Dan Mullen plans on staying at Mississippi State, at least for now.
Mullen, who has been linked to several coaching vacancies, said he planned on staying with the Bulldogs during his postgame press conference following his team's 31-28 loss to Ole Miss on Thursday.
Mullen is considered by many to be the favorite in Tennessee's coaching search, as well as a top candidate for Florida behind former Oregon and NFL coach Chip Kelly and UCF's Scott Frost.
Earlier this week, SEC Network's Paul Finebaum told SportsCenter that he believes the Mississippi State coach could join the Vols next season.
"I happened to be in Knoxville Thursday and from the time I was there to the time I flew out that afternoon, everything was about one person, Jon Gruden," Finebaum said. "I do not think the Gruden story is true. I think that they like Gruden and certainly there's something there, but for the most part, Dan Mullen is a name you keep hearing about and there's been some other names mentioned, but I think most people in Knoxville were glad Butch Jones was fired maybe a couple weeks after he should've been."
Mullen currently holds a 69-45 (33-38 SEC) head coaching record and has led the Bulldogs to seven consecutive winning seasons.
In 2010, Mississippi State earned its first No. 1 overall ranking in program history and finished with a 10-3 (6-2 SEC) overall record, earning Mullen several coaching honors including the AP and Athlon SEC Coach of the Year awards and the Maxwell Football Club Coach of the Year award.
