UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen: "I’m Sure There Are A Lot Of People Wondering Why I’m Still Here"

Last year, when Dan Mullen took over the head coaching job for the UNLV Rebels football team, he had to build almost an entirely new roster through the transfer portal. After a successful season with the Rebels, he had a significantly smaller transfer portal class this season. Mullen spoke about how he is happy with the smaller transfer portal class, why some kids enter the transfer portal, and why he has decided to stay at UNLV instead of taking a bigger job somewhere else.

UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen On Building Through The Transfer Portal

“We essentially had to build an entire roster at this time last year because there were so few players left in the program from the previous staff,” Mullen said. “You’re kind of scrambling all over the place, where this year we have a lot of guys coming back and sticking with the program.

We had some who weren’t going to be back for whatever reason — we had guys who weren’t good enough to play at this level and needed to find a level they could play in. We had guys offered big money to leave.

I’m guessing we took 45 players last year and this year it’s 18 to 20. In today’s world, you’re always going to have portal pieces.”

Mullen On Being Happy Needing Fewer Transfer Portal Players This Offseason Than Last Offseason

“I think this is where we’d like the norm to be. I think our coaching staff did a great job retaining players. They wanted to stay and be part of this.

We’re still in the early program stages. We want to keep building. So the (portal) numbers drop when you have that stability. You’d like to stay in that same range every year of kids from the portal.”

Mullen On Why Some Student-Athletes Enter The Transfer Portal

“Hey, maybe it’s all about money, and I understand that. Is it about development? Is it about your career? But you’re also in a great position and don’t need to risk it. You’re having success. You’re happy. I ask them their ‘Why?’ Don’t make an emotional decision. Everything needs to be educated in the decisions they’re making.

Some kids are just going to go into the portal. I don’t know if it’s empty promises from agents or handlers or people at other schools or what it is.”

Mullen On Why He Is Staying At UNLV

“I know why I came to UNLV and I’m sure there are a lot of people wondering why I’m still here. I enjoy it. I enjoy the program. I love the city of Las Vegas. We get great support from the administration and we have great alignment. So, I enjoy being here.

I just try and help the kids understand to really evaluate their decisions before making them.”

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