College Coaching Carousel: Can Dan Mullen end Florida's QB woes?

Florida had plenty of good reasons to hire Dan Mullen as head football coach last November, but none stand out like the Gators' need for better quarterback play.

From Alex Smith at Utah, where Mullen was the quarterbacks coach, to Tim Tebow at Florida, where Mullen was the offensive coordinator, to Dak Prescott at Mississippi State, where Mullen was the head coach, he has a proven track record of developing effective college quarterbacks. That bodes well for a program that hasn't had a standout QB since Tebow led the Gators to the 2006 and 2008 national titles.

Despite playing in the tough SEC West with a small talent pool to choose from, Mullen made the Bulldogs respectable, churning out multiple top 20 recruiting classes and top 25 finishes during his tenure. In the slightly less demanding SEC East with a deep reservoir of talent at his disposal, Mullen can’t get away with making Florida merely respectable; he needs to build a national title contender, and soon.

Offensive philosophy

Mullen's offense at Mississippi State ranked 31st or better in Off. S&P+ in five of the last eight seasons, according to SB Nation's Bill Connelly. Mullen will hope to continue that trend in Gainesville with his smashmouth spread offense.

In an era when many spread teams are passing at extreme rates, Mullen is one of the more balanced and unpredictable play-callers in college football. Mullen prefers 11 personnel (one running back, one tight end, and three receivers) and looks to establish the run early. Once he's done that, he uses run-pass options, misdirection, and play-action to take advantage of defenses looking to stop the ground game.

Mullen likes to give his quarterbacks high-percentage throws to the short and intermediate parts of the field, looking to manufacture one-on-one matchups with his best athletes in space. Mullen also prefers to employ quarterbacks who can occasionally carry the ball in order to make the defense account for every potential weapon on the field.

However, he's not inheriting a talented group at the position. Redshirt sophomores Feleipe Franks and Kyle Trask will compete for the starting job with freshman Emory Jones, but none of the three inspires much confidence.

Ole Miss transfer Van Jefferson should give whoever wins the quarterback competition a great target in the passing department. In the backfield, Mullen will likely use a committee of redshirt junior Jordan Scarlett, junior Lamical Perine, and sophomore Adarius Lemons. If the Gators' quarterback situation is as dire as it looks, those three will share a heavy load in 2018.

Defensive philosophy

Though the Gators have had one of the best defenses in college football for most of the past decade, it took a significant step backwards last season.

Mullen hired Todd Grantham, who was his defensive coordinator in 2017 with Mississippi State, to try to restore the Gators' defense to dominance. The biggest immediate improvement under Grantham, who brings an aggressive 3-4 scheme with him, will likely come from the pass rush.

Florida recorded 23 sacks last season, while Grantham's Bulldog defense finished with 36. Grantham isn't afraid to dial up a wide range of blitzes to manufacture pressure:

Grantham inherits a young but promising group. In the front seven, redshirt senior nose tackle Khairi Clark will play an important role stopping the run while senior strong-side linebacker Cece Jefferson should thrive on rushing the passer (similar to Montez Sweat with the Bulldogs last season). Junior David Reese led the team in tackles a year ago and seems able to duplicate that performance in 2018.

Grantham's secondary at Florida is also less experienced but extremely talented. Sophomore cornerbacks CJ Henderson and Marco Wilson are set to have breakout years while junior safeties Jeawon Taylor and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson should make their share of plays as well.

Expect to see a much-improved Gators defense under Grantham.

Season outlook

Mullen's tenure at Florida will almost certainly be judged by the quality of the quarterback play. If he can fix that situation in Gainesville, he should enjoy a long and prosperous reign; if he fails at that task, he'll likely be shown the door in short order.

Unfortunately, the Gators' future star quarterback might not yet be on the roster. Jones has a chance to be Mullen's next star pupil, but the odds are equally good that Mullen finds his No. 1 on the recruiting trail in the next year or two.

Thanks to a relatively easy non-conference schedule outside of the annual tilt with Florida State, the Gators could make some noise in the SEC East. A road game at Mullen's old stomping ground should provide great theatre, and the matchup against new Seminoles coach Willie Taggart will be an exhilarating chess match between two offensive gurus.

It's going to be tough to top Georgia this year, but it's not crazy to think that Florida could finish second in the SEC East.

Other entries in this series:

• Jeremy Pruitt (Tennessee)
• Joe Moorhead (Mississippi State)
• Herm Edwards (Arizona State)
• Chad Morris (Arkansas)
• Willie Taggart (Florida State)
• Scott Frost (Nebraska)
• Kevin Sumlin (Arizona)
• Chip Kelly (UCLA)

John Owning is a football writer at theScore. He has written for Bleacher Report and Football Insiders. He was also the lead NFL content editor at FanRag Sports. John provides analysis on the Dallas Cowboys for the Dallas Morning News and edits for The Quant Edge. Find him on Twitter @JohnOwning.