Dan Mullen wants prospective UNLV students (and athletes) to know Las Vegas is a safe city. That might be true, relatively speaking, but it does not change the reality of a city in decline.
Perhaps this latest study will help to buck the trend.
The first-year head college football coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas wants to change the culture at his new school. Safety is one of the most important concerns that need to be addressed.
Is Las Vegas dying?
It depends on who you ask…
Statistically speaking, Las Vegas is losing tourists. 11% fewer visitors traveled to the Entertainment Capital of the World in June 2025 compared to the year prior. That percentage jumps up to 13% for international tourists. 15% fewer hotel rooms were filled.
To put it even more simply, one out of every nine tourists disappeared from 2024 to 2025. Hotels lost about one in every seven guests.
Casinos were panicking back in April as concerning tourism statistics showed a steep decline for a dying city. MGM made major cuts at its top properties as the looming death of Las Vegas inspired anxiety.
Meanwhile, the city itself proved completely tone deaf by ignoring reality. It places blame on outside factors like President Trump’s tariffs and refuses to look internally.
Safety is not an issue.
There are a lot of reasons to be concerned about the future of Las Vegas. Safety, apparently, is not one of them.
Homicides are down 20%. Metro police reported 30% fewer violent crimes year-over-year. Burglaries dropped approximately 14-16% — even up to 41% in some areas.
This is tremendous progress! A city that was very recently considered sketchy and dangerous has done a great job of getting itself under control in terms of crime.
As a result, Las Vegas was not named as one of the 10 most-dangerous college towns by Wasatch Defense Lawyers.
Dan Mullen stays recruiting.
Why do we care about a study by the self-proclaimed “Top Criminal Defense Lawyer in Utah”? Great question.
Mullen, who was hired as the new head football coach at UNLV in December, was very proud to promote the study on social media. He proudly declared Las Vegas as a SAFE college town.
Mind you, I am not entirely sure whether Las Vegas even qualifies as a college town to be included in this study. Nor was Las Vegas considered one of the 10 safest college towns in a similar study by Wasatch.
Mullen is simply promoting the fact that this random defense attorney’s office from Utah did not consider Las Vegas to be one of the 10 most dangerous college towns in the United States. That’s it!
To Mullen’s credit, he did a phenomenal job of reworking the entire roster as an immediate national title contender. He signed 33 former P4 players and 16 were considered bluechip recruits out of high school.
The Rebels are loaded.
However, Dan Mullen cannot get complacent and coaches must continue to recruit.
This new study that says Las Vegas is not one of the 10 most dangerous college towns in the United States will apparently help him to do so. Have no fear, prospective student-athletes!