Following his third straight New Year's Six appearance and his first SEC East championship, Florida has signed up for three more years of the Dan Mullen Experience.
The Orlando Sentinel reported Tuesday that Mullen has signed a 3-year extension accompanied by a raise to $7.6 million per year through 2027, a $1.5 million raise from his current salary. The extension does not kick in until the 2022 campaign, but he's in line for $1.5 million in retention bonuses over the course of 2021.
“We are very excited about the future of the Florida football program, and this agreement allows us to continue to build on the success we have enjoyed on and off the field,” Mullen told the paper.
The new deal will vault Mullen past Texas A&M's Jimbo Fisher and Georgia's Kirby Smart in per-year compensation, placing him third behind Alabama's Nick Saban and LSU's Ed Orgeron. That means he'll be the highest-paid SEC coach yet to win a national title at his current school (until someone else wins a title and/or gets a raise).
“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,” UF 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.”
After a 69-46 9-year run at Mississippi State, Mullen is 29-9 (19-7 SEC) in his three years at Florida. The Gators have either won a New Year's Six bowl or a division title in each of his three seasons.
Florida would owe Mullen $12 million if he were fired without cause, while Mullen's buyout is $2 million.
Additionally, the Orlando Sentinel reported assistant head coach/tight ends coach Tim Brewster ($485,000), secondary coach Wesley McGriff ($450,000), and quarterbacks coach Garrick McGee ($390,000) received raises and 2-year extensions, and linebackers coach Christian Robinson ($390,000) netted an extension as well.