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Report: UNLV to hire Dan Mullen as head coach, replacing Barry Odom

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UNLV is set to hire Dan Mullen as its next head coach, according to Brett McMurphy of Action Network. He will replace Barry Odom, who left after two seasons to take over as the head coach at Purdue.

Mullen has spent the last two seasons as an analyst at ESPN, serving as the primary analyst alongside Matt Barrie for the network’s Thursday night games and contributing to studio shows. He last coached at the college level in 2021 at Florida before the program parted ways with him at the end of the year.

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During his time at Florida, Mullen totaled a 34-15 record, including a 21-14 mark in SEC play. That came after nine seasons as the head coach at Mississippi State, where he went 69-46 and led the Bulldogs to a 10-win season in 2014.

Since his departure from Florida, Mullen’s name has come up in almost every coaching cycle. Still, he reiterated his love for the TV side of the game, though – doing so as recently as Nov. 21 during an appearance on The Paul Finebaum Show.

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“I love doing the TV. I love the situation I’m at. You never say never to go back to coaching. It would have to be the right head coaching opportunity for me and my family,” Mullen said. “When you coach, you’re all in. It’s life-consuming. It consumes your life, your whole family’s life. So, if the right opportunity ever presented itself, you never know, I might go back. But I’m really enjoying this kind of media, TV life. And, being on your side of things.”

Mullen will now inherit a program that rose back to national relevance under Odom’s watch. UNLV went 7-23 under Marcus Arroyo, but won nine games in Odom’s first season at the helm in 2023. This year, the Rebels went 9-3 during the regular season, including 6-1 in Mountain West play, and eventually fell to Boise State in the conference championship.

Shortly after the title game, Odom left for Purdue. That opened the door for Dan Mullen to return to the sidelines as UNLV head coach after the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported him as a name to watch in the search.