Tuesday, July 15, 2014

There's Only One Way to Silence Dan Mullen

It took Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen all of 30 seconds to start beating his chest about winning the Egg Bowl at SEC Media Days on Tuesday. Beating Ole Miss is the foundation upon which his career as a head coach has been built. And winning the SEC West, according to Mullen, starts with beating Ole Miss.

"By going to four straight bowl games, by winning four out of five Egg Bowls within the state, we've built a solid foundation for our future," Mullen said. "Upon that foundation, we're trying to build a championship program. I don't think you can build that program without that foundation existing."

Basically, to Dan Mullen beating Ole Miss is the beginning of everything.

It's the same song Mullen has been singing since he took over in Starkville five years ago, when he immediately took the rivalry to the extreme, refusing to even say the words "Ole Miss" and making the Egg Bowl score the key code to the football facilities.

Under Mullen, winning the Egg Bowl would be the focus.

Fast forward six summers and nothing has changed. 

Not only is beating Ole Miss Mullen's primary objective each year, it's also the achievement he continues to put at the top of his resume'. The highlight of Mullen's career as a head coach is his record against Ole Miss, and it seems he won't ever get tired of rubbing your face in it. 

The only way to shut him up is for the Rebels to beat Mississippi State.

Mullen didn't have much to say about the rivalry at SEC Media Days a year ago - his first after suffering a loss to Ole Miss. The air was sucked out of his program and the Rebels' chief antagonist seemed to be on the ropes this past season as Mississippi State struggled into the Egg Bowl with a 5-6 record, but Ole Miss let him off.

And now having learned no lesson from the year before the Ole Miss hatin' Mullen of old is back. For the most part his shtick has paid dividends, and he obviously has no plans to stop voluntarily.

But the downside to centering a program over beating Ole Miss is this: What happens when Ole Miss wins one, or maybe two or three in a row?

It's a problem Mullen has hardly had to face so far, but if Ole Miss is truly tired of listening to Mullen talk about the Egg Bowl there's only one thing to do about it - win.

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