Sources tell FootballScoop Dan Mullen has agreed to become new head coach at the University of Florida.
(Update: The hire is now official.)
Brett McMurphy has also tweeted the same. Florida officials pitched Chip Kelly last weekend, who opted for UCLA instead, and Scott Frost, who passed on the job. This led the search to Mullen, who has both worked at Florida and for new Gators AD Scott Stricklin. As we wrote earlier today: All along, Stricklin has felt Dan Mullen was a viable option. From their time at Mississippi State, Stricklin knew what he would be getting should he choose to offer the position to Mullen. However, Stricklin felt the need to investigate other names first. Stricklin made it no secret he was looking for someone to fix the Gators' flailing offense. From my column on Stricklin's press conference the day the job opened last month: Stricklin didn’t box himself in to a certain type of search on Sunday. He may retain a search firm or he may not. He may hire a sitting head coach or he may not. He revealed one word that will guide his search: fun. In 25 years in the business of watching Florida from afar, Stricklin said, when Florida was rolling “it looked like they were having fun.” Mullen has as much currency in molding dual-threat quarterbacks as anyone in the college game today. He turned Alex Smith into a No. 1 draft pick at Utah, turned Tim Tebow into a living legend at Florida, and found success at Mississippi State with Dak Prescott and now Nick Fitzgerald. Florida, meanwhile, has not finished in the top half of FBS yards per play offenses since Tebow left campus after the 2009 season. Florida’s Yards Per Play Rank in the Post-Tebow Era 2010: 5.17 — 84th 2011: 5.42 — 67th 2012: 5.25 — 92nd 2013: 4.79 — 110th 2014: 5.24 — 94th 2015: 5.11 — 102nd 2016: 5.19 — 105th 2017: 5.19 — 103rd
Mullen completed his ninth regular season with an 8-4 mark on Thursday.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.