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Dan Mullen has found his new head coaching challenge, and it’s nowhere near SEC country.
The former head coach at Florida and Mississippi State is back in the coaching world, leaving his ESPN analyst gig to take the head coaching job at UNLV.
UNLV athletic director Erick Harper made the official announcement on Thursday after reports of the hire surfaced on Wednesday night. The 52-year-old Mullen will be formally introduced as the Rebels head coach on Friday.
“We are ecstatic to announce the hiring of Dan Mullen, who is both an innovator and nationally respected leader in the sport of football,” Harper said in a school release. “The momentum of UNLV football continues to skyrocket with Coach Mullen coming aboard and is even more proof that our university is serious about success. Rebel Nation came alive while watching this program reach new heights the last two seasons and we are excited to keep it moving forward under the leadership of someone the caliber of Dan Mullen.”
Mullen spent the past 3 seasons at ESPN, but he couldn’t ignore the lure of coaching. He will lead a UNLV program that reached lofty heights in 2024, as the Rebels won 10 games and got to the Mountain West Championship Game. UNLV fell short in the title game last Friday night, losing to Boise State, 21-7.
The 10-3 Rebels will play California in the Art of Sport LA Bowl on Wednesday night in Inglewood, Calif.
Mullen will replace Barry Odom, who left UNLV on Sunday to take the head coaching job at Purdue. Odom went 19-8 in 2 seasons at UNLV and led the Rebels to back-to-back Mountain West title game appearances.
“I am very excited to be a part of the UNLV family,” said Mullen. “These past two years, a foundation has been set to compete for championships, including being just one game away from making the College Football Playoff, which is a great testament to where we plan on continuing to be. My expectation is to keep that excitement and momentum alive and produce a team for the University, the City of Las Vegas and the State of Nevada that is going to compete for championships on a regular basis.”
Mullen was the head coach at Mississippi State from 2009-17 before heading to Gainesville to coach the Gators from 2018-21. He had a combined record of 103-61 with the 2 SEC schools and was 7-3 in bowl games. Now, he’s entering a new world of college football in a new part of the country.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
