I don’t either, but it has more of a ring of truth than the frantic stuff we got from bloggers. Still, I expect it has been nicely sterilized to make it sound like everything was smooth and calm the whole way through. What I don’t doubt is that Mullen was SS's first choice all along.
> On Dec 3, 2017, at 6:19 PM, 'Steve McKibben' via GatorTalk > <[email protected]> wrote: > > I don't take Dooley's account as gospel either. > > > On Sunday, December 3, 2017, 5:59:18 PM EST, Oliver Barry > <[email protected]> wrote: > > > 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. > -- > -- > 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. -- -- 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.
