Florida Gators Hire Mississippi State's Dan Mullen As New Head Coach

GAINESVILLE (CBSMiami) - The Florida Gators filled their head coaching vacancy on Sunday with a familiar face.

Dan Mullen, head coach at Mississippi State since 2009, is leaving Starkville for Gainesville. Mullen coached the Bulldogs to a 69 and 46 record over eight seasons.

Prior to heading to Mississippi State, Mullen served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Florida under Urban Meyer from 2005 through 2008. He won two national titles on Meyer's staff.

Mullen released a statement, through the University of Florida.

"Megan and I are very excited to get back to Gainesville and the University of Florida. I have such great memories of the championships we won during our time here and have a love for Florida. We are happy to be coming back to such a supportive administration, staff, student body and fan base, which is the premier football program in the country. We will give relentless effort in everything that we do on and off the field. Our commitment will match the passion that the Gator Nation has for this program."

Mullen reunites with Florida Athletic Director Scott Stricklin, who served as AD at Mississippi State from 2010 to 2016, before replacing Jeremy Foley at Florida.