HOOVER — His opening joke fell flatter than a football field, but Dan Mullen stood confidently behind the Wynfrey Hotel dais Wednesday, a broad smile on his face and a swift-moving stream of words flying out of his mouth.

It was just like last year, when Mullen faced the SEC media horde for the first time as the new head coach at Mississippi State.

Only this time, Mullen wasn’t talking about the uncertainty that comes with taking over a rebuilding program, especially one that’s recently been stuck in the mud like Mississippi State.

Three-hundred sixty-five days later, Mullen was talking about championships, as in competing for one this year in the stacked SEC West.

That’s no joke.

“Our guys believe, how we played last year, they can compete with any team in the league,” Mullen said. “Our goal this season, as it will be every year that I’m head coach, is to find a way to win the SEC West.”

The Bulldogs came one win short of reaching bowl eligibility in Mullen’s first year, but the way it ended certainly elicited an endless amount of optimism. The aftermath of Mississippi State’s 41-27 Egg Bowl rout of Ole Miss — the team Mullen will only label “the school up North” — is still resonating in Starkville, as 2010 season tickets have sold at a record pace.

The amped up popularity, which will literally reach a fever pitch now that fans can legally ring their cowbells during certain portions of Mississippi State home games, has even prompted a notion that Scott Field should be expanded.

Mullen, while quick to pump the brakes on stadium expansion, hasn’t downplayed the victory, even if it did just make the Bulldogs’ final record 5-7.

“It means an awful lot to the people in the state of Mississippi,” Mullen said. “I can promise you this: I have got a lot of thanks from people in the state of Mississippi for winning that football game last year.”

Now they’re going to expect him to win a few more on yet another arduous schedule.

One year after having the toughest schedule in the BCS, Mississippi State unceremoniously draws Florida, Alabama, Houston and LSU on the road. There are winnable games, sure, but for Mississippi State, there will have to be a few upsets just to crack the postseason for the first time since 2007.

They certainly aren’t lacking in confidence.

“We feel like we’ve got our whole town and community excited,” safety Charles Mitchell said. “We’re working extremely hard to improve ourselves as a team and getting people to come and support us.

“We’re just trying to gain some respect.”

Optimism doesn’t typically abound from a team that plans to play two quarterbacks, but that’s what makes Mullen different. It’s been the plan to play veteran Chris Relf and redshirt freshman Tyler Russell since the spring, and Mullen had no changes to share Wednesday.

He actually added some intrigue to the situation, when he gushed about true freshman Dylan Favre, the nephew of NFL legend Brett Favre.

“He has that swagger, that ‘it’ factor that you want in a quarterback,” Mullen said. “Whatever he’s going to do, he wins. That’s what you’re looking for in a quarterback and that’s what we’re excited to have on our team.”

Relf, a Montgomery product who went largely unrecruited by Auburn, has other plans, of course. He was the star of last year’s Egg Bowl, rushing for 131 yards and a touchdown. His focus this spring and summer turned to passing, though, as Relf, an admitted “laid-back guy,” hopes to become both a balanced quarterback and a bona fide leader.

“He’s getting that demeanor,” Mullen said, “that he has to be better than the other guys on the team.”

There’s even good vibes on the defense. Yes, the same defense that Auburn gashed for 589 total yards (390 rushing) two games into Mullen’s head coaching career.

“It hurt our pride. It broke us real bad,” Mitchell said. “We said from that point on that we’re not going to have a game like that and I believed we bounced back a lot better.”

Veteran coordinator Carl Torbush left in the offseason, replaced by 36-year-old Manny Diaz, formerly the defensive coordinator at Middle Tennessee State. Like Mullen, Diaz has installed his own system, one that relies heavily on the strength of its defensive backs, and also brought a well-received shot of energy.

“He brings a lot of excitement and a lot of energy,” Mitchell said. “It’s going to be fun.”

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