Poll: How do you feel about Dan Mullen at Tennessee?

I could be wrong here, but it feels like Tennessee and Dan Mullen are on a collision course. Mississippi State will play their final regular season contest this Thursday night, officially opening the window for Mullen to talk to other teams.

I would guess that the thick of the search and interview process will begin on Friday. Just a hunch. With Mullen appearing to be a real possibility, Evan took a deeper look look at him last week.

Personally, I have my concerns. He’s spent nine years in Starkville and has definitely had his up years, but it’s hard for me to ignore the down years. He’s had seven wins or less in four of nine seasons. Two of those seasons were five win years (APR bowl bid in 2016). His record in SEC play is just 33-38.

However, I certainly see the flip side. It’s Mississippi State — you don’t have the resources of a top flight SEC job, but you’re still expected to compete with those that do. To his credit, he and Dak Prescott had the Bulldogs ranked No. 1 in the nation back in 2014. That’s a HUGE deal for Mississippi State.

His work with quarterbacks is unrivaled. Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Dak Prescott and now Nick Fitzgerald are just a few of his developments to this point.

I think he’s a massive upgrade over Butch Jones, I’m just not totally sure that he can win consistently. Would Knoxville allow him to have the down years that he’s experienced in Starkville? There’s no doubt that the leash would be shorter up here.

With all of that being said, I still think he’s one of the better names on the board. There just isn’t that rock star, can’t miss up and comer this year. (Maybe that’s Scott Frost, but he appears destined for Nebraska.)

Anyways, how do you feel about Mullen? Let us know in the comments and vote below.