UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen: "You Have To Run Your Program Differently Than You Did"

Dan Mullen took over the head coaching job for the UNLV Rebels prior to the 2025 season. He went on to have a successful season, leading the Rebels back to their third consecutive Mountain West Conference Championship Game. It was a great first year for Mullen, who had a lot to deal with after returning to coaching after spending three years in the TV studio. However, he has handled all the changes to college football since he last coached exceptionally well. He sat down and spoke about some of those changes with the UNLV official website.

UNLV Rebels Head Coach Dan Mullen On If There Was Hesitation Returning To Coaching With All The Changes To The Landscape Of College Sports

"There was a little bit, which is one reason why I spent the last few years doing TV — I wanted to let some things sort out and see how [the new system] was working," Mullen said. "Doing the ESPN stuff gave me a chance to assess it from a 30,000-foot viewpoint rather than having to deal with it on a daily basis.

That helped me develop an understanding of the different game that I would be getting back into. And by “different game” I don’t mean the one that you play on Saturdays or when you’re on the practice field; that’s still the same. I mean you have to run your program differently than you did in the past."

Mullen On The Changes To College Sports Since He Last Coached

"I also think the transfer portal can be very positive. For one thing, you can fix your program quicker if you make a mistake in recruiting.

The troubling part is how certain things have been set up.

The fact that football’s three-week transfer window [in winter] starts in December instead of January — which would align more with a university’s calendar — makes no sense. Also, because the lifespan of a team now is one year, January to January, that should be the only window; there shouldn’t be a spring transfer portal.

Now, that second one actually helped us this year; we lost very little and added some great pieces. But I believe what’s good for the game is to have one window. That way our student-athletes understand when they sign with a school that it’s a [minimum] commitment of exactly one year.

How players are being paid also needs to be looked at. As originally designed, players could only profit from their name, image and likeness (NIL). The reality is — and everyone knew it would end up this way — that it’s a pay-for-play model. That leads to a lot of discrepancy and imbalance, and I don’t love that."

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