UNLV athletic director Erick Harper misspoke last week when he told the Board of Regents that his department only has the funds to pay for the first two years of new football coach Dan Mullen’s five-year, $17.5 million contract, the university said Thursday.
The school said in a statement that Harper made the comments with incomplete information regarding Mullen’s salary, and that his contract and the contracts of its other coaches are completely covered.
“UNLV athletics can fulfill all of its coaching contracts,” the statement read. “To clarify, multiple funding sources cover the costs of all athletics department salaries, including revenues (ticket sales, multi-media rights, etc.), philanthropy, conference revenue distributions, and direct and indirect institutional support.”
UNLV reported a budget shortfall of $26 million in the meeting, but some regents questioned whether it was closer to $31 million. The budget report was not approved and will be heard again at a future meeting.
Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday she doesn’t plan on discussing UNLV’s budget issues with school officials.
“We rarely get into individual school finances. Every school is different,” she said in a text message.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.
