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PFF makes odd selection for college football’s Coach of the Year

Kristian Dyer

By Kristian Dyer

Published:

No offense to Dan Mullen or, for that matter, Pro Football Focus, but the selection of the Florida head coach as the analytics site’s coach of the year is just a bit out of left field.

Mullen certainly didn’t have a bad season at Florida and there are even rumors that he could be the target of interest from the NFL. But to put the Gators head coach above the likes of Luke Fickell (Cincinnati), Jamey Chadwell (Coastal Carolina), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), Hugh Freeze (Liberty) and Tom Allen (Indiana)…not to mention Alabama’s Nick Saban…for such a national award is puzzling to say the least.

Florida was 8-4 and went into the postseason at No. 7 in the nation.

Especially with how their season ended.

Since beating hapless Tennessee on Dec. 5, Florida closed out their season with three straight losses. It started with a bad loss to LSU (who finished the season 4-5) before being beaten by Alabama at home and then a 55-20 loss to Oklahoma in the Cotton Bowl.

Not an ideal finish to the season for a coach of the year, wouldn’t you say?

Now Mullen is a good coach, perhaps even an outstanding one. He has Florida hot on the recruiting trail again and pointed in the right direction. But his winning this award from PFF is just a slap in the face to the more deserving names this year.

It just feels like Mullen had a good year that fell short. Some of these other coaches did far more with less.

Kristian Dyer