Dan Mullen stumps for Arkansas to hire Gus Malzahn while denying interest in SEC job

UNLV coach Dan Mullen took an unusual approach to deny interest in the vacant job at Arkansas on Friday. Mullen, a former SEC coach himself at Mississippi State and Florida, said he had 0.0% interest in succeeding Sam Pittman, and instead urged the school to hire current Florida State offensive coordinator and former Auburn coach Gus Malzahn instead.

"0.0 interest in Arkansas," Mullen wrote on X on Friday. "Thanks for the shout out though. Y'all need to hire Gus Malzahn."

Mullen has UNLV off to a 6-0 start (2-0 in Mountain West) in his first season at the helm of the program. Mullen spent 13 seasons as a head coach in the SEC, which included guiding Mississippi State to eight consecutive bowl games. Mullen had served as an on-air analyst for ESPN since 2022.

Arkansas coaching candidates: Rhett Lashlee, Bobby Petrino among options on hot board to replace Sam Pittman

Will Backus

Earlier in the week, Mullen addressed being linked to potential open jobs and reaffirmed his commitment to staying at UNLV.

"I'll be here," Mullen said. "I'm going to be the head coach at UNLV next year. I'll be here. I'm not going anywhere." 

Arkansas fired Pittman last month after a 56-13 loss to Notre Dame, which dropped the Razorbacks to 2-3 at the time. Pittman finished with a 32-34 overall record at the school, which included going 14-29 against SEC opponents during his five-plus seasons as the coach.

If Arkansas did give Malzahn a look -- per Mullen's recommendation -- the school would get a coach with experience coaching in the SEC. The former Auburn coach left his post at UCF last fall to become the offensive coordinator at FSU under Mike Norvell. Malzahn helped orchestrate a 31-17 upset win over Alabama in Week 1, but FSU is just 2-3 since that dramatic victory.