UNLV Football just lost their most successful football coach in their school history in Barry Odom. UNLV is coming off of its best season in 40 years finishing 10-3. Odom’s combined record at UNLV was 19-8 in his two years in Las Vegas. That success is why the Purdue Boilermakers came calling and offered Odom their job which he immediately accepted.
UNLV was very proactive in making sure that they made another good hire on paper and proceeded to offer the job to former Mississippi State and Florida head coach Dan Mullen who accepted the job to become the 14th head coach in UNLV’s history.
WE GOT OUR GUY!
Welcome @CoachDanMullen to the Rebel Family ????
????: https://t.co/eOBwX8FKO8 pic.twitter.com/QmTPT4aNWT
— UNLV Athletics (@UNLVathletics) December 13, 2024
Who is Dan Mullen?
Mullen broke into Division 1 football as a Grad Assistant at Syracuse and Notre Dame. Before Urban Meyer hired him as a QB coach at Bowling Green in 2001. But when Utah hired Meyer away Mullen was able to follow him there as well in the same role. In 2004 Utah went undefeated with Alex Smith as the starting quarterback. Smith would go on to be selected #1 by the San Francisco 49ers. Meyer ended up taking the Florida Gators job in December of 2004.
Once again he took Mullen with him to continue to coach the QB’s. Mullen helped recruit super recruit Tim Tebow to Florida. Mullen definitely gets credit for helping develop Chris Leak who was able to hold off the surging super freshmen Tim Tebow. Leak helped lead the Gators to the 2006 national championship as he left the program as the all time leader in passing yards.
The Tebow era
Despite not being a starter for the 2006 national championship team. Dan Mullen created packages for Tebow famously called ‘The Tebow Package”. Those package plays were very effective for the Gators. Once Tebow became the full time starter in 2007 the legend was born as Tebow would go on to win the 2007 Heisman Trophy. While Tebow was turning into a larger than life figure in Gainesville, Mullen helped recruit another future Heisman trophy winner to Florida in Cam Newton during the 2007 season. Newton would end up moving on from the program and the rest is history with him. But Tebow would lead Florida to another national championship in 2008. Cementing his legacy as one of the all time greats in college football.
Mississippi State era
WIth the success of Alex Smith and Tim Tebow, Mullen was revered as one of the best QB gurus in the game and Mississippi State offered him the job that he ended up accepting on December 11, 2008. Mullen would bring the program to levels of success that they haven’t seen in Starkville since pre WWII years. He definitely elevated the program to a new level. 69-46 in 8 years leading Mississippi State to their first 10 win season and an Orange Bowl appearance in 2014. At Mississippi State, Mullen coached the multiple NFL Pro Bowlers in Darius Slay, Fletcher Cox, Chris Jones and Dak Prescott.
Back to Florida again
November 26, 2017 Dan Mullen became the Head Coach of the Florida Gators. By far this was the most pressured situation that he’s dealt with as a coach. At the University of Florida, they have expectations of national championships. Anything less simply just wont cut it. Mullen started out hot in Florida. In his first season he led the Gators to a Peach Bowl win over Michigan 41-15 over Michigan leading them to a 10-3 record and finishing #7 in the polls. Mullen would follow up the next two seasons with consecutive New Years 6 Bowl appearances with a 36-28 win at the Orange Bowl and the following year a 55-20 loss in the Cotton Bowl.
That Cotton Bowl loss seemed to be the beginning of the end for Mullen as year #4 became a disastrous one. Symbolic of Dan Mullen coached teams who start out hot and fizzled out as the season started. Ending the season at 5-6 and that would be enough to get him fired after 4 seasons going 34-15.
Mullen is a good coach and is a very good QB coach. He’s an excellent hire for UNLV and could really bring some offensive firepower to Sin City. With the addition of Mullen UNLV should continue to be a program on the rise and an attractive destination for recruits to want to play at. Let’s hope that Mullen can continue to the success that Barry Odom left behind.
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