Mississippi State, make this easy. Call Dan Mullen. If he says no, I've got ideas | Toppmeyer

Is Dan Mullen ready to put down his golf clubs and prove that Florida did him dirty? Mississippi State should find out.

Zac Selmon’s first football coaching search as MSU athletics director could be as simple as bringing Mullen home.

Selmon clearly viewed Zach Arnett as little more than a glorified interim coach. He fired Arnett on Monday, 10 games into his first season. A 4-6 record, including Saturday’s 51-10 whipping at the hands of Texas A&M, was enough for MSU’s administration to decide Arnett wasn’t up to the job.

We know Mullen can do the job, because he did the job.

Mullen is the reason we think State is rational to expect annual bowl trips. He took State to eight consecutive bowls games, including the Orange Bowl, before sampling Florida’s fast lane and getting ejected after one bad season followed three good ones.

Mullen, 51, seems to enjoy working for ESPN. He’s good at it, too.

A lot of former coaches turn awkward on TV. They stumble over words, repeat clichés or refuse to breach the Clipboard Wall to offer honest criticism of a coach. Not Mullen. He’s sharp with his critiques and suited for the camera. ESPN gets every ounce out of him. You can hardly turn on the network during its college football coverage and fail to see Mullen. When he’s not in ESPN’s limelight, Mullen is liable to be out playing 18 holes. Supported by a $12 million buyout from Florida, Mullen’s life looks to be a charmed one.

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Most coaches, though, are wired to become tired of splitting fairways. When I listened to Mullen’s podcast interview with Saturday Down South before the season, I didn’t come away thinking he’d coached his last game. Rather, Mullen sounded like he’d enjoy showing Florida that it showed too quick a trigger when it fired him despite three trips to New Year’s Six bowls in four seasons.

Mullen talked of Starkville as if it were Paris, even though he left MSU for Florida and would have left it for Tennessee, if the Gators hadn’t come calling.

“I love Starkville,” Mullen said during that podcast episode. “If you had to associate me with coaching somewhere, … I’d say, ‘Mississippi State.’ That would be the school that I would claim.”

MSU still claims Mullen, too.

Dan Mullen looms large at Mississippi State

When I sat down with Arnett during the summer inside the now-former coach’s office, I noticed a StarkVegas casino chip coaster on an end table. The coaster, Arnett thought, was a leftover from Mullen’s tenure.

Throughout that interview, Arnett thrice mentioned Mullen with admiration, unprompted.

Until someone gets Mullen off ESPN’s set and back on a sideline, he’ll cast a shadow over any MSU coach.

Mike Leach endeared himself to State’s fan base and kept the Bulldogs punching above their weight class, but it was Mullen who delivered the program’s pinnacle.

The framed Sports Illustrated covers that hang on the hallway walls in MSU's football offices show images and players from the Mullen era.

At Florida, Mullen didn’t seem to want to work hard enough at recruiting to sign No. 1 classes to keep up with Kirby Smart and Georgia.

MSU isn’t signing No. 1 recruiting classes – or No. 10 classes, for that matter – regardless of its coach, and keeping up with Smart isn’t the priority. Beating Ole Miss and being relevant is the goal. Mullen could match wits with Lane Kiffin, and rarely has a Mullen team been irrelevant.

Developing under-recruited but uber-motivated three-star prospects is State’s sweet spot. Leach made his living doing that, and that’s Mullen’s sweet spot, too. He’s familiar with State’s limitations and its sales pitch.

An X's and O's wonk, Mullen proved his best when scheming how to torment defenses with Dak Prescott or elevating Kyle Trask from a two-star prospect who was a high school backup into a Heisman Trophy finalist at Florida.

Would Mullen, the sequel, be as good as the original? That’s no guarantee, but I guarantee you a Mullen-coached MSU team wouldn’t rank last in the SEC for scoring, like this team does.

If State doesn’t secure Mullen’s return, it had better brace for the possibility of facing him. If Mullen could win 69 games in nine seasons at MSU, he could do that at Arkansas, too.

MSU shouldn’t want its next coach to face Mullen. Rather, make Kiffin go against Mullen.

Other candidates if Mississippi State football can't land Dan Mullen

And if Mullen says no thanks?

Tulane’s Willie Fritz and Liberty’s Jamey Chadwell are winners ready for their Power Five shot.

Barry Odom’s redemption tour is off to a hot start at UNLV. The former Missouri coach who was a successful defensive coordinator at Memphis, Odom would suit MSU’s blue-collar brand, and he understands the terrain. Even at UNLV, Odom is committed to recruiting Memphis and the Mid-South.

Oklahoma offensive coordinator Jeff Lebby worked under Art Briles, Josh Heupel and Kiffin. He knows plenty about offense, although he’s unproven running a program.

If MSU wants proven, it won’t do better than Mullen. The guy on ESPN actually did the thing at State. Maybe, he’d want to do it again.

Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network's SEC Columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on Twitter @btoppmeyer.

The "Topp Rope" is his twice-weekly SEC football column published throughout the USA TODAY Network. If you enjoy Blake’s coverage, considera digital subscription that will allow you access to all of it. Also, check out his podcast, SEC Football Unfiltered, or access exclusive columns via the SEC Unfilterednewsletter.

This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Mississippi State football search: Call Dan Mullen. Or call Barry Odom