Mullen and White: A marriage made in ‘Almost Heaven’

By Darrell Laurant  |   Monday, January 28, 2008  |  Comments( 0 )

College Football
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If there's any team in the country that seemingly doesn't need help with its offense, it's West Virginia -- the Mountaineers averaged 6.2 yards per rush in 2007 and 7.2 per pass en route to averaging 39.6 points a game. QB Pat White and RB Noel Devine were two of the most electrifing individual performers in the country, and both return this fall.

Nevertheless, as far as new head coach Bill Stewart is concerned, hiring Jeff Mullen away from Wake Forest to become the Mountaineers' offensive coordinator could make the offensively rich even richer.

Last week, WVU announced that Mullen -- quarterbacks coach at Wake since 2003 -- would replace 2007 OC Calvin Magee, who left for Michigan along with Rich Rodriguez.

"He will instill motion and movement within the framework of our spread offense," Stewart said of Mullen, "and make it even more efficient."

Commentary: Now that's a scary thought for anyone who watched the nimble White carve up Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Yet despite a 151.4 quarterback rating and a completion percentage over 60, White has been a fixture under center for three years, and the opposition has come to learn what to expect from him -- brisk short passes, an occasional long ball set up by the run.

Under Mullen, and with less talent surrounding him, Wake QB Riley Skinner completed more than 70 percent of his passes last season, directing an offense that featured plenty of motion and the almost constant threat of a reverse.

With lower-rung ACC talent, Wake won the conference in 2006 and finished 9-4 last season. Think what Mullen could do with White, backup QB Jarrett Brown (129.7 rating), Devine and a flotilla of fleet receivers.

Mullen also has the advantage of multiple football perspectives. Prior to taking over the quarterbacks under Jim Grobe, he coached offensive tackles. As a player at Wittenberg University (Ohio), he was a defensive back.
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