UNLV admits it can afford first two years of Dan Mullen's contract

UNLV athletic director Erick Harper admitted the school can only afford to pay the first two years of new head football coach Dan Mullen’s contract.

Mullen signed a five-year deal with the school worth $17.5 million in total money, but UNLV will require help from donors to fund the rest of the contract.

“We have the funds to pay the coach over the next two years,” Harper said at a meeting of the UNLV Board of Regents, adding that the athletic department is in at least $26 million of debt.

“We have been working with our donors to assist with philanthropic dollars, ” Harper added.

“We have one that has already paid their commitment, and that money is in an unrestricted line and that will be utilized in the future to help with the salaries.”

While hearing that a school doesn’t yet have the money to pay a football coach may seem alarming, it does indicate the new financial environment schools have to work in.

Power Four schools are set to pay out as much as $20.5 million directly to players in a revenue-sharing deal that is expected to arise if the House vs. NCAA settlement is approved, as insiders predict it will be.

Looking at those kinds of expenses, schools are faced with a blunt choice to either maintain spending on their players or risk falling behind the competition.

UNLV’s investment in Mullen appears to be a bet that its football team can contend for a place in the College Football Playoff under his leadership, and is spending its money along those lines.

The school hired Mullen to lead its football program in December to replace the outgoing Barry Odom, who left the team to become the head coach at Purdue.

In turn, Purdue will pay UNLV $3 million to buy out Odom’s contract and that money is expected to be handed out in two equal $1.5 million installments over the next two years.

Mullen is set to be paid $3.5 million per year, according to the terms of his contract with UNLV.

That deal includes an annual $100,000 retention bonus that begins in 2027 and other bonuses of $25,000 for playing in the Mountain West title game, and $100,000 if he leads the team to the College Football Playoff.

UNLV was a credible contender from the Group of Five to make the playoff last season, ultimately going 10-3 and finishing as the runner-up in the Mountain West behind CFP-bound Boise State.

Building from that foundation, UNLV is hoping its investment in Mullen will pay off, otherwise the debt that Harper says his department faces may only get worse.

(Report)

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