Mullen reflects on early college football firings: ‘It’s always tough’

Dan Mullen has seen both sides of the coaching carousel coin. He has taken over programs for those who have been fired and also been let go himself. He knows how tough things can be either way.

It’s early in the college football season. Real early. But already, coaches at UCLA and Virginia Tech have been shown the door. Others in Power Four conferences are on the proverbial hot seat.

DeShaun Foster, whose Bruins lost to Mullen’s UNLV side 30-23 on Sept. 6, was fired Sunday. Virginia Tech fired Brent Pry that same day. Each team began the season 0-3.

It can be a brutal business.

“I think it’s tough this early,” Mullen said. “Listen — every school has their own deal. I’m not going to judge anyone and the decisions they make. A lot of people say if you’re going to make a change, make the change. But it’s so early in the season.

“I think it can hurt the structure of players sometimes within the organization. They still need to grow and develop and go to school. Sometimes (firings) can make things difficult this early in a season.”

UNLV (3-0) next plays at Miami (Ohio) at 9 a.m. Saturday. The RedHawks are 0-2 with road losses to Big Ten opponents Wisconsin and Rutgers.

Mullen understands coaches are expected to win. That’s the deal.

“I’ll say this having gone through it,” Mullen said. “You get let go from a program and have a coaching staff and all these different people involved. It’s not an easy thing. It’s a hard thing. It’s always tough. But it happens.”

For his part, Mullen likely knows his name could be circulated for different jobs as more and more coaches are let go nationally. For his part, he wants no part of it right now.

“I love it here,” Mullen said. “You guys have seen that I love Vegas. We’re having a lot of fun and really enjoying it. I said when I came here that I don’t expect in 15 years to see me standing here. I certainly expect to see me here next year for sure unless they want to get rid of me before then. I’ll still be here next year.”

“I don’t know,” he added, smiling, “if I have 15 years left in me.”

Penalty issues

The Rebels are averaging 104 penalty yards per game, last among the 136 FBS schools. They know they can only play with fire so long before getting burned.

“A lot of the (penalties) are controllable, which is a good thing,” Mullen said. “You know, procedural ones and a lot of emotional little mistakes. Obviously, I’d like a game with no penalties, but I don’t want us to play emotionless. Our guys have an edge to them. We need to teach them how to keep their edge without crossing any lines.

“Our guys have bought into putting pressure on each other to do things the right way, but still have fun. You still have to have fun.”

Impressed opponent

Miami (Ohio) coach Chuck Martin said he was impressed with UNLV’s physicality in the team’s win over UCLA. He also talked up Rebels quarterback Anthony Colandrea and the pieces around him on offense. Martin called UNLV a talented team on both sides of the ball.

“Obviously, this is a huge game,” Mullen said. “I don’t think we’ve played a complete game in any way, shape or form. We’ve kind of played half games. Our offense has played really well at times and our defense has played well at times and we’ve played poorly on offense and defense. Special teams have been good and bad.

“We have to come out and play for four quarters. Keep building from one week to the next and reach your potential every day.”

Fight night

Mullen attended his first fight Saturday at Allegiant Stadium when Terence Crawford beat Canelo Alvarez for the super middleweight title. Players were also in attendance.

“Great fight,” Mullen said. “It was kind of a cool deal and experience for our guys. I don’t know if there is another university in the country whose college football team is ringside at the fight of the decade.”

Contact Ed Graney at egraney@reviewjournal.com. Follow @edgraney on X.