Latest news with #DanMullen
USA Today
6 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Florida among top tiers when it comes to college football's best coaching jobs
Following a brutal start to the decade, things are finally looking bright again in Gainesville for Florida football. Against the odds, the Gators finished the 2024 campaign with eight wins to snap a three-year sub-.500 streak while earning their first bowl victory since 2019. Suffice it to say, things have come a long way since Billy Napier took over for the much-maligned Dan Mullen ahead of the 2022 season. The Orange and Blue were mired in mediocrity for the head coach's first two years at the helm, igniting hot-seat rumors despite a complete overhaul of the program that clearly needed time to allow the fruits of those labors to be harvested. While some of the pressure has eased off, every game — if not every play — counts in the Southeastern Conference, so there will always be an inherent undercurrent of stress on the coaching staff. Back at the end of February, The Athletic still felt like Napier's job was still among those with the least amount of security, ranking his Florida gig at No. 15 out of 16 schools in order of most to least secure. However, some things have changed since then — there has been the Orange and Blue game, NCAA transfer portal, DJ Lagway's return to good health, and many other developments over the past six months. Now, CBS Sports writer Brad Crawford has a much more bullish take on the Gators' coaching gig. In his recent column tackling the topic of college football's best coaching jobs, Crawford organized the cream of the crop into three tiers: diamond, elite and silver. He considered five factors in determining a cumulative score for the nation's featured jobs, assigning a subjective number grade from 1-5, with "1" being the lowest classification and "5" being elite: Among those mentioned were the Florida Gators, who are listed in the elite tier of best coaching jobs in college football. CBS Sports' best coaching jobs in college football Follow us @GatorsWire on X, formerly known as Twitter, as well as Bluesky, and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
UNLV football moves Dan Mullen's debut up to Week 0 to accommodate Canelo Alvarez-Terence Crawford fight
UNLV is moving Dan Mullen's coaching debut for the Rebels to make way for the super-middleweight fight between Terence Crawford and Canelo Alvarez at Allegiant Stadium. The Rebels were originally scheduled to face the Idaho State Bengals on September 13, but have moved the game to become their season opener on August 23. On Friday, UNLV announced that the NCAA approved its waiver to start their season in Week 0 to make the stadium available for the highly anticipated fight. In a statement, UNLV athletic director Erick Harper noted that the program explored several options while dealing with the scheduling conflict. Advertisement "The World Championship Boxing Match is important to Las Vegas, and the impact it will have on tourism is unmatched," Harper said. "Las Vegas is the Sports and Entertainment Capital, and we are a part of this amazing epicenter. As community members and an institution that works closely with many of the city's great constituents, we felt it was important to request a waiver to show our commitment to the community. Harper added that the program looked at several alternatives to moving the game to Week 0, but that solution was "the most logical." After getting fired from Florida in 2021, Mullen took a hiatus from coaching and volunteered at Lake Oconee Academy in 2022. He arrives in Las Vegas after former head coach Barry Odom left to take the head coaching job at Purdue. In two seasons in charge of the team, Odom led the Rebels to 9-5 and 10-3 records. Mullen previously coached at Mississippi State before Florida. He led the Bulldogs to a 69-46 record from 2009-2017 and the Gators to a 34-15 record from 2018-2021.
New York Times
12-05-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Quote of the Day: Time at ESPN Revives and Informs Mullen in Return to Coaching
'I feel very fortunate that I get to maybe rewrite the ending. I don't like the current ending.' DAN MULLEN, the new football coach at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas, reflecting on his bitter parting with the University of Florida.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Coroner's office: Heart issues caused UNLV offensive lineman Ben Christman's death
UNLV offensive lineman Ben Christman's February death was due to a heart issue. The Clark County Coroner's Office said Thursday that Christman died of heart disease and an irregular heartbeat. Christman was found dead at his apartment on Feb. 11. He was set to turn 22 on Feb. 12. According to an incident report after his death, Christman said that he was experiencing chest pains the day before. He visited the team's cardiologist and had an EKG but was told that everything looked normal. He was discovered at his apartment by teammates who went to check on him after he wasn't at practice on Feb. 11. 'Our team's heart is broken to hear of Ben's passing,' UNLV coach Dan Mullen said in a statement after his death. 'Since the day Ben set foot on our campus a month ago, he made the Rebels a better program. Ben was an easy choice for our Leadership Committee as he had earned the immediate respect, admiration and friendship of all his teammates.' Before transferring to UNLV in the offseason, Christman spent two seasons at Ohio State and two seasons at Kentucky. He was with the Buckeyes for the 2021 and 2022 seasons and then transferred to Lexington where he appeared in 12 games over two seasons. He was an Ohio native and four-star recruit in the high school class of 2021. On social media Friday morning, former Ohio State quarterback and current ESPN analyst Kirk Herbstreit advocated for all college physicals to include echocardiograms. His son Zak, a walk-on at Ohio State, was hospitalized in 2023 and diagnosed with cardiomyopathy. In his post, Herbstreit said that a heart replacement was even discussed for Zak but that his condition has improved over the past two years. 'A mandated echo could help save lives,' Herbstreit wrote. 'It's time for the NCAA and conference commissioners to take a look at this. Love to be involved.'
Fox News
08-05-2025
- Health
- Fox News
College football offensive lineman Ben Christman died of irregular heartbeat, coroner says
Ben Christman, a college football offensive lineman who had transferred from Kentucky to UNLV, was found dead in his off-campus apartment back in February at the age of 21, one day before his birthday. Christman reportedly felt chest pains the day before he died while practicing and underwent an EKG at a team facility. Well, the Clark County (Nevada) Coroner's Office announced Thursday that Christman died from cardiac arrhythmia, an irregular heartbeat and cardiomyopathy, a disease that impacts the heart muscle. Christman was at Ohio State for two seasons before he transferred to Kentucky. He sat out the 2023 season with a knee injury and played on special teams in 2024. He was set to play for UNLV in the upcoming 2025 season. "Our team's heart is broken to hear of Ben's passing," UNLV head coach Dan Mullen said in a statement at the time of his death. "Since the day Ben set foot on our campus a month ago, he made the Rebels a better program. Ben was an easy choice for our Leadership Committee as he had earned the immediate respect, admiration and friendship of all his teammates. "Our prayers go out to his family and all who knew him. Ben made the world a better place and he will be missed." School president Keith E. Whitfield said he was "incredibly saddened" to hear about Christman's death. "There is little that can be said to lessen the pain of suddenly losing a member of our university family at such a young age, and my heart breaks for all who knew and loved him," he said. "On behalf of UNLV, our sincere condolences are with Ben's family, friends, loved ones, and teammates during this very difficult time." Christman was from Akron, Ohio, and played high school football at Revere High School. He was a four-star recruit coming out of high school. Follow Fox News Digital's sports coverage on X and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
