LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The UNLV Rebels will enter the new season with a new head coach. Dan Mullen was hired in hopes of continuing the past two years of making history on the field.
Mullen returns to the sidelines in Las Vegas after spending the last three seasons as an ESPN college football analyst.
He will be introduced to the Las Vegas community on Friday during an 11:30 a.m. conference on the Fertitta Football Complex practice fields at Rebel Park on campus. The event is open to the public.
“I am very excited to be a part of the UNLV family,” Mullen said.
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. I want to thank President Keith Whitfield and Director of Athletics Erick Harper for this opportunity. Our program will make the university proud and benefit our student-athletes equally, both on and off the field. I look forward to creating excitement for all UNLV Athletics and our goal is to be the premier program in the Mountain West.
As the 14th head coach in UNLV history, the 52-year-old boasts nearly three decades of coaching experience, including 13 as a head coach.
He spent nine years at MSU and a combined eight years at Florida, first as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and then returning to Gainesville to lead the program from 2018 to 2021.
On the national stage, Mullen became the first head coach in FBS history to win BCS/New Year’s Six bowl games in both of his first two seasons with a program.
This news comes just days after Barry Odom took a job as the new head coach at Purdue.
