Beginning in 2025, there will be a familiar face leading the UNLV Rebels football program.
After three seasons away from college football, longtime coach Dan Mullen has been named UNLV's next head coach. He inherits a program riding an upward trajectory, having won 11 games in 2024 and falling just one victory short of a Mountain West Championship.
Although he stepped away from the college ranks, Mullen stayed connected to the game, spending the past few seasons as a volunteer "contributing resource" for Lake Oconee Academy's high school team in Greensboro, Ga.
As he returns to college football, it's worth remembering that Mullen is no stranger to the spotlight. All 13 of his previous seasons as a college head coach were in the SEC. After enjoying success at each stop, Mullen now aims to bring those winning ways to Las Vegas.
Mullen played two years of college football at Pennsylvania's Ursinus College before graduating in 1994. His coaching career began almost immediately after, as he moved on to Wagner College as a graduate student and wide receivers coach.
Over the past three decades, Mullen has risen through the coaching ranks and has held three different head coaching jobs since 2009.
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Mullen was hired as Mississippi State's head coach on Dec. 11, 2008.
He led the Bulldogs for nine seasons, with the 2014 season standing as his best in Starkville, Miss., as well as one of the best in school history. That season, the Bulldogs reached the No. 1 spot in most major polls. The run still stands as the program's only double-digit win season since the turn of the century.
Mullen led Mississippi State to 69 wins during his tenure and went 5-2 in bowl games. His final season as a Bulldog was in 2017, after which he departed for Florida.
*Mullen departed Mississippi State for Florida at the end of the 2017 season. Greg Knox coached the Bulldogs in their Bowl Game.
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Florida signed Mullen to a large, six-year contract on Nov. 26, 2017.
He made an immediate impact with the Gators, leading the program to a 10-3 record in his first season -- a six-win increase from the prior year. Mullen led the Gators to a 21-5 record in his first two seasons, but the program took a step back during the pandemic-impacted 2020 campaign.
In 2021, Mullen and the Gators won three of their first four games, but they then lost five of their next seven, resulting in the school firing Mullen less than four years after hiring him.
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UNLV hired Mullen as its new head coach on Dec. 12, 2024. He takes over the program after it posted an 11-3 record in 2024.
"I am very excited to be a part of the UNLV family," Mullen said after his hire. "These past two years, a foundation has been set to compete for championships, including being just one game away from making the College Football Playoff, which is a great testament to where we plan on continuing to be."
Mullen has been the head coach of three college programs.
After leading Mississippi State for nine seasons, Mullen moved on to Gainesville, Fla., where he coached the University of Florida from 2018-2021. He was fired following the 2021 season and took time away from the college game before his return.
Mullen's first game as UNLV's head coach comes during Week 0 of the 2025 college football season.
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Over 14 seasons as a head coach, Mullen has amassed 103 career wins, surpassing the 100-win milestone during his final season at Florida. He is 7-3 in bowl games and has helped six teams finish the season ranked in the AP Top 25.