Introducing The 2025 UNLV Rebels: Dan Mullen's Home For Wayward Boys

The landscape of college football is changing rapidly.

We no longer see programs holding onto 95% of their recruiting classes for three to four years and developing players throughout their college careers.

With the advent of the transfer portal and NIL, players have become more transient than ever.

Some may see this as a detriment to non-Power 4 teams, but if these programs play their cards right, they could navigate today's game to their benefit.

Luckily for the UNLV Rebels, their head coach, Dan Mullen, has been taking this approach to roster building for years.

Introducing the 2025 UNLV Football Team, otherwise known as Mullen's Home For Wayward Boys.

It's like a rehab facility for COVID seniors and five-star busts.

For those who aren't familiar with these names, I'll break them down for you.

Justin Flowe was a former five-star outside linebacker who committed to Oregon in 2020.

He then transferred to Arizona in 2022 before settling on UNLV in 2025.

JoJo Earle was part of Alabama's 2021 recruiting class before transferring to TCU.

After spending a few years in scenic Ft. Worth, Earle decided to go west and settled in Sin City this past December.

Alex Orji and Denver Harris are the young pups of this transfer class, with Orji being part of Michigan's 2022 recruiting class while Harris, a former five-star cornerback, was in Texas A&M's historic 2022 recruiting class.

While this may shock some people who are unfamiliar with Mullen's game, keen observers will tell you this is just what he does.

I can't tell you how many times I watched Mullen take the easy way out when it came to recruiting while at Florida, so much so that he was eventually fired for his lack of recruiting enthusiasm.

It shouldn't be a surprise that the guy who left a pressure cooker like Florida because of his unwillingness to recruit is taking former five-stars on their last chance; it's the "easy way out."

We will see how this works out for Mullen and UNLV, but I obviously have my doubts, having experienced this up close for years.

But hey, maybe this is the perfect kind of job for a guy like Mullen.

The expectations in Vegas are minuscule when compared to those in Gainesville, so there's a chance this strategy could pay off for him.

I'll be rooting for the guy, too.

Despite how badly he flamed out at Florida, he was the offensive coordinator for two national championships in Gainesville, so I will always be thankful for his services.

And if this UNLV gig doesn't work out, he could always get a residency doing impressions of Uncle Eddie from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation.

Merry Christmas! Transfer portal's full!