Hometown Clinton - Fall 2016

Megan Mullen
On game day, all eyes are on our
teams and their game day routines.
What’s your usual game day routine?
Typically we have anywhere between 10-20
guests staying in our house for games. We
just hang out until about an hour before the
Dawg Walk. That’s when we start heading
over to the stadium. We go right to the Dawg
Walk, visit some friends, have fun for an hour
and a half, and then we hunker down for the
next 3.5 hours of life and say some prayers.
What’s been the greatest reward
of being a coach’s wife?
Changing young men’s lives and making a
difference. We’ve known our players since we
recruited them at 16 or 17 years old and to see
them become young, respectful men is very
rewarding. I got a call one day from one who
was wanting to propose to his girlfriend and
he was asking me how to do it. Knowing that
you are impacting a young man’s life is very
special. These players really are my children.
I consider them as much mine and my team
as they are Dan’s.
What’s the most difficult part?
It’s hard seeing anybody get criticized or
spoken unfairly about. The reality of it is that
fans probably only know about 20% of what
really goes on in the football program. People
forget that these are 18-20 year-olds trying to
navigate their way through life. And on top of
all the football pressure, they go through other
things, too–sickness or the death of a family
member or friend, and having to study and
write papers. It’s an unbelievable amount of
responsibility they carry on their shoulders–
and they’re still babies. Our players try their
best, which is all Dan wants from them. He
always asks, “Were you your best today?” All
you can ask anyone to do is their best–so to
hear anyone of them get criticized kind of
bums me out a bit.
What has been your favorite “perk”
of being the head coach’s wife?
Probably the police escorts to and from the
games.
How do you deal with vocal fans
who get down on the coaches?
I don’t listen to them. I have no social media–
no Facebook, no Twitter, no Instagram–so
I don’t see it, which is probably best. But,
overall, I really do believe people know that
what we’ve done at Mississippi State is pretty
special.
Do you have any superstitions you
tend to adhere to on game day?
I’m definitely a big fan of chocolate croissants
from Williams-Sonoma on home game days.
And as for friends watching the game with
me, they know that if I don’t like how the
quarter is going, everyone has to switch up
seats. They’ve known me long enough now
that they just automatically move. And if by
any chance the game doesn’t go the way it
should, they know they’re in jeopardy of an
invite back next year.
Describe your favorite meal you
like to prepare when the whole
family can eat together.
Dinners together during the season are hard
to come by. So on our one bye week during
the season, we always cook a big turkey and
call it Thanksgiving. We lock ourselves in our
house, spend the day in pajamas, eat nonstop,
and watch every game we can find on our TV.
On a normal night, I have a shrimp and rice
dish that Dan likes a lot with either steak or
fish. My emergency quick meal is Chicken
Merengo that’s served over rice. For the team,
you will always find Mamma Mullen’s Buffalo
Chicken Dip served in a football shaped
crockpot on the counter; and if it’s not there,
I’ll hear about it.
Tell us a bit about how you and
your husband met and what
attracted you to him.
Dan was the quarterback coach at Bowling
Green State University under Urban Meyer
and I was the weekend sports anchor for the
NBC affiliate in Toledo, Ohio, so I covered
the team. Dan emailed the TV station for a
date with me. A week later he emailed the
station again. The news director came out and
read me the email. He told me that I needed
to go out with this guy, so I agreed. I left the
set that night and got to the place before Dan
did and when I turned around and saw him,
he took my breath away.
What would you like
the fans to know about
your husband as a coach that
they might not know?
I believe my husband is the best coach out
there. He was honored as the Maxwell
National Coach of the Year for the 2014
season. No one ever expected our Bulldogs
to be #1 in the nation–and we did it. Dan
and our staff have the extraordinary ability
to make players the absolute best they can
be. Most importantly, Dan is committed to
making these boys champions in life and he
takes great care in preparing them to be the
best husbands, fathers, and workers. I respect
Dan more than anyone I’ve ever met in my
entire life. There’s no cutting corners.
There’s no taking the easy way. He just does
everything the right way.
What’s been your greatest
challenge as a parent?
I don’t get the simple, “Yes, mommy,” answers
quite as much anymore. I get challenged by
my little peeps. I just want them to stay my
babies and they’re growing up way too fast.
I would love to keep them off all the iPads,
phones, YouTube, and video games, too.
When we retire from coaching,
I would like to ____________?
I’d like to have dinner with Dan every night
and I probably would like to be sitting
somewhere on a lake with him because
I think that is where he is happiest.
What are some things your family
enjoys doing together?
We have a lake house in Georgia, so we love
being on the lake. Our new favorite thing to
do is surfing. Anything that involves water or
boating, we just love because it is kind of our
safe haven. It takes us away from everything
and I think the water is really therapeutic.
How does your family celebrate
after a big win?
By racing home, getting into our pajamas as
soon as possible, regardless of what time of
day it is, and sitting on the couch with a cold
beverage and snacks, watching all the rest of
the games. Or watching all the other teams
suffer because we’ve won. n
26 • Aug/Sept/Oct 2016 Hometown Clinton • 27
26 • Aug/Sept/Oct 2016