Dan Mullen zings Nick Saban

HOOVER, AL --- Dan Mullen bristled Wednesday afternoon at SEC Media Days when he was asked a question regarding an earlier comment by Alabama head coach Nick Saban that the spread offense has its drawbacks when preparing players --- quarterbacks in particular --- to play in the National Football League.

Here is the question and the transcript of Mullen's response:

You're one of the leading practitioners in the SEC of the spread offense. Coach Saban referred to it being both difficult to defend, but also it had drawbacks when it comes to preparing people for the NFL. How do you counter those when you were recruiting? How do you keep that offense evolving?

COACH DAN MULLEN: I'm not going to knock him. I don't know his personal record. I've coached the spread offense and I have a lot of more first-round quarterbacks drafted than he has in his career as a head coach. Develop them for the NFL, I don't know. In the last six years, I've had two of mine get drafted in the first round.

I think it does develop those players pretty well to get there. Amazing, one was a five star recruit and one was a one star recruit. When you develop players as a coach, you develop players. One came to me, I guess, somebody in here probably rated him a five star, a superstar player. Somebody rated him as a one star. When I got him, I must have done a great job of coaching him to be a first pick in the draft.

I think that's very overrated for that. I coached the NFL Rookie-of-the-Year, I think, last year, too, was in the spread offense, Percy Harvin. So I don't know. I guess statistically a lot of coaches like to say that. But factually, if you check the facts, I think the spread offense is developing the players for the NFL at a little higher rate than other offenses.