Mississippi State Signs Dan Mullen to Contract Extension Through 2018

JACKSON, Miss. (WCBI/MSU Athletics) – Mississippi State Director of Athletics Scott Stricklin announced a contract extension through the 2018 season for head football coach Dan Mullen on Thursday evening at the Central Mississippi Alumni Chapter’s ‘Evening in Maroon.”

“Dan has done a phenomenal job in leading our football team the past six years, and we’re happy to be in a position to reward his efforts while making sure he’ll be able to continue building a championship program for Mississippi State,” said Stricklin.

(AP Photo)
Dan Mullen and Mississippi State have agreed on a contract extension through 2018.

“Under Dan’s guidance, Bulldog football has achieved a level of consistent success unparalleled in our history, during which time we’ve been ranked No. 1 in the nation and appeared in elite bowl games. We’re proud Dan is our coach.”

Mullen’s financial package will be $4 million this season and will average $4.275 million over the next four years.

“It’s a privilege to represent our university, our program and our fans here at Mississippi State,” said Mullen. “I appreciate Scott Stricklin and our administration who have given us the tools and resources to be successful and develop Bulldog football into a national brand over the last six years.”

“We spent five weeks ranked No. 1 last season for the first time, but we have only scratched this surface on what we can accomplish here. We have created a winning culture both on and off the field and built a program that has sustained success in the nation’s toughest conference. I’ve always said we are going to win a championship here, and I firmly believe that.”

The 2014 Maxwell National Collegiate Coach of the Year, Mullen has taken the Bulldogs to unprecedented territory in his six seasons. With a 46-31 (.597) career record, Mullen owns the highest winning percentage at MSU since Allyn McKeen from 1939-48 (.764). Mullen has won more bowl games than any coach in school history (three), and he’s led the Bulldogs to a school-record five consecutive bowl appearances.

Mullen became the first college football coach since 1983 to record three straight wins against top 10 teams as MSU defeated No. 8 LSU, No. 6 Texas A&M and No. 2 in 2014. He led the squad to its first-ever No. 1 national ranking — a spot it spent for five straight weeks — including becoming No. 1 in the first-ever College Football Playoff rankings last October.

No coach in college football history has led a squad from unranked to No. 1 quicker than Mullen as the Bulldogs ascended to the top spot in five weeks. Mullen, the 2014 Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year, spearheaded MSU to its first 10-win regular season and its first Orange Bowl appearance since 1941. In the process, the 2014 Bulldogs shattered 29 individual and team single-season records.

MSU has been equally impressive in the classroom and the community under Mullen’s watch. In the fall 2014 semester, the team’s 2.76 grade point average was the program’s highest ever while 19 of the 21 seniors earned their undergraduate degrees. A total of 110 football student-athletes have been recognized on the SEC Academic Honor Roll since 2009. The Bulldogs have also improved their NCAA Academic Progress Rate every year, including most recently a program-record 974.