SEC Media Days: Dan Mullen takes heat over Jeffery Simmons decision

Dan Mullen met the press at SEC Media Days where despite the Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach had to take the heat about Jeffery Simmons being allowed to play despite video showing him assaulting a woman.

Dan Mullen knew the questions were coming but he didn’t have the answers when he was asked about why Jeffery Simmons was allowed to enroll at Mississippi State after video showed him repeatedly striking a woman on the ground.

Mullen tried to dodge the questions like a quarterback avoiding pressure off the edge but ended up making matters worse by deflecting the criticism and essentially throwing Mississippi State athletic director Scott Stricklin under the proverbial bus.

After he was asked about Simmons a third time at SEC Media Days, Mullen said he wasn’t involved much in the decision to allow him to enroll under certain conditions and said it was a “university decision” and that he “was just thrilled that we’re having Jeffery as part of our family coming in.”

Dan Mullen’s full remarks on responsibility and the Jeffrey Simmons situation. pic.twitter.com/DZCIDMHJTF
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) July 12, 2016

Does anyone believe the head football coach wouldn’t be involved much in the decision to allow his top recruit enroll in school or not? I don’t buy that for a second.

Secondly, the use of the word “thrilled” will be dissected, because many will interpret this as Mullen being thrilled he has a person who assaulted a woman on his roster. The minority opinion will be that of Mullen and Mississippi State giving a player a second chance.

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We are a country that believes in second chances, under certain circumstances, and football players and athletes aren’t as sympathetic figures when it comes to giving them second chances. Certainly not ones who have been videotaped hitting a woman.

Ray Rice has never played another NFL down after video leaked of him assaulting his then-fiancee. However, there are plenty other athletes who have been accused of similar transgressions or worse who are still in the league largely because of the absence of video of the crime taking place.

Whether you believe Simmons should get a second chance or not took a backseat during SEC Media Days with Mullen bypassing questions about respecting women and what he would do if the woman assaulted was his wife or daughter.

"“I don’t know,” Mullen said, via Kyle Tucker of SEC Country, “I don’t think it would be my family. I don’t deal in hypotheticals, really, so, um – but anybody, I mean, in the video, I don’t know that my family would be in that situation, to be honest with you.”"

More deflection from Mullen who missed an opportunity to put everything out on the table for the media in attendance and the fans watching on the SEC Network.

It’s okay if you give a kid a second chance, but explain the thought process, the decisions and conversations that go into making that decision. What Mullen essentially did was take none of the criticism for Simmons being on his team and deflecting any blame now for Simmons being on campus.

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After deflecting one Simmons-related question after another, Mullen did close out his time with the media on a high note when he acknowledged what a head coach is responsible for.

"“We’re all responsible,” Mullen said. “If that happens, all of us, to be honest with you, I’m responsible for all of the actions for every one of my players. I’m responsible as a head coach. I can’t be with them all of the time. All I can do is be a parent. My wife and I try to be parents to every one of the kids in our program. Not an individual. Just every single one of them. We try to be parents. And I take a great deal of responsibility of all of our players and actions that they do, good and bad."

Had Mullen just said this to begin, he wouldn’t be subject to as much criticism and heat as he is today.