Well... I guess the bloggers made up a couple of stories. Oliver Barry CRS, GRI Real Estate Broker PARKS Real Estate Services 305 B Indian Lake Blvd Suite 220 Hendersonville TN 37075 Office: 615-826-4040 Mobile: 615-972-4239 [email protected]
Begin forwarded message: > From: Shane Ford <[email protected]> > Date: December 3, 2017 at 11:27:48 AM CST > To: GatorNews <[email protected]> > Subject: [gatornews] [SUN]: Florida’s journey to a football coaching hire > Reply-To: [email protected] > > Florida’s journey to a football coaching hire > By Pat Dooley (Gainesville SUN) - December 3, 201718181 > > Florida football coach Dan Mullen speaks Monday at his introductory news > conference at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. [Alan Youngblood/Staff photographer] > One week ago, Florida hired the 27th football coach in school history in Dan > Mullen. The hiring came four weeks after a news conference to announce the > departure of coach Jim McElwain immediately. What follows is the UF path to > this hire based on interviews with multiple people. > > The day before had been disruptive, to say the least. Any time there is a > coaching change at a major Power Five school in the middle of the season, it > can feel out of control even when control has been established. > > But on Monday, Oct. 30 — a day later — it was one of those beautiful > Gainesville mornings and there was work to be done. It was time for the > search to begin in earnest as the tide went out on the emotional uncoupling > with the head coach. Florida athletic director Scott Stricklin had a mental > list of who might be a candidate for the suddenly vacant Florida football > job, but nothing set in stone. > > On that Monday after Jim McElwain and UF parted ways, it was time to start > chiseling out a serious list. > > Stricklin met with his top lieutenants at the University Athletic Association > — executive associate athletic directors Laird Veatch, Lynda Tealer, Mike > Hill and senior associate AD Steve McClain — to discuss the possible targets. > > Names came up and some were dismissed. By the end of the meeting, there were > two names that were at the top of a short list — Dan Mullen and UCF’s Scott > Frost. > > Some of the other potential candidates had buyouts that made them less > attractive than they normally would be. Matt Campbell at Iowa State had a $9 > million buyout. Justin Fuente, the Virginia Tech coach, has a $6 million > buyout and might be reluctant to leave after only two years with the Hokies. > > Stricklin spoke with several former UF players — Tim Tebow, Danny Wuerffel, > Kevin Carter, Steve Spurrier, Jesse Palmer and Chris Doering among them — to > get their input on what kind of coach would be right for the Gators. > > The following day, agents began to pepper UF with calls. One of them was > intriguing. A representative of Chip Kelly called to say the former Oregon > and NFL coach was interested. > > Initially, Kelly had been crossed off the list because of his show-cause > penalty from the NCAA. But after making calls to a handful of people, Florida > thought it might be a possibility. > > One of them was Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, who spoke highly of > Kelly. Florida also checked with several people who were involved in the > Oregon case with the NCAA and were assured that the issues were more about > overseeing the program rather than any actual violations. > > On Thursday, Nov. 2, the UAA brain trust met again and Stricklin announced > that Kelly was back in the picture. At that point, Florida had three coaches > in mind as serious candidates — Mullen, Kelly and Frost. > > Had Stricklin not had special ties to Starkville, Miss., it would have been a > one-man race and Mullen would have been the target. But leaving his alma > mater behind had been tough enough. Reaching in to swipe the best coach in > Mississippi State history would be brutal for people he cares about. > > And there was this — Kelly was especially inviting because Florida could > engage with him before the season was over because he wasn’t coaching. > > On Nov. 6, after daily discussions with Kelly via phone, Stricklin, Tealer > and Veatch took a commercial flight from Orlando to Boston, rented a car and > drove to Portsmouth, N.H. The next morning they met with Kelly for five hours. > > They found him fascinating, but there was time to continue the process > because no working coaches could be contacted. > > After more telephone conversations, six UF officials, including president Dr. > Kent Fuchs, took a private plane Nov. 19 from Ocala to Portsmouth. They knew > this flight would probably be tracked and joked about whether or not there > would be media waiting upon their return (there was). > > Dr. Fuchs was on the trip because of the NCAA issues. If Kelly decided a > couple of days later he was willing to take the job, Florida wanted to > already have the meeting between the school president and Kelly taken place. > > Still, at the end of the visit with no agreement reached despite erroneous > Internet reports, Florida’s contingent returned home and continued to do its > homework on Mullen and Frost. > > On Tuesday, Kelly called to say he had decided that Florida’s fish bowl was > not for him. A few days later, he decided to become the next coach at UCLA, > describing it as “the best fit.” > > Florida turned its attention to the other two candidates, but another name > had popped up. A successful Power Five head coach had let it be known through > a third party that he might be interested (according to multiple reports it > was Mike Gundy of Oklahoma State). He and Stricklin had several phone > conversations, but Stricklin could never get the feeling that the interest > was legitimate. > > A representative for Frost had reached out to Florida, but UF was concerned > about two things — 1. Frost might want to wait to see what Nebraska — his > alma mater — was going to do; 2. Frost only had two years as a head coach, > none in the Power Five. > > Stricklin and his staff knew how vital it was that Florida get this hire > right after UF had made a pair of risky hires post-Urban Meyer (McElwain and > Will Muschamp), neither of whom had worked out. If the Gators waited for > Frost too long and Mullen went elsewhere (such as Tennessee), they would > basically be starting from scratch again. > > UF needed the closest coach to a sure thing. In a staff meeting, Stricklin > let it be known that he had no doubt Mullen would be a big winner at Florida, > but the thought of stealing a coach from his alma mater where he had so many > deep relationships made him queasy. > > So Florida continued to flesh out Frost, while also sending word to Mullen > there would be conversations after his final game, the Egg Bowl, on > Thanksgiving night. > > On the Friday before Florida’s season-ending game against FSU, Stricklin > called Mullen and the two former co-workers had a 45-minute conversation. > They planned to talk again after the FSU game. Mullen had other suitors, but > Stricklin asked him to hold off until UF’s season was completed. > > Late in the FSU game, Stricklin let Mullen know he would call after visiting > the Gator locker room. During a series of Saturday evening and night > conversations on the phone, Mullen accepted the job, agreed to terms and > Stricklin worked things out with Mullen’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, later that > night. > > After discussions about logistics and staffing Sunday morning, the plan was > to wait until after players from both Florida and Mississippi State were > informed Sunday at around 6 p.m. But the story leaked sometime after noon > that Mullen was UF’s top target. > > By that evening, Florida released the news that Mullen was the new Gator > coach. > > Finally, on Monday, Florida’s plane flew the Mullen family to Gainesville and > Stricklin couldn’t help but have a surreal feeling wash over him. > > Nine years ago, he was on a jet as an associate athletic director at > Mississippi State. That jet flew to Gainesville to pick Megan Mullen up at > the private Gainesville airport to take her to Starkville, Miss., where her > husband was waiting to have a news conference that would introduce him as > Mississippi State’s new coach. > > Here Stricklin stood on the tarmac at the same airport, welcoming her back to > Gainesville. > > “This is where we met for the first time,” Stricklin told her. > > Everything had come full circle. > > Contact Pat Dooley at 352-374-5053 or at [email protected]. And follow > at Twitter.com/Pat_Dooley. > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > > Sent From Shane's iPhone > Go Gators! & Skål Vikes! > -- > -- > GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! > 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 > National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 > National Football Champions | > Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), > Tim Tebow (2007) > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "GatorNews" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. -- -- GATORS: ONE VOICE ON SATURDAY - NO VOICE ON SUNDAY! 1996 National Football Champions | 2006 National Basketball Champions 2006 National Football Champions | 2007 National Basketball Champions 2008 National Football Champions | Three Heisman Trophy winners: Steve Spurrier (1966), Danny Wuerffel (1996), Tim Tebow (2007) --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "GatorTalk" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
