Dan Mullen didn’t come in with the same entourage of adoring fans as Nick Saban, but the Mississippi State coach still flexed a words per minute rate that would make an auctioneer blush in addressing the spread offense in recruiting, the toll (or lack thereof) of being a new head coach, and what you can learn about a recruit from their Facebook page.*
High quality bullet points!
—Mullen said his staff are young and therefore highly literate re: social media, and use it not just for contact and communication but also to help in evaluating recruits. “We have certainly crossed a recruit off our board because of what we’ve seen off Facebook.”
—Excitedly mentioned the record attendance in Starkville coming off a 5-7 season. “Gamedays in Starkville are an event.” In other news, this podium is also an object, the Wynfrey hotel is a thing, and “truth” and “beauty” are abstract concepts.
—The qb competition is wide open at this point, but let Mullen know that no matter who wins, they stand a better chance of being drafted in the first round than anyone playing under Nick Saban. When asked about the critiques of the spread offense and its alleged failure to prepare players for working in pro-style NFL offenses, he fired back with a quickness.
“I’ve had a lot more first round quarterbacks drafted than he has…We also had the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year last year in Percy Harvin. A lot of people say that about the spread, but factually the offense prepares players better than other offenses.
—Continued to refer to Ole Miss as “That school up north” to “add to the rivalry.”
—Said Brett Favre’s nephew Dylan, a freshman qb at Mississippi State, texted him after a loss on a failed qb sneak against LSU and said “If I was your quarterback, I would have scored on that play.” No word on whether he committed to MSU, then reneged, then committed, and then spent five months hedging on the decision before skipping fall practice and arriving just in time for the season.
*Besides how they’re doing in Mafia Wars, that is.