Desert Phoenix: Dan Mullen Returns to College Football at UNLV
After a hiatus in broadcasting, Dan Mullen is back on the sidelines as the head coach at UNLV, aiming to restore the program to prominence with a strong roster.
LAS VEGAS — Dan Mullen emerges from a darkened meeting room after reviewing film from a hot practice in July, feeling invigorated and refreshed. The UNLV head coach walks down a long hallway, cracking jokes and laughing with staffers. He’s not in a rush. He doesn’t have a series of meetings on his calendar or a slew of events to attend, unlike when he was a head coach in the SEC.
Four years after his career at Florida ended, Mullen is back in his element. The internal pressure to win is still there, but the outside roar that constantly surrounded him in the SEC seems like white noise out here in the desert of Las Vegas.
“There are 15 fan bases at the end of the year that expected to win the SEC championship that didn’t,” Mullen summarizes. UNLV expects to win, yes, especially after reaching the Mountain West Championship Game in back-to-back seasons under Barry Odom. But the scrutiny on the program and its staff is nowhere near the nuclear levels at a place like Florida or even Mississippi State.
Mullen states confidently, “Since that day (I took the UNLV job), I’ve been happy. I don’t have one regret, not one day I don’t have a huge smile on my face.”
Having spent the past four years in television studios and as an analyst for ESPN’s college football broadcasts, he has watched the sport evolve into a semi-professional entity, observing rapid changes with roster turnover in the transfer portal. Each week, he connected with former coaching colleagues who found themselves overwhelmed with the transformation.
Mullen recounts that former colleagues would joke about trading places with him: “No way you’re getting back into it.”
Reflecting on his return, Mullen recalls events from 2024 that reignited his passion. A reunion of his 2014 Mississippi State team, which was the first to achieve a #1 national ranking in the College Football Playoff, resonated deeply with him. Later, seeing former Utah quarterback Alex Smith inducted into the National Football Foundation’s Hall of Fame in Las Vegas affected him profoundly.
As Mullen continues to embrace his role at UNLV, the hopes are high as he leads a team that boasts an influx of talent unfamiliar to the program but familiar in stature and skill.
