GAINESVILLE, Fla. (FWAA) – UNLV head coach Dan Mullen added another school to his slate of quick turn-around jobs this season as the Rebels won 10 games and tied for the Mountain West Conference regular-season title. For guiding UNLV to a 10-win season again and another berth in the conference championship game, Mullen earned the Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach Award presented by Chris Doering Mortgage and awarded by the Football Writers Association of America.
Mullen is UNLV’s second coaching honoree from the FWAA and its second in the past three seasons. Former head coach Barry Odom was a finalist for the FWAA’s Eddie Robinson Award as the National Coach of the Year in 2023. Mullen will be honored as the best first-year coach in the FBS at a special reception Feb. 23 at Spurrier's Gridiron Grille in Gainesville, Fla.
The 10 wins this season put Mullen as the winningest coach in his first season in program history. The Rebels have reached the 10-win mark in back-to-back years for the first time and appeared in a bowl game for a third consecutive season, another program first. Including the 10 this season, UNLV is tied for eighth among all FBS teams with 21 wins in the past two seasons and has 30 wins in the last three years.
Paced by record-setting quarterback Anthony Colandrea and a power run game, Mullen and UNLV claimed the bulk of the All-Mountain West offensive backfield. Colandrea was named Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, the first Rebel quarterback to earn such honors since College Football Hall of Famer Randall Cunningham in both 1983 and '84 in the Big West Conference. Colandrea is one of just four players in the FBS to have passed for at least 3,000 yards and rushed for at least 500. He led the league in passing yards (3,050), pass efficiency, touchdown passes (22), total offense (300 yards per game) and rushed for eight scores and 555 net yards.
Joining Colandrea on the league’s First Team was running back Jai’Den “Jet” Thomas, who finished second in the FBS this season in yards per carry at an even 7.00 following a 1,036-yard season. Thomas was the only player in the nation with at least four 100-yard rushing games coming on fewer than 15 carries. The Rebels scored at least 30 points in a school-record 11 outings this fall, including the first nine games.
The Steve Spurrier First-Year Coach Award is based on regular-season results. The Rebels fell in the Scooter’s Coffee Frisco Bowl to Ohio, 17-10.
The 14th head coach in UNLV history, Mullen, 53, has nearly three decades of coaching experience, including 13 as a head coach. He spent nine years at the helm of Mississippi State and a combined eight years at Florida, first as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach and returning to Gainesville to lead the program from 2018-21. He now has an 113-65 overall record leading his programs and has seen 76 players under his guidance drafted in the NFL.
Last month Mullen parlayed the success into a banner recruiting class for UNLV, with the Rebels’ signing class ranked No. 56 in the nation by 247Sports, which bests the program's previous high of No. 66 in 2003. The Rebels boast the second-highest ranked class among all non-Autonomous 4 schools, according to 247Sports and Rivals and a full 12 new players were ranked in the top 100 at their respective position by at least one of 247Sports, Rivals or ESPN.
For more information on attending or sponsoring the fifth annual reception at Spurrier’s Gridiron Grille for the Steve Spurrier First-Year and Legend Coach plus Freshman Player of the Year awards on Monday, Feb. 24, please contact Tricia Garzon of the JAG Agency at 352-214-2331. The media contact for the Freshman All-America Team is committee chariman and FWAA member Mike Griffith, contacted at 770-845-3244 and mikegriffith032@gmail.com.
Chris Doering Mortgage, based in Gainesville, Fla., was established in April 2007 as a residential lending company providing mortgage products including conventional, FHA, USDA, and VA loans. The branch is a division of MortgageAdvisors.com – 3940 NW 16th Blvd., Suite A, Gainesville, FL 32605 – NMLS 70168/1937321. FHA Lender ID 2631500094. For more information, visit ChrisDoeringMortgage.com. College football analyst Chris Doering, a former wide receiver for Coach Spurrier both in college and the NFL, serves as the branch manager.
Founded in 1941, the Football Writers Association of America consists of journalists, broadcasters, publicists, photographers and key executives in all areas of college football. The FWAA works to govern media access and gameday operations while presenting awards and honors, including an annual All-America team. For more information about the FWAA and its programs and initiatives, contact Executive Director Steve Richardson at (214) 870-6516 or tiger@fwaa.com.
All-Time FWAA/Spurrier First-Year Coach Award winners
2025: Dan Mullen, UNLV
2024: Fran Brown, Syracuse
2023: Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
2022: Sonny Dykes, TCU
2021: Shane Beamer South Carolina and Josh Heupel, Tennessee
2020: Karl Dorrell, Colorado
2019: Ryan Day, Ohio State
2018: Josh Heupel, UCF
2017: Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
2016: Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech and Clay Helton, USC
2015: Tom Herman, Houston
2014: Bryan Harsin, Boise State
2013: Gus Malzahn, Auburn
2012: Urban Meyer, Ohio State
2011: Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
2010: Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
2009: Chip Kelly, Oregon
2008: Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
2007: Jeff Jagodziński, Boston College
2006: Chris Petersen, Boise State
2005: Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
2004: Mike Price, UTEP
2003: Steve Kragthorpe, Tulsa
2002: Tyrone Willingham, Notre Dame