorescent yellow vests. All were gathered inside the steel skeleton of a 142,000-square-foot training facility primed to become the centerpiece for Florida football. When the ceremonial final beam was ready for lifting, Mullen autographed it in blue Sharpie with the tagline “Go Gators!”

As cranes went to work, Mullen pointed out one aspect of the building’s blueprint: A section was left vacant to accommodate whatever is deemed cutting-edge in college football within the next few years.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin is speaking to the media.

Florida AD Scott Stricklin is speaking to the media

Florida AD Scott Stricklin is speaking to the media

Tennessee and South Carolina are going bowling, and Florida is looking for a head coach.

Of Missouri coach Eliah Drinkwitz from Saturday night.

Florida lost to Missouri on Saturday, and that will be Dan Mullen's final game as the Gators' head coach.

In November 2015, Greg McGarity watched his team celebrate an overtime win against Georgia Southern as if it had just won the Super Bowl. That’s when he knew. McGarity, then Georgia’s athletic director, had been under pressure to make a coaching change for a while. But firing Mark Richt was a huge step. Georgia didn’t stink by any stretch of the imagination. That team finished the 2015 regular season at 9-3. But the Bulldogs weren’t meeting expectations.

That same week, Alabama coach Nick Saban had launched into his infamous “sh*t through a tin horn” rant — which, coincidentally, was about Georgia Southern in 2011 — as the Crimson Tide prepared to play Charleston Southern. Alabama beat its FCS opponent 56-6 on the same week Georgia needed overtime. The Tide didn’t need to celebrate as if they’d won a championship, because they had played to the level of their talent. McGarity and the rest of the Georgia leadership decided they wanted that mindset. They wanted to look and play like Alabama did. So out went Richt and in came Kirby Smart.

Now that you know how all that went down, how does this scene make you feel? More importantly, how will it make Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin feel?

Two-and-a-half weeks later, The World’s Largest Outdoor co*cktail Party continues to produce one of the world’s largest hangovers, and you have questions …

Did Dan Mullen make his most crucial mistake when he chose to cast himself as the direct opposite of Kirby Smart? It seems like they are polar opposites and Kirby has a team where the players are (mad) they allowed 17 points in a “flu game.” Meanwhile, well, it’s either the flu, or a player getting hurt dancing before a big game, or having your chief rival flip your three best recruits after you serve up prime recruiting material on a silver platter. Does Dan coach the first game next year? — Dave in Tampa, Fla.