Once you become the top dog, the hunting party comes for your head. UNLV pulled somewhat of a banger after their regular season. See, Barry Odom‘s tenure was done. The Rebels got their 19-win run under Odom, and overall, it was a good look. But they need more than that. Hence, enter SEC coaching experience, Dan Mullen. A 103-win career record, so you know Dan ain’t playing around. He made Mississippi State one scary team during his stint with a massive 69-46 record. But what still stands out is his run with the Gators. Although Mullen was fired after the abysmal 6-7 run in 2021, he still took Gainesville to 6 Bowl Games and a 29-win record.

Now, all that is left is to change the fate of UNLV football. But where should Mullen start from? The staff, of course, and he has his eyes on someone very interesting. Matt Zenitz took to X to share, “UNLV is hiring Ohio State offensive line grad assistant Mike Sollenne as its new offensive line coach.” Mike Sollenne and Mullen already have a history. Before his OSU stint, which started in 2022, Mike used to be the interim OL coach for Mullen back in Florida.

He was active for the final 4 games of the 2021 disastrous Gators season. This will be a good pick for Mullen. Not only does Mike have experience as an interim OL, but he also worked as the grad assistant for the Bucks from 2022 to 2024.

Now, for the Buckeyes and Ryan Day, could this loss hit hard? See, Day has already proved himself. After that one Michigan game, he was pretty much walking on thin ice. With the Vols on their first-round game and the history the Bucks have shown against a strong, physical team, it wasn’t looking that great.

But then the game happened, and the offensive play washed away the Vols. Chip Kelly made perfect use of the running corps, and the Bucks run game had complete control of the gridiron with over 300 yards in passing and 156 in rushing. If you ask us, then no, it wouldn’t affect the Bucks that much. They are losing a GA, and it is not a big deal. However, for UNLV, the future is looking quite promising.

UNLV Rebels are going to bawl out

In this era of NIL, if you wanna build the best team, you gotta be careful with the money. Early into the 2024 season, UNLV saw 2 massive fallouts. They lost their QB Mathew Sluka because of NIL issues, and then they lost their leading rusher, Michael Allen.

All of this happening mid-season ain’t something any team would want to see. However, now that Mullen is here, he has some plans to change the fate of the team. The first important task was grabbing a quarterback, and well, Mullen has got his.

Cavaliers QB Anthony Colandrea hit the portal after he was benched during the season finale. He has now commuted to UNLV. Mullen is getting a solid QB from this transfer. Colandrea ended his run with Virginia with a massive 4,083 yards and 26 touchdowns.

Yes, the interceptions have been a problem, with 20 combined in 2 seasons. However, Mullen knows how to create a good QB because he has already done it with Tim Tebow. The second part is creating his staff. Mike is on the team now.

Mullen has already hired Zach Arnett as the defensive coordinator. Arnett comes with head coaching experience from MS State and also his analyst role at Ole Miss. Slowly but surely, Mullen can bring back the old glory at UNLV. We just gotta wait and watch.