Maryland’s coaching search is still in motion, and Dan Mullen has emerged as a name worth watching.
At 54, the UNLV head coach brings a long track record and a résumé that stretches across some of college football’s biggest stages. Maryland moved on from Mike Locksley a little over two weeks ago, and with openings popping up around the country - including Florida State after the firing of Mike Norvell - the Terps have reason to move quickly and make an impression on candidates early in the cycle.
Mullen’s coaching path started at Wagner, his alma mater, where he was hired as wide receivers coach in 1992. He climbed the assistant ranks before landing at Florida as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2005, a job he held through 2008.
His first head coaching stop came in 2009 at Mississippi State, where he inherited a program facing what many viewed as the toughest schedule in the country. The Bulldogs went 5-7 that first season, then jumped to 9-4 in 2010 behind the boost of recruiting classes that had ranked 19th and 18th nationally.
That second year ended with a win over Michigan in the Music City Bowl.
Mississippi State kept moving in the right direction under Mullen. The Bulldogs finished 7-6 in 2011 and beat Wake Forest in the Gator Bowl, then went 7-6 again in 2013.
His biggest breakthrough came in 2014, when Dak Prescott helped push Mississippi State to a 10-2 season and an Orange Bowl appearance. It was just the third 10-win season in program history, and it included victories over #8 LSU, #6 Texas A&M, and Auburn.
Mullen stayed in Starkville until late 2017, even after signing a four-year extension in February, before taking a six-year deal to become Florida’s next head coach.
At Florida, Mullen posted a 34-15 record over four seasons. The Gators opened his tenure at 10-3 after coming off a 4-7 season, then followed with an 11-2 year and a win over Virginia in the Orange Bowl.
Year three began with an 8-1 start, but the finish unraveled as Florida lost its final three games. Mullen signed the number 13 high school recruiting class in the country in his first year in Gainesville, but he struggled to sustain that level on the recruiting trail.
That weakness became part of the reason he was fired in November of 2021 after a 5-6 season.
After Florida, Mullen stepped away from coaching and moved into television as a college football analyst for ESPN. But he eventually returned to the sideline.
On December 12, 2024, UNLV hired him as its next head coach, and he has since guided the Rebels to a 15-7 overall record. UNLV also brought in transfer quarterback Anthony Colandrea last season, and that move has paid off, with Colandrea putting together a strong season at Nebraska this year.
What makes Mullen appealing is the consistency of his results. He has produced at every stop, and in the pre-NIL, pre-transfer portal world, Mississippi State was one of the hardest jobs in the SEC.
He still found success there. Florida exposed some recruiting limitations, but it also showed he can win at a major program.
His calling card is quarterback development. Mullen has worked with Alex Smith at Utah, Tim Tebow at Florida, Dak Prescott at Mississippi State, and Kyle Trask at Florida. That would mark a major shift from Locksley, whose strength was local recruiting even when the on-field coaching lagged behind.
If Maryland can keep Malik Washington, Mullen could be the kind of coach who turns that raw talent into a high-level college quarterback. It would be a different kind of hire for the Terps, but if athletic director Jim Smith can give Mullen the resources he needs on the talent-acquisition side, the fit could work. In some ways, Mullen may be better built for the NIL and transfer portal era than he was for the one before it, and Maryland could be the place where he proves it while trying to get back into the Power 4.
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