UNLV athletic director Erick Harper admitted that the varsity can solely afford to pay the primary two years of new soccer coach Dan Mullen’s five-year, $17.5 million contract.
Harper made the admission at a Board of Regents assembly final week, telling the group that the athletic division is in at the very least $26 million value of debt and will solely afford the primary two years of a contract that pays the previous Florida coach $3.5 million yearly.
“Now we have the funds to pay the coach over the subsequent two years,” Harper stated. “Now we have been working with our donors to help with philanthropic {dollars}. Now we have one which has already paid their dedication, and that cash is in an unrestricted line and that will likely be utilized sooner or later to assist with the salaries.”
UNLV employed Mullen in December to exchange Barry Odom, who left for Purdue. The Huge Ten college pays UNLV $3 million to purchase out Odom’s contract, slated to reach in two $1.5 million funds paid over the subsequent two years. Mullen hadn’t coached since 2021, as an alternative working as an analyst for ESPN, after a four-year stint at Florida the place he completed with a 34-15 document that included three top-15 finishes.
Mullen’s contract additionally requires an annual $100,000 retention bonus beginning in 2027 and bonuses starting from $25,000 for enjoying within the Mountain West championship recreation to $100,000 for taking part within the Faculty Soccer Playoff. Making any bowl recreation comes with a $75,000 bonus.
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Mullen takes over a UNLV program that went 10-3 final season and is taken into account a preseason Group of 5 favourite to make the Faculty Soccer Playoff. Harper stated that UNLV has offered an extra 970 season tickets since Mullen’s hiring, placing the full at greater than 5,000 for the Mountain West college.
Harper’s admission the varsity can solely afford two years of Mullen’s five-year contract is arresting but not with out precedent. When Colorado employed Deion Sanders to a five-year, $29.5 million contract, the varsity’s AD made an identical remark as Harper.
“We do not have the cash but, however I do know we’ll have it so I am not anxious about that piece,” Colorado AD Rick George stated after Sanders’ hiring.
The hiring of Sanders, after all, grew to become a monetary boon for Colorado as CBS Sports activities’ Brandon Marcello detailed final yr.
UNLV’s massive wager on Mullen is indicative of the challenges smaller faculties face on this present surroundings of ever-growing bills. With Energy 4 faculties set to spend as a lot as $20.5 million on income sharing beginning this yr if the Home settlement is formally accepted, faculties have the selection to both attempt to sustain in spending or threat falling behind.
It seems like UNLV senses a possibility to capitalize on the Group of 5’s path to the Faculty Soccer Playoff and is spending accordingly. Paying Mullen $3.5 million yearly is a big monetary dedication at that degree, and places him above Energy 4 coaches similar to UCLA’s DeShaun Foster and Arizona’s Brent Brennan. If it would not pan out, that large quantity of debt Harper detailed to the Board of Regents might solely develop.
