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SEC Sports
CBS Sports ranks Dan Mullen No. 4 among SEC coaches
CBS Sports ranked the SEC coaches, and Florida coach Dan Mullen checked in ranked one spot higher than a year ago.
247sports.com
Each year the debate rages back and forth... which coach is the best in the Southeastern Conference? OK, just kidding, that's been a pretty obvious answer for more than a decade now.
But how do the other coaches in the league stack up?
A panel of writers and analysts from CBS Sports and 247Sports got together to put together this year's edition of the annual coaches ranking. Florida coach Dan Mullen moved up a slot after an 8-4 finish in Year 3 with the Gators, rising to No. 4 in the league.
Mullen still trails two of the three coaches who have won a national title, but the panel has moved him past LSU's Ed Orgeron, who took a tumble from No. 2 last year down to No. 5 following the Tigers' tough season and a flood of negative press. Mullen also trails Georgia coach Kirby Smart, who checked in at No. 3 in the ranking behind No. 1 Nick Saban and No. 2 Jimbo Fisher.
Here's what CBS Sports had to say about Mullen:
There's little doubt that Mullen has led a masterful rebuild at Florida after inheriting a four-win squad.4. Dan Mullen (10 overall): Florida has gone to a New Year's Six bowl in each of his three seasons in Gainesville, including last season when his Gators won the SEC East. He has a strong track record of developing quarterbacks including Dak Prescott at Mississippi State and Kyle Trask during last season's title run. He hasn't broken through that glass ceiling and led his team into national title contention during championship weekend, but the fact that he has brought Florida back from the depths of the Jim McElwain despair and once made Mississippi State competitive is more than enough for the college football world to recognize him as one of the best in the business. Last year: 5 in the SEC
Much of that progress has been accomplished by developing what turned out to be a pretty good 2016 recruiting class left by McElwain and by mostly excellent gameday coaching by Mullen and his staff.
Where the ceiling is seems to be the real question. Florida has trailed many of its SEC peers in recruiting since Mullen took over -- UF's current 2022 recruiting class ranks 24th nationally and 10th in the SEC, after classes that ranked ninth, ninth and 12th nationally -- with little tangible evidence that UF might soon break into the upper echelon of recruiting.
Meanwhile, Mullen has a pretty tall task in front of him in 2021. He's got to break in a new starting quarterback in Emory Jones, while replacing the top three pass-catchers from a year ago. He also must hope defensive coordinator Todd Grantham, who he retained this offseason, can figure out a way to turn around what was a historically bad defense last season.
So far, he's done pretty well at least raising the bar at Florida after nearly a decade of horrid inconsistency, reaching three straight New Year's Six bowl games and winning the SEC East in 2020.
In any case, Mullen certainly garners a lot of respect for his coaching ability. How much respect he can continue to gain almost certainly boils down to, like CBS Sports noted, whether he can finally break through that glass ceiling.
He'll certainly be put to the test in 2021.