UNLV athletic director Erick Harper told the school’s Board of Regents last week that his department does not have enough funds to cover the final three years of football coach Dan Mullen’s contract, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.
Mullen signed a five-year, $17.5 million contract in December, and he is preparing for his first season with the Runnin’ Rebels. However, at a meeting last Friday, Harper told regents that the athletic department is $26 million to $31 million in debt and could handle only the costs of the first two years of Mullen’s contract as things stand now.
When pressed by one of the regents about how the department planned to pay for the remaining three years, Harper said he hopes to raise money through donations and increased revenue from football games while also seeking additional funding from donors.
“We have the funds to pay the coach over the next two years,” Harper said, per the Review-Journal. “We have been working with our donors to assist with philanthropic dollars. We have one that has already paid their commitment, and that money is in an unrestricted line and that will be utilized in the future to help with the salaries.”
Harper said the football program has sold an additional 970 season tickets since the hiring of Mullen, who has a 103-61 career record that includes stints at Florida and Mississippi State. That brings the total season ticket sales to 5,031 for the upcoming season.
Harper added that the university is increasing the price for single-game tickets, suite rentals and new VIP ticket holders. He said UNLV has received $2.5 million in revenue from football tickets sales ahead of next season, an increase from $1.8 million at the same time last year.
UNLV is also expected to received between $19 million and $24.8 million from the Mountain West for agreeing to stay in the conference after five schools departed for the Pac-12.
Mullen was hired to replace Barry Odom, who left for Purdue after leading the Rebels to a 19-8 record over two seasons and the program’s first bowl game in nine years.
It is another sensitive money-related situation from a program that was accused last September of failing to pay agreed upon name, image and likeness (NIL) funds from the school’s collective. That prompted quarterback Matt Sluka to enter the transfer just three games into the season, while UNLV was undefeated.
