Countdown to Kickoff: 22 Days (Kenny Mullen)

/

Written By T.J. Inman (@TJHoosierHuddle)

#22

The Hoosier Huddle Countdown is chugging along as we reach day #22. That number is no longer occupied by any current players but we don’t have to look very far into the past to find a Hoosier that wore the double deuces. Today, we look back on the career of Kenny Mullen, a player who battled through an ACL injury and decided to end his football career before his final season.

Kenny Mullen

  • Height: 5’10”
  • Weight: 180 pounds
  • Hometown: Fort Wayne, IN/Bishop Luers High School
  • Year/Position: 2011-2014/DB

One of the main themes I have taken from this countdown series is that players who go on to play for IU often come to the B1G after excelling at multiple positions (or even multiple sports) in high school. It doesn’t matter if they went to a giant 6A high school or a small 2A school, the guys playing for major college football teams were all stars in high school. That’s not revelatory news but learning more about each of these players has been a good reminder that these guys were the best of the best at multiple positions before coming to IU. Kenny Mullen was no exception.

Mullen played defensive back, wide receiver and return specialist for Class 2A Bishop Luers High School. He earned all-conference honors in 2010 and was named to the All-State team. The speedy defensive back finished his career with 318 points and tied the school record with six special teams touchdown returns. His play earned him the #10 spot in the state on the prospect rankings list and he chose to come to IU to play for Kevin Wilson.

As a freshman, in 2011, Mullen appeared in all 12 games as a defensive back and on special teams. He started as the nickel corner on two occasions and had 18 tackles on the season. Mullen’s career continued to progress as he started five games as a corner in 2012 and finished the season with 33 tackles. As a junior, Mullen played all 12 games and was named the Special Teams Player of the Week against Wisconsin. His senior season came to a premature end as he suffered a torn ACL injury in the Missouri game. Mullen was named the team captain for a season opener and he was expected to be the team’s nickel corner throughout the season. Prior to the 2015 season, it was announced that Mullen had decided to forego his final season of eligibility. IU will miss his experience in the secondary. The defensive back unit is a big question mark for IU and a lot of young players will be seeing significant action.

Hoosier Huddle continues to provide the best preseason coverage you’ll find. We’ll have more of the countdown along with our ongoing Top 5 opponents series, game previews, Throwback Thursday recaps and a new ongoing series of our national picks for the upcoming season.