SEC Extra Points with Barrett Sallee: Dan Mullen, Lateral Moves and Perspective
Much Ado About Nothing
The Internet exploded on Tuesday when Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen commented on Geoff Collins—his defensive coordinator—taking the same role on Jim McElwain's new staff at Florida.
"I hope our guys have opportunities to go be head coaches more than leaving for lateral positions," Mullen said, according to Michael Bonner of the Jackson Clarion-Ledger. "I think (with) success, I hope we do have opportunities."
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Is that a shot at Florida? A shot at Collins?
No. It's neither. In fact, it's not a big deal at all.
Collins' move to Florida is, by definition, a lateral move. Sure, program prestige and the power of Florida probably make it a slightly better job than Mississippi State. But what do you expect Mullen to say?
He and Collins just helped Mississippi State post its third 10-win season in program history, attained the No. 1 ranking in program history and earned an Orange Bowl berth for the first time since January of 1941. Meanwhile, Florida has been spinning its wheels for the last two seasons and was forced to make a coaching change.
Mullen should perceive this strictly as a lateral move for Collins, because Mullen has pride in what he has built in Starkville and recognize that, in the current landscape of college football, his Bulldogs are sitting pretty.
It won't always stay that way, and the chance to coach and recruit in Florida is certainly a draw for Collins—as it would be for most coaches.
Collins is a rival now, though. He's an adversary. He's a coach who will battle Mullen on the recruiting trail for players who might be considering both programs.
Good for Mullen for standing up for his program. He may not recognize the same definition of "lateral move" as the vast majority of college football players, coaches and fans, but he's not supposed to.
It'd be a much bigger problem for Mullen and for Mississippi State had he conceded that his program was a stepping stone.
Bobo on the Go?
The coaching carousel may be spinning in northeast Georgia.
According to Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Georgia offensive coordinator Mike Bobo is interested in pursuing the head coaching job at Colorado State—which came open after Jim McElwain left the Rams for Florida earlier this month.
"Mike is taking advantage of the opportunity to go visit, and right this minute he's our offensive coordinator and we're planning on him being here at practices," head coach Mark Richt said in quotes emailed by Georgia. "We'll see where everything goes. Obviously if there's an opportunity for a staff member to do big things, you want to give him that opportunity."
If Bobo lands that job, it'd be a huge loss for the Bulldogs.
Richt handed over play-calling duties to Bobo prior to the 2007 season. The program has finished in the top four in the SEC in yards per play four times in the last five seasons and led the conference twice—2012 (7.09 YPP) and 2014 (6.82 YPP).
It's a big deal for an offensive-minded head coach like Richt to swallow his pride and hand over the keys to the car to somebody else, but Bobo not only earned that trust but kept it in cruise control, as the Bulldogs consistently produced elite offenses.
Through it all, Bobo has become a lighting rod for criticism. The decision not to spike the ball late in the 2012 SEC Championship Game might have cost his team a national title, but it wasn't Bobo's fault that quarterback Aaron Murray's pass was tipped. He gets heat when he calls draws on 3rd-and-long deep in his own territory, even though that's a smart call and helps in the battle for field position.
This year, the decision not to run with Todd Gurley late in the fourth quarter at South Carolina when his team was inside the 5-yard line was just the latest point of contention. But a naked boot to a dragging tight end is still a safe play call, plus the intentional grounding call that pushed the Bulldogs back and eventually led to a missed field goal should not have been called since the pass deflected off a South Carolina defender's thigh (44:15 mark).
If a new offensive coordinator comes in, he's going to have to earn Richt's trust and live up to the legacy that Bobo has built.
That won't be an easy task.
Match Made in Heaven
In its first full season as a major bowl, the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl landed one of the most compelling non-playoff matchups of the bowl season.
TCU—the nation's second-ranked scoring offense (46.8 points per game)—will square off against an Ole Miss defense that's tops nationally in scoring defense (13.8 points per game).
"To have the No. 2 scoring offense against the No. 1 scoring defense, and No. 6 (TCU) vs. No. 9 (Ole Miss) with the passionate fan bases that they have, all of that together is a recipe for a great bowl game," Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl president and CEO Gary Stokan told Bleacher Report.
But how did it get to this point?
Ole Miss beat Boise State in the Chick-fil-A Kickoff Game to open the season, and a return trip to the Peach State to tie a bow on the season was viewed as a benefit for the College Football Playoff selection committee when it was making selections and slotting teams in the "New Year's Six" bowl games.
"We talked about it," College Football Playoff executive director Bill Hancock told B/R. "We have several considerations. We try to avoid rematches of regular season games and last year's bowl games. Geography is a factor, as well as the matchups. We did talk about Ole Miss playing here once before during the season, and determined that it wouldn't trump the other factors."
For the bowl itself—which rose to prominence as an ACC vs. SEC matchup that was played unopposed on New Year's Eve night—keeping some of its roots intact for this year's matchup, which will be played at 12:30 p.m. on Jan. 31, was important.
"Having an SEC team in Atlanta makes a lot of sense from a fanbase perspective," Stokan said. "To have the No. 9 team in the country that was ranked No. 3 at one time and, with a bounce here or there, could be playing in one of the semifinal games, is huge for the bowl."
It's huge for Ole Miss, too.
Head coach Hugh Freeze has put the program on the map, taking it to three straight bowl games after the program totaled just one SEC win in the two seasons prior to Freeze's arrival in 2012. It now gets to play in a major bowl in a recruiting territory that's important to the sustained success of the program against a team that narrowly missed the College Football Playoff.
That's not just a small step forward, it's a major leap.
Thunder and Lighting
Junior college national signing day was Wednesday, and the future of Tennessee's ground game looks incredibly bright.
We all saw true freshman Jalen Hurd explode onto the scene this year, rushing for 777 yards on 174 carries for three touchdowns on the ground. Hurd had three 100-yard games in his inaugural season in the SEC—all against SEC opponents (Georgia, South Carolina and Kentucky), and the 6'3", 227-pounder proved that he can handle the punishment between the tackles and be a force in space.
A newcomer could take some pressure off of him next year, though.
Tennessee signed 4-star running back Alvin Kamara from Hutchinson (Kansas) Community College on Wednesday. You may remember Kamara as part of the small village of running backs that made its way to Alabama in the class of 2013.
He left the program in January and promptly rushed for 1,253 yards and 18 touchdowns for Hutchinson in 2014. At 5'10", 210, he's more dangerous in space but can take the punishment as well.
Hurd and Kamara are both complete all-purpose backs who excel in different areas, which will allow offensive coordinator Mike Bajakian and head coach Butch Jones to get creative with how they call games.
Tennessee already loaded up with superstars at the offensive skill positions, and Kamara is just the latest to join. Now only if the Vols can figure out that pesky offensive line problem.
Quick Outs
- Junior college transfer running back Jovon Robinson scored a touchdown in his first practice with Auburn, according to Brandon Marcello of AL.com. It won't be his last. The No. 1 junior college prospect in the class of 2015 is a 225-pound monster who should be able to slide in and be a star in head coach Gus Malzahn's offense.
- Texas A&M got a commitment on Wednesday from 5-star wide receiver Christian Kirk. Before everybody freaks out and asks if he can play defense, just stop. Kirk has all the makings of a superstar, and any program would be lucky to have him. But yes, Texas A&M still needs to fix its defense.
- LSU redshirt sophomore receiver Travin Dural said this week that he will return to the program instead of declaring for the NFL draft, according to Jim Kleinpeter of NOLA.com. That's the right move for Dural. He caught 37 passes for 758 yards and seven touchdowns this season in an offense that struggled to find any consistency in the passing game. Another season—and some help from his quarterbacks and offensive coordinator—could make him a high draft pick after his junior campaign.
- For four hours on Christmas morning, the SEC Network will air video of a fireplace accompanied by a mix of holiday music and fight songs. That sounds like a wonderful idea now, but LSU fans might lose their minds when "Yea Alabama" comes on immediately following "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer."
Barrett Sallee is the lead SEC college football writer and video analyst for Bleacher Report, as well as a co-host of the CFB Hangover on Bleacher Report Radio (Sundays, 9-11 a.m. ET) on Sirius 93, XM 208.
Quotes were obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted. All stats are courtesy of cfbstats.com, and all recruiting information is courtesy of 247Sports. Follow Barrett on Twitter @BarrettSallee.
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