Dan Mullen emerges as name to watch in UNLV football coaching search | UNLV football | sport

Former Mississippi State and Florida football coach Dan Mullen is a name to keep an eye on in the search for a replacement for Barry Odom at UNLV, sources said Wednesday.

Mullen, 52, works as a TV analyst for ABC and ESPN after going 103-61 at Mississippi State and Florida from 2009 to 2021.

In the eight years prior to Mullen’s first season at Mississippi State in 2009, the Bulldogs had a 29-65 record. By his sophomore year, they had completed a nine-win season that included the largest margin of victory in a bowl game in school history (52-14 vs. Michigan).

In 2014, Mullen was named SEC Coach of the Year after leading Mississippi State to a No. 1 ranking in the national polls before finishing 10-3.

He finished the season with a 69-46 record and five bowl victories (eight appearances) in nine years. No other Mississippi State coach had won more than two.

After the culture in Starkville changed, Mullen left to become a coach there Florida from 2018 to 2021.

The Gators went 10-3 in his first season after finishing 4-7 in 2017. In 2019, they posted 11 wins, the most in a season since 2012. In 2020, Florida led the nation in passing attack, averaging 378.6 yards per game.

The end of the 2020 season marked the beginning of Mullen’s struggles at Florida, as the Gators lost their final three games, 8-4.

He was fired following a 24-23 overtime loss at Missouri in November 2021, the Gators’ fourth straight loss to a conference opponent. In a stretch that began with the final three games of the 2020 season, Florida lost 9-2 to teams from the then Power Five.

When UNLV athletic director Erick Harper spoke to reporters Sunday following Odom’s departure for Purdue, he said head coaching experience would be a top priority in the search.

According to his Instagram account, Mullen was in Las Vegas on Tuesday. In the photos, Mullen is seen supporting former NFL quarterback Alex Smith, who will be inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 2024 at the Bellagio.

Mullen worked with Smith as quarterbacks coach at Utah in 2003 and 2004.

Harper also attended the event as UNLV senior linebacker Jackson Woodard was honored as a nominee for the 35th William V. Campbell Trophy. The award, known as the Academic Heisman, went to Alabama quarterback Jalen Milroe.

Raiders defensive tackle Zach Carter played under Mullen at Florida.

“He is a great coach. He took over and built our program from the ground up,” Carter said Wednesday. “They let him go after a bad year. I honestly think they should have kept him. But I think he brings passion as a coach. He fights for his boys and has a great offensive mind. Our offense has been great these three years. I would be really happy if he was there again.”

A spokesman for Mullen’s agent, Jimmy Sexton, declined to confirm or deny that Mullen is a candidate for the UNLV job, saying that Sexton does not release information about his clients to the media.

Contact Callie Fin at [email protected]. Follow @CallieJLaw on X.

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What: LA Bowl

Who: UNLV vs. Cal

When: December 18th, 6 p.m

Where: SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, California.

TV: ESPN

Radio: KWWN (1100 AM, 100.9 FM)

Line: Cal -1½; a total of 50½