Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen has denied a report from WAPT-TV in Jackson, MS, that he is close to signing a deal to be the next coach at Penn State.
“Yeah I heard about the TV report,” Mullen told the Clarion Ledger at the Mississippi Sports Hall of Fame and Museum on Tuesday. “It’s the most irresponsible reporting that I’ve ever heard of.”
Mullen told the newspaper that he has never been contacted by Penn State or any other school in regards to a job opening. He suggested in the report that the story was planted.
“I blame it on rival institutions trying to ruin our recruiting which we have dominated in this state over the past three years,” Mullen said, according to the report.
A Mississippi State spokesman told the television station Tuesday that its report was not true. The original report cited sources “close to Mississippi State’s program” that said otherwise.
The former offensive coordinator at Florida, Mullen won nine games at Mississippi State in 2010 and guided the Bulldogs to a 6-6 mark this season. More importantly, he seems to have changed the culture in Starkville.
But we don’t think that has earned the Pennsylvania native the coaching job in State College, especially since it’s so early in the process for the Nittany Lions.
