Dan Mullen’s new contract extension makes him the 5th-highest paid coach in the nation

Dan Mullen has brought a level of success back to Florida Gators football, and he’ll now be among the highest-paid coaches in the country.

In the seven seasons that preceded Dan Mullen coming in as head coach, the Florida Gators won 10 or more games twice. Now, with two double-digit win campaigns in three years, Mullen is getting a three-year contract extension (through 2026) that will give him a raise to $7.6 million per year.

Coming off a trip to the SEC Championship Game last season, Mullen is getting a $1.5 million per year raise in his new deal. He will now be the third-highest paid coach in the SEC for 2021, behind Nick Saban ($9.1 million) and Ed Orgeron ($8.7 million). He’ll also become the fifth-highest paid coach in the country.

Dan Mullen is paid like a championship coach despite bot competing for championships

Mullen is 29-9 as the head coach at Florida, where he was an assistant under Urban Meyer from 2005-2008 before becoming the head coach at Mississippi State. After reaching one high-level bowl game over the aforementioned seven seasons after Meyer retired, the Gators have gone to three straight New Year’s Six bowls under Mullen (Peach, Orange and Cotton). There’s plenty of promise heading into this year to keep that run going, even if a return trip to the conference title game will be a tough bargain.

Mullen has courted some controversy in recent months though. He urged Gators’ fans to “pack the Swamp” for a game against Texas A&M, in the middle of the pandemic of course. Later in the season, he was part of a benches-clearing brawl during the game against Missouri and got a $25,000 fine.

In December, Florida was given one year of probation and Mullen got a one-year show-cause order due to recruiting violations. But the brass in Gainesville is happy with his overall work thus far.

“Dan has done a tremendous job in his three seasons at Florida, and we are fortunate to have someone with his obvious talents and head coaching experience leading our football program,” athletic director Scott Stricklin said in a statement. “I look forward to working alongside him to support his vision for Gators football and our student-athletes for many years.”