HOOVER, Ala. -- Early last month, Mississippi State coach Dan Mullen left the SEC meetings in Destin, Fla. -- conveniently so, according to his critics -- just before the school announced it would admit incoming freshman signee Jeffery Simmons and suspend him for just one game after the five-star recruit had been captured on video punching a woman on the ground repeatedly earlier in the spring. Simmons was arrested for simple assault and disturbing the peace.
On Tuesday at SEC Media Days, Mullen had no choice but to face a tough line of questioning about the most highly recruited player in his signing class. Asked if he would feel responsible if Simmons were to commit another violent act against a female Mississippi State student, Mullen said: "We're all responsible if that happens. All of us. But to be honest with you, I'm responsible for the actions of every one of my players. I can't be with them all the time."
Faced with more pointed questions, Mullen came off poorly. Asked if how he would feel if his wife or daughter had been Simmons' victim, Mullen told Kyle Tucker of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: "I don't think my family would be in that situation."
Mullen distanced himself as much as possible from the decision to allow Simmons into school and suspend him for the Bulldogs' season opener against South Alabama on Sept. 3, noting that the university's administration was heavily involved. Still, Mullen certainly had the authority to dismiss Simmons without deferring to a school admission review.
"Any time a situation like that occurs, you have to have a great investigation into what happened, getting as many details from as many people as you possibly can, to make good decisions. You are responsible, in a very high-profile position, you want to make sure everybody in the University is involved, that it's not a football decision," Mullen said. "It is a university decision that we're all looking at making. To do that, you have to have as much information as possible. In this situation, our university did a very, very thorough investigation into everything that happened within the situation there and came up with the conclusion that we felt that Jeffery deserved an opportunity to be a part of our family."
After Mullen had left Destin early last month, MSU athletic director Scott Stricklin stayed behind to take a round of uncomfortable questions about Simmons.
Nearly six weeks later, Mullen was no more comfortable discussing the topic at SEC Media Days.
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