Dan Mullen Opens Up About His Coaching Comeback With UNLV Rebels

The UNLV Rebels football program signed Dan Mullen this offseason to be their head coach after a stint on ESPN as a college football analyst. Recently, when speaking to The Athletic, he opened up about why he left coaching and how coaching in the SEC for the Florida Gators almost ended his desire to coach football; however, joining UNLV has revitalized his excitement for coaching. 

“Regret is an interesting word,” Mullen said. “I don’t like how it ended. I didn’t know whether I was going to get back into coaching. I’m in a much better headspace than where I was when I left Florida. I feel very fortunate that I get to maybe rewrite the ending. I don’t like the current ending... When you’re in the SEC for as long as I was, you get to where it feels like everything is life and death. (Football) doesn’t need to consume every second of your life. The neat thing about being in this town is people will make you feel that way. They’ve said, ‘So excited for you, good luck, we’re pulling for you.’ In Florida, it was like, ‘Hey, you better win.’ In the SEC, if you win, it’s like, ‘Hey, good job.’ If you lose, it’s like you walked into someone’s house and kicked their dog... It was becoming a job. It was hard. If I had stayed at Florida, I don’t know if I would still be coaching today.”

Now with the Rebels, his players and coaches can see that his passion is back. His defensive coordinator has spoken about how excited Mullen and his staff are excited and lucky for the opportunity to coach at UNLV. “He’s energized, I think he sees that this thing can be a really unique opportunity,” Paul Guenther said. “And that’s why I’m here, too.”