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Mullen makes 'championship' prediction for Mississippi State
Dan Mullen has risen the bar at Mississippi State. The Bulldogs went 10-3 last year and ascended to No. 1 in the polls for the first time in school history, and with the on-field progress evident, the seventh-year head coach says the program is ready to take the next step.
Mullen was on The Paul Finebaum Show over the weekend and made a bold proclamation given the lack of historical SEC success at Mississippi State, which has won just one conference championship, that coming way back in 1941.
"Since I've been here, I've talked about 'We're going to build a championship program,'" Mullen said. "We're going to win a championship here at Mississippi State. I don't know when, but we will. It might be this year for us.
He added, "When I used to say that, I think a lot of people around the country chuckled and laughed and said it's great coachspeak. But I think the type of season we had last year, people now look and say we’re a program that has the opportunity to do that. I like having that type of program."
Mullen also said that, on a broader level, the way success is measured for the Bulldogs won't be the same going forward.
"The expectations within our program have changed. It was always a fight to say, 'Let’s be a team that can compete for championships.' Now we got to No. 1, stayed there for a couple weeks, ended up a couple minutes short against Alabama of winning the SEC West," Mullen said.
"That really showed our guys we can compete, we can expect the opportunity to go win championships here. It changed the standard of what our guys work for. They're hungry to get back to that and get back on top and back to being No. 1 and want the opportunity to finish No. 1."
Image credit: Wesley Hitt-Getty Images
