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3 Reasons Dan Mullen Will be the Mississippi State Coach in 2017

By John Richardson

Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen participates in Dawg Walk before the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen participates in Dawg Walk before the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen walks the sideline during the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State won 27-14. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 10, 2016; Starkville, MS, USA; Mississippi State Bulldogs head coach Dan Mullen walks the sideline during the game against the South Carolina Gamecocks at Davis Wade Stadium. Mississippi State won 27-14. Mandatory Credit: Matt Bush-USA TODAY Sports /

1. Dan Mullen’s Contract

After leading Mississippi State football to a 10-3 record and the first-ever #1 ranking in school history, Dan Mullen was able to join the $4 million club.  After making around $3 million in 2014, it was a fair raise for the pay scale of coaches in the modern era.  No one really blinked an eye.  Mullen was, after all, the 2014 Maxwell National Collegiate Coach of the Year.

Now that contract is possibly haunting Mississippi State football. Dan Mullen had the following to say after agreeing to the contract:

“We spent five weeks ranked No. 1 last season for the first time, but we have only scratched this surface on what we can accomplish here. We have created a winning culture both on and off the field and built a program that has sustained success in the nation’s toughest conference. I’ve always said we are going to win a championship here, and I firmly believe that.”

Since that point, though, Mississippi State football has been on the decline.  While the Bulldogs still had a solid 2015 season, the 2016 season has gotten off to quite a troublesome start.

With the Bulldogs in regression since that contract was awarded, many high profile schools who were likely interested in Mullen have likely backed off.  If Mullen cannot maintain success, high profile programs are not looking for the next guy to keep their program mired in mediocrity.

Why all the fuss over high profile programs?  Dan Mullen isn’t going to want to take a massive pay cut. Lower profile schools can’t match what Mississippi State is paying Dan Mullen.  While I couldn’t find a buyout clause for Mullen, it likely exists somewhere.

So with the schools being interested unable to pay Mullen’s price tag and major programs uninterested, Mullen will have to take a pay cut or make a ‘lateral move’ to no longer be the coach of Mississippi State football in 2017.  I simply cannot see that happening.

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