UNLV Names Dan Mullen Head Football Coach

LAS VEGAS (UNLVRebels.com) – After two years of making history on the field, UNLV football made a historic hire Thursday as longtime SEC head coach Dan Mullen has been appointed the new head coach of the Rebel football program, Director of Athletics Erick Harper announced Thursday.

Mullen will be introduced to the Las Vegas community on Friday during an 11:30 a.m. media conference on the Fertitta Football Complex practice fields at Rebel Park on campus.

A 103-game winner at the University of Florida and Mississippi State University, Mullen returns to the sidelines in Las Vegas after spending the last three seasons as an ESPN college football analyst.

"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. 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."

The 14th head coach in UNLV history, Mullen, 52, boasts nearly three decades of coaching experience, including 13 as a head coach. He spent nine years at the helm of MSU and a combined eight years at Florida, first as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and returning to Gainesville to lead the program from 2018-21. Mullen has an 103-61 (.628) overall record, a 7-3 bowl game record while leading a program and has seen 76 players under his guidance drafted in the NFL.

"Dan Mullen is an experienced and proven winner as a head coach at the highest levels of college football," said UNLV president Keith E. Whitfield. "I'm confident that he'll build on the strong momentum that Rebel football experienced the past two years and lead our program to even greater heights in the years to come. We're thrilled to welcome Dan and the entire Mullen family to UNLV and Las Vegas."

"We are ecstatic to announce the hiring of Dan Mullen, who is both an innovator and nationally respected leader in the sport of football," said Harper. "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 compiled an overall 34-15 mark in Gainesville over four years and led UF to national prominence in just his first season. He and the Gators took the next step in his second and third seasons with an SEC Championship Game appearance to highlight the 2020 campaign. Registering an 11-2 record in 2019, Mullen and the Gators finished at No. 6 in the final Associated Press Poll, their highest finish since 2009 at No. 3. The year prior, Mullen led Florida to a 10-3 record to become the second coach in Gator history to post a top-10 finish in his first full season at the helm.

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. He guided Florida to three consecutive bowl games (2018 Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, 2019 Capital One Orange Bowl and 2020 Goodyear Cotton Bowl). The 2020 offense was among the most prolific in the country. The Gators led the nation in passing offense for only the second time in program history, as they averaged 378.6 yards per game (ranked fourth in SEC history). Florida finished the season ranked ninth nationally in total offense (509.8 yards per game).

Mullen took over an unranked Florida program in 2018 and the Gators achieved their second-largest turnaround in school history in terms of wins (six). Mullen, who served four seasons (2005-08) as the Gators' offensive coordinator, played a major role in the program winning two SEC and BCS National Titles (2006, 2008), spent nine seasons overseeing the Mississippi State program from 2009-17 before returning to Gainesville.

In 2014, Mullen was honored as the National College Football Coach of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club. He also garnered honors as the SEC Coach of the Year in the same season. His tenure with the Bulldogs saw the program ascend to a No. 1 ranking during the regular-season and play in a school-record eight consecutive bowl games.

As the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UF prior to joining MSU in 2009, Mullen helped produce a Heisman Trophy, Davey O'Brien and Maxwell Award-winning quarterback (Tim Tebow), along with a Rimington Trophy finalist (Mike Degory) and a Biletnikoff Award semifinalist (Chad Jackson).

Player development has been a key to Mullen's coaching career successes. Mullen had 26 Bulldogs chosen in the NFL Draft. Dak Prescott became the highest-drafted MSU quarterback in modern NFL Draft history, going in the fourth round in 2016 to the Dallas Cowboys. Prescott joined the following QBs tutored by Mullen, who were selected in the NFL Draft: Josh Harris (Bowling Green), Omar Jacobs (Bowling Green), Alex Smith (Utah) and Tim Tebow (Florida).

Before heading to Gainesville for the first time, Mullen coached in the Mountain West as the quarterback coach for former MW-member Utah with head coach Urban Meyer, with whom he had spent 10 seasons. While coaching the Ute quarterbacks, Mullen helped develop NFL standout Alex Smith - the first overall selection in the 2005 Draft. The 2004 season culminated with Smith earning National Player of the Year honors from The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated, while also becoming the Utes' first-ever Heisman Trophy finalist.

Prior to his time in Salt Lake City, Mullen served as quarterbacks coach at Bowling Green for two seasons, helping the Falcons record 6,627 yards of total offense with 81 touchdowns during that span. Mullen spent two years before his time at Bowling Green as a graduate assistant at Notre Dame, and before that assisted with Syracuse's 1998 Big East championship and Orange Bowl run.

Mullen was born April 27, 1972, in Manchester, New Hampshire. He earned a bachelor's degree in exercise and sport science from Ursinus College in 1994 and a master's in education from Wagner College in 1996. A two-year starter at tight end for Ursinus College in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, Mullen earned First Team All-Centennial Conference honors as a senior.

He is married to the former Megan West and the couple has two children, son Canon and daughter Breelyn.

DAN MULLEN'S COACHING FILE
YEARS        SCHOOL -- POSITION
2024-SA      UNLV – Head Coach
2018-21        Florida – Head Coach
2009-17       Mississippi State – Head Coach
2005-08      Florida – Offensive Coordinator, Quarterbacks
2003-04      Utah – Quarterbacks
2001-02       Bowling Green – Quarterbacks
1999-2000  Notre Dame – Graduate Assistant (Offense)
1998             Syracuse – Graduate Assistant (Offense)
1996-97       Columbia – Wide Receivers
1994-95       Wagner – Wide Receivers
 
MULLEN'S RECORD AS HEAD COACH
YEAR         SCHOOL                 ALL      CONF
2021           Florida                      5-6         2-6 (SEC)
2020          Florida                      8-4        8-2 (SEC)
2019           Florida                      11-2        6-2 (SEC)
2018           Florida                      10-3       5-3 (SEC)
2017           Mississippi State     8-4        4-4 (SEC)
2016           Mississippi State     6-7        3-5 (SEC)
2015           Mississippi State     9-4       4-4 (SEC)
2014           Mississippi State     10-3      6-2 (SEC)
2013           Mississippi State     7-6        3-5 (SEC)
2012           Mississippi State     8-5        4-4 (SEC)
2011            Mississippi State     7-6        2-6 (SEC)
2010           Mississippi State     9-4       4-4 (SEC)
2009          Mississippi State     5-7        3-5 (SEC)
13 Years                                   103-61     54-52
                                                34-15 UF    21-13 UF
                                             69-46 MSU  33-39 MSU
 
POSTSEASON HEAD COACHING HISTORY
2020    Goodyear Cotton Bowl                              Oklahoma        L, 55-20
2020    SEC Championship Game                        Alabama           L, 52-46
2019     Capital One Orange Bowl (Florida)         Virginia            W, 36-28
2018     Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl (Florida)             Michigan          W, 41-15
2016     St. Petersburg Bowl (Mississippi State) Miami (OH)      W, 17-16
2015     Belk Bowl (Mississippi State)                   NC State            W, 51-28
2014     Orange Bowl (Mississippi State)             Georgia Tech    L, 49-34
2013     Liberty Bowl (Mississippi State)              Rice                     W, 44-7
2013     Gator Bowl (Mississippi State)                 Northwestern   L, 34-20
2011     Music City Bowl (Mississippi State)        Wake Forest      W, 23-17
2011     Gator Bowl (Mississippi State)                 Michigan            W, 52-14