Dan Mullen Embraces Las Vegas In Building UNLV Football Culture

Las Vegas is a city unlike any in the world. It hasn't taken long for new UNLV head coach Dan Mullen to figure that out. Having a football program in a city like Vegas can have it's advantages and disadvantages. Everything going on in the city can be both an attraction and distraction for young student-athletes.  

Mullen spoke about what it means for recruiting when it comes to everything from magician David Blain to WWE WrestleMania.

Dan Mullen On The Difference Between Las Vegas And Other College Towns:

"There's a lot of schools in the country like, 'OK, your reward these two weeks is pick a great restaurant in town.' Well, I mean, basically there's one or two restaurants they're going to go to. Here, guys are at the UFC championship fight. This week, they're going to David Blaine the illusionist. They're going to Tao restaurant. They're going on helicopter tours of the city. You can't do that other places."

Dan Mullen On WrestleMania Taking Place At Allegiant Stadium:

"The benefit is, our players get to go to WrestleMania. The negative is it's actually in our stadium. So we can't have the spring game that day."

Dan Mullen On How It Makes College Kids Feel Like Pros:

"You're not going to walk on campus and get a feel that you're in a Deep South school with lined-up fraternity and sorority houses everywhere. But there's an awful lot going on in this town that guys are excited about, and there's a lot for them to do. You're at a city campus with the city with everything going on. Players think it's the coolest thing in the world that they get to [feel] like a pro athlete in a big city."

Dan Mullen On UNLV Fans:

"What I'm learning, if you win here, they love you. You are it. If you lose, they just don't really care, because there's a bunch of other things for them to go do."

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