Dan Mullen: Penn State Can Do Better Than Average Coach

Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen may have had a good season in 2010, backed by some top recruits, but he hasn't done a good job this season with the Bulldogs, leading them to a 6-6 record after being ranked No. 20 to start the year.

That's why a school with so much history in Penn State can do better.

On Tuesday, it was reported that Mullen was Penn State's top candidate to succeed the recently-departed Joe Paterno.

Obviously, the Penn State scandal changed a lot of things, including how the university and its "prestige" was ultimately perceived.

But Ohio State is coming off a scandal of its own and all it did was hire legendary head coach Urban Meyer.

Of course, the Penn State scandal was much worse, which is why I didn't expect someone of Meyer's caliber to coach there, but there still was room for a program ranked in the top 25 this season to find someone more capable of turning a battered program around, both on and off the field.

I think Penn State is grasping, probably because it doesn't think it can do any better with the controversy surrounding the school. But, in reality, there are plenty of coaches, some in high standing, that wouldn't mind being the savior for Penn State and becoming cultural figures in their own right at the university.

In short, if Penn State is set on Mullen, the Nittany Lions aren't giving it enough time. There are more coaches out there with more experience and greater pedigree that could be better suited for the job.

A coach with three years of head coaching experience coming off a 6-6 regular season doesn't sound like the type of individual who could help Penn State soar after so much tragedy.

The Nittany Lions need a coach at this point in time that can help them roar back from the lowest point in the school's history.

Dan Mullen is not the man for the job.