A Kiffin Litmus Test For Mullen
August 2nd, 2010 02:25 PM║ Posted By: John Pennington ║ Permalink
║ Schools: Mississippi State
Since SEC Media Days, I’ve taken a little bit of guff from the Mississippi State faithful for suggesting that Bulldog coach Dan Mullen has a little bit of Lane Kiffin in him.
Young. Brash. Cocky. Mullen is similar to Kiffin in all those ways. He’s also more vocal than others in the SEC when it comes to making direct digs at opposing league coaches.
Example: His Media Days’ comment that he’d sent more quarterbacks to the NFL than Nick Saban was undeniably Kiffinesque.
But for those State fans who still don’t believe that their guy tiptoes the line between confident and jerky, I’ve got a test for him. If Mullen can go an entire football season without taking a dig at Ole Miss and/or Houston Nutt for bringing in Jeremiah Masoli, then he will have proven that he’s a more mature, kinder, gentler fellow than Tennessee’s ex-coach.
The temptation will be there. The media will no doubt ask him about the move in hopes of landing a headline-worthy quote. And Mullen has already made his share of Oxford enemies in his first couple of years in Starkville — which is a good thing if you’re a Dog fan. From his “school up North” lines to the number of times he’s referenced his team’s big Egg Bowl victory, Mullen has never skipped an opportunity to dig the Rebels.
Perhaps that’s why he and Nutt stood on opposite sides of a Boys/Girls Club function this weekend. (Photo at left.)
But to blister Nutt/Ole Miss over Masoli would require Mullen to also take a shot at the player himself. And while Masoli has made mistakes in his life, it’s still not kosher for a late-30s coach to insult a 20-something player from another school’s team.
In addition, digging at the Masoli mess would back Mullen into a corner of his own making. If MSU’s coach mocks Ole Miss for grabbing a guy with a bad reputation, he will have to be careful not to do likewise in the future.
For that reason, a smart man wouldn’t say a word — tempting as it might be — about Nutt’s decision to bring in Masoli. A man like Kiffin would.
So here’s Mullen’s chance to reveal his true nature. Will he take the high road and stay mum on the Masoli topic? Or will he take the media’s bait and pop off… as he did when lured into jabbing Saban at Media Days?
I think coach Mullen deserves somewhat of a pass on the spread question from media days. He was posed the question in a way that he felt his system had been critisized, and he defended it with facts. I would think his answer would have been more measured had he known Saban's entire comment.
[...] John Pennington of Mr. SEC writes that Dan Mullen faces a Lane Kiffin litmus test on Nutt. [...]