How do you know that Dan Mullen had a successful stint in his past at Mississippi State? The present head coach, Jeff Lebby, caught side eyes from Paul Finebaum. The ESPN analyst did not take the present UNLV head coach, Mullen’s name. However, it was him lowkey praising the old head coach. 

He said, “Do they have a program that can support a winning football program? I think Jeff Lebby is a very good coach, but I don’t know if the apparatus around him is sustainable.” When Mullen took over the Bulldogs in 2009, he transformed them into a competitive team in the SEC. Under him, Mississippi State achieved five seasons with eight or more wins, including one season with 10 wins. After Finebaum, Mullen himself chose to go through the old pages of history, sprinkling dust over Lebby. 

On August 20, National College Football Reporter for CBS Sports, Brandon Marcello, invited Mullen to his podcast, reminiscing about the good old times. The analyst said, “I really enjoyed my time covering you at Mississippi State. One cause I was cutting my teeth as a young reporter, and I was trying my hardest and everything, and then you just made it so fun because you’re winning at a place that was hungry to win.” And Mullen could not wait to talk about his past. The now UNLV head coach shared, “Winning, winning is good. Well, you know, and back those days too, back then the story at Mississippi State was winning. So, it kind of created the story.”

Mullen’s record at Mississippi State was 69-46 overall and 29-35 in conference play during his nine seasons from 2009 to 2017. During his Bulldogs stay, he was honored as the National College Football Coach of the Year by the Maxwell Football Club. Not just this. In the same season, he was awarded the SEC Coach of the Year. Under Mullen, the program climbed the ladder to a No.1 ranking during the regular season and played in a school-record eight consecutive bowl games.

But gone are those days. As Mullen continued, “I mean, if we weren’t, back then, if you take a program that has kind of lost for a while and you continue to lose there, there’s not much of a story there, you know what I mean? And you know, there are probably some similarities to hear where they haven’t won a whole lot in the past, right? So, us winning is a story. Us not winning, it’s kind of like it’s the same old same old.”  

Under their debut coach, Lebby, the Bulldogs wrapped up their 2024 season with a disastrous 2-10 overall record and a 0-8 mark in the SEC. Their quarterback room fell apart with starting quarterback Blake Shapen forced to be sidelined due to a shoulder injury. Lebby was left with true freshman Michael Van Buren at QB and the conference’s worst statistical defense. Now that Mullen steers the UNLV wagon, he has set some lofty goals.

Dan Mullen’s bold promise to UNLV 

Mullen had tried multiple roles before settling for UNLV. He filled in Jim McElwain’s spot and became the Florida head coach in 2018. And finally, things started to turn in Florida’s favor. The Gators made three straight appearances in New Year’s Six bowl games, topped up with an eventual entry into the SEC championship game.

However, Mullen’s happy ride in Florida soon came to an end. He struggled in the recruiting trail. But the final blow came in 2021, when Florida underwent a heartbreaking 24-23 overtime loss to Missouri that marked their 24-23 overtime loss to Missouri. After being shown the exit door, Mullen thought of taking a momentary break. He became a television football analyst with ABC and ESPN. However, he could not turn down UNLV’s offer in 2024.

By then, the program had already witnessed success under Barry Odom, who led them to the Mountain West Championship game. That makes the ceiling higher for Mullen. He now promises to gift something bigger to the Rebels squad. On the Infinity Sports Network, he said, “Number one was going to be the opportunity to win a Championship. And at UNLV last year, we were a game away from the college football playoff, lost to Boise [State] in the Mountain West Championship game.”  

Already, Dan Mullen is free, as one of his greatest weaknesses has been taken care of in UNLV. On That SEC Podcast, SEC Mike asked, “Is it crazy to think Dan Mullen could find his way back to the SEC now that he doesn’t have to recruit?” “Well, he has to recruit, but not as hard with the NIL and everything,” Peter Burns replied. If UNLV falters, will Dan Mullen’s critique of Jeff Lebby come back to haunt him?