UNLV Rebels head football coach Dan Mullen said working as a college football analyst was advantageous because he was able to watch any game and any player he wanted.
Mullen, who was an analyst at ESPN, appeared on OutKick’s “Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich” show to talk about some of the transfer players he’s landed since taking over the Rebels job at the end of last year.
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Dan Mullen (Nelson Chenault-USA TODAY Sports/File)
“Well look guys, actually we have two [quarterbacks]. Anthony Colandrea [the University of Virginia] who I’ve seen a ton of plays do, and Alex Orji; and the best thing you have at ESPN is I got to watch everyone play,” Mullen said. “You sit in this room all day and I watch every college football game. I’ve seen them all.”
Mullen also talked about what Orji can bring to the Rebels.
Orji was listed as a quarterback while with the Michigan Wolverines, but he had more rushing attempts (78) than passing attempts (48) in his three seasons.
“Alex Orji, I mean, he’s undefeated against Ohio State. I mean, he won, and… I look at what he does, and you look at the strengths of the players, and he was a guy that made me headache last year, sometimes,” Mullen said. “I look at it and I don’t know, I don’t participate in the preparation meetings, I don’t know everything that’s going on [at] Michigan, but I don’t know if they play to his strengths.
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Michigan quarterback Alex Orji runs with the ball against Ohio State on November 30, 2024. (Junfu Han/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
“In football, the coach’s job is to put a guy in a position to do what he does well. That’s what coaching is, and if you don’t do that, you know you’re like, ‘ Hey, we If you have a system, you have to manage a system. Our system is: What do our guys do well, let’s adjust that as coaches to put them in a position to be successful.”
“I was watching some games and saying, ‘Hey, when they put this guy in a position to do what he does well, Ohio State didn’t attack him and they’re playing for a national championship.’ ‘But to sit there and put him in a position to do things without constantly highlighting his strengths seems confusing to me.’
Dan Mullen (Denny Medley-USA TODAY Sports/File)
Mullen last coached at Florida from 2018 to 2021. He was 34-15. Before that, he was at Mississippi State from 2009-2017 and was 69-46.
