Dan Mullen had it made within the shade as a university soccer analyst at ESPN, however he is now determined to get again to the grind of being a university soccer head coach.
Mullen was employed by the UNLV Rebels in December, ending a three-year stint of his that noticed him as a outstanding analyst on tv.
He had a decently profitable head teaching profession with stops at Mississippi State and Florida, however he had additionally been making a reputation for himself as an analyst at ESPN. That is nonetheless a tricky gig, however being on tv speaking about soccer is way much less of a disturbing scenario than the fixed grind school soccer coaches need to undergo.
So why did Mullen depart his soft life? Nearly as large of a query is why did he select UNLV of the Mountain West as a former SEC soccer coach?
Just lately talking on “CFB with DP” with David Pollack, Mullen defined his determination. In actual fact, he needed to clarify it to his spouse as properly.
“As my spouse stated, after we retired with this type of good TV job, residing at Reynolds on Lake Oconee,” And he or she’s like, ‘Yeah, and now we’re packing up and transferring the household to Las Vegas.’ She’s like, ‘You’ve turned down a whole lot of jobs, you’ve gotten a whole lot of calls, why this one?'” Mullen stated (h/t On3). “I simply — once more, trying on the make-up of in the present day’s school soccer world, and I’ve at all times thought UNLV is a sleeping large, I actually have. You could have an excellent metropolis. There’s soccer expertise right here within the metropolis of Las Vegas. It’s a four-hour drive to Phoenix, three-hour drive to LA. You may draw that circle the place youngsters can get right here and you’ve got an excellent recruiting space to go get gamers. You could have a metropolis that provides all the things.”
The Rebels went 11-3 final season below Barry Odom earlier than he was employed away by Purdue. In Mullen, UNLV is getting an skilled SEC coach with a 103-61 general file and a 7-3 bowl file. Issues did not fairly finish the way in which he wished them to at Florida, however he did have two 10-plus win seasons with the Gators and he at all times had a aggressive staff at Mississippi State.
Maybe his addition to this “sleeping large” generally known as UNLV will assist the Rebels get excessive within the MWC and make a run to the Faculty Soccer Playoff.
