Dan Mullen explains what drew him to UNLV

After three seasons out of the sport, Dan Mullen is back in college football following his hiring at UNLV.

What made him return, though, with the Rebels? Especially with him having had a good gig as an analyst and broadcaster the past few years at ESPN?

“She’s like, ‘What? Like, I thought we were kind of retired with this broadcasting life, like, somewhat, and, you know, out of this world?'” Mullen said of his wife’s reaction while on ‘The Herd’ on Friday.

“You know what, it’s crazy. A lot of people would say what’s going on?” acknowledged Mullen. “I’ve had a lot of people call with interest, offer different jobs over the last couple of years. It was just something like you said. I was enjoying broadcasting. I was really enjoying TV.”

It was what UNLV had as a program, though, that made this offer different for Mullen. Their facilities, both on campus and for gameday, their location, and their ability to compete from the Group of Five made Mullen think and ultimately take the chance when offered to him.

“Somehow, something about this job hit a spark in me, you know. I don’t know,” said Mullen. “We have great facilities here. The Fertitta Football Complex? That family has done a great job giving us facilities. We play at Allegiant Stadium – an NFL stadium, one of the nicest stadiums in football at any level around the world. You’re in a great market. Las Vegas is a great place to live, as you know. You know, we have so much going on that it kind of got me really excited. The path to the playoff? I’m thinking I’m going to go have some fun.”

Mullen comes to Sin City after three decades in coaching, including 13 as a head coach with all of those spent in the SEC. He has a career record of 103-61 (.628) with Mississippi State (69-46) and Florida (34-15). He made one appearance in the SEC Championship in that time with the Gators in 2020. In total, he posted winning records during ten of those falls, including three with double-digit wins.

UNLV is coming off of a successful pair of seasons under Barry Odom at 20-8, including a pair of appearances in the Mountain West Championship. Now, Mullen will look to continue that recent success in hopes of getting them into the CFP.

“We’re going to go coach some ball, have some fun, and have a good time, see if we can get ourselves in the playoffs and win a championship here at UNLV,” Mullen said.