The UNLV Rebels made waves this offseason with what many considered a slam dunk hire when they brought in former Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen to lead their team.
UNLV won double-digit games in 2024, and head coach Barry Odom was hired away by the Purdue Boilermakers. While this initially was a blow, the hiring of Dan Mullen should keep the Rebels right on track. However, perhaps the craziest storyline in college football this offseason came out surrounding Mullen’s contract.
UNLV Can’t Afford Dan Mullen’s Contract
UNLV athletic director Erick Harper told the board of regents that the athletic department only has the money to pay the first two years of Mullen’s five-year, $17 million contract.
UNLV issued a statement regarding its athletics budgets, stating the comments made by AD Harper during last week’s Nevada Board of Regents meeting contained incomplete information regarding the salary of UNLV head football coach Dan Mullen. #vegas #unlvfb https://t.co/VId8ueaoku pic.twitter.com/vVAjp6NI6b
— Mick Akers (@mickakers) March 14, 2025
Harper also said that the department is in some major debt, with between $26 million and $31 million owed. The Rebels have to pay Mullen a minimum of $3.1 million a season for the next five years, and as of right now, the last three years are unaffordable for UNLV.
Now, I’m not trying to pour salt in the wound of UNLV fans, but this is objectively hilarious. I mean, who throws $17 million at a coach when you’re $26 million in debt?
As for a solution to this problem, Harper says they plan to continue fundraising from donors and fans to help the program pay Mullen as well as raising ticket prices to help bring in more money (something I’m sure fans with be super happy with).
UNLV better hope they can bring in the money as the last time Mullen was coaching he led the Florida Gators to a 34-15 record in four seasons and can certainly help the Rebels compete for Mountain West championships.
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It’ll be interesting to see how this plays out but I imagine this news came as a shock to Mullen and if this gamble doesn’t pay off the board of regents might decide to move on from Harper.
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