New UNLV football coach hits transfer portal for 1st recruiting class

Dan Mullen says UNLV football isn’t in a rebuilding situation.

It’s in a take-the-next-step situation.

The school’s new coach began such a process Wednesday with the announcement of his first recruiting class at the Fertitta Football Complex.

“We wanted big, fast, strong and talented,” Mullen said. “I not only want us to look good walking off the bus. I want us to look good walking on the field, to look good when we line up on every snap, to look good at the end of the snap.

“For people to say, ‘Wow, those guys are good.’”

The class includes 43 players who join 13 others who signed during the early period in December under former coach Barry Odom. He left to coach Purdue following the season.

Wednesday’s class includes four high school recruits and 39 transfer portal additions.

Twenty-one players come on the offensive side of the ball, 18 on defense and four on special teams.

“An exciting day,” Mullen said. “We have a lot of new faces that have been here for a couple weeks. The exciting part is the new (recruiting) world and everyone coming together as one football team that will hopefully bring us a championship this season.

“Obviously, (a high number of transfers) are a sign of the times. In today’s new world, it may make the transition a little easier. That, hey, these guys are looking for new opportunities to either go with a previous coaching staff or the opportunity to go play somewhere else. We’ll see if that holds true with that big a number in years to come.”

Quarterbacks

Quarterback is critical for any scheme, but especially for the spread offense Mullen runs. His past pupils have included Alex Smith, Dak Prescott and Tim Tebow.

Two of Mullen’s signees at the position in this first class come from Power Four schools. Anthony Colandrea played at Virginia and Alex Orji at Michigan.

Mullen saw much of both while working as an analyst for ESPN.

“(Colandrea) has the ‘it’ factor, the swagger and confidence he plays with,” Mullen said. “You look for things that are hard to coach — his ability to extend plays and make stuff happen if something breaks down.

“With (Orji), watching his skill, is a guy I’m really excited about and what he brings to the table. His leadership, his mental toughness, his physicality, his ability to run the ball, his arm talent. All those things are there.

“Everybody is competing. I don’t know if they’re competing for starting jobs. They’re competing for playing time. The most interesting stat in football that no one keeps is who finishes.”

Local recruiting

Among those in the class is Centennial High (California) standout wide receiver Tavian McNair, an early graduate who enrolled last month. He’s a Southern Nevada native who has come home to play college ball.

As for scouring Las Vegas for players, Mullen said this isn’t 20 years ago, when the town wasn’t the most heavily recruited area.

But because of its growth, the depth of talent has increased exponentially. He expects the Rebels to be one of if not the top program in the western U.S.

And for those local recruits to notice.

“Kids don’t have to get on a plane and leave here all the time,” he said. “They can achieve all their goals by staying right here at home. There’s a lot of local talent for us to recruit. When you look where this program has headed the last couple years, there is reason to play here.”

UNLV’s transfer class leads the Mountain West rankings and is 62nd nationally, according to 247Sports.

The Rebels finished last season with their most wins (11) since 1984 and were ranked nationally in the Associated Press poll for the first time in school history.

“We went out and said, ‘Let’s just go try and recruit the best team we possibly can,’” Mullen said. “One thing all championship teams have is depth.

“You don’t win 11 games without having a great culture inside the building. Guys here have a hunger to win. It’s a lot of fun for guys who have been here in the past and for newcomers.”

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