UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen Confirms "I’ll Still Be Here Next Year"

The UCLA Bruins and the Virginia Tech Hokies both fired their head coaches this week. UCLA fired DeShaun Foster after a loss to the New Mexico Lobos, and Virginia Tech fired their coach, Brent Pry, after a loss to Old Dominion. Immediately after the firings, UNLV Rebels head coach Dan Mullen's name popped up as a potential candidate. Mullen has heard the rumors and commented on both the firings and his name being thrown into the mix as a potential candidate to take one of the jobs.

While he sympathizes with coaches who lost their jobs, and respects the school's decisions, he continues to make it clear that he has no intentions of leaving UNLV this offseason, in taking either job or any other for that matter. He sounds like he is happy in Las Vegas and wants to build a culture and program where he is, not use UNLV as a stepping stone for a better job, which makes sense because he never needed UNLV to get a job at a bigger school. If we wanted to coach a Power 4 team, he could have easily gotten one of those jobs since leaving Florida.

UNLV Head Coach Dan Mullen On Schools Firing Coaches This Early In The Season Like UCLA And Virginia Tech

“I think it’s tough this early,” Mullen said. “Listen — every school has their own deal. I’m not going to judge anyone and the decisions they make. A lot of people say if you’re going to make a change, make the change. But it’s so early in the season.

I think it can hurt the structure of players sometimes within the organization. They still need to grow and develop and go to school. Sometimes (firings) can make things difficult this early in a season.”

Mullen On Getting Fired As A Coach

“I’ll say this having gone through it. You get let go from a program and have a coaching staff and all these different people involved. It’s not an easy thing. It’s a hard thing. It’s always tough. But it happens.”

Mullen On His Name Being Mentioned As A Candidate For Other Jobs

“I love it here. You guys have seen that I love Vegas. We’re having a lot of fun and really enjoying it. I said when I came here that I don’t expect in 15 years to see me standing here. I certainly expect to see me here next year for sure unless they want to get rid of me before then. I’ll still be here next year.

I don’t know if I have 15 years left in me.”

More UNLV On SI News