Former Florida Gators Joining Dan Mullen at UNLV

After stops at other universities, four former Gators will be joining their former head coach in his return to college football
Dan Mullen will have some familiar faces with him in Las Vegas this fall
Dan Mullen will have some familiar faces with him in Las Vegas this fall / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

After stops at other universities, four former Florida Gators will be joining their former head coach in his return to college football

After spending three seasons away from the game, former Florida Gators head coach Dan Mullen is bringing along some familiar faces in his return to college football as the head coach of UNLV. 

Since agreeing to become the head coach on Dec. 12, four former Florida Gators football players have signed to play football at UNLV: linebacker Chief Borders, defensive lineman Jalen Lee, tight end Nick Elksnis and wide receiver Daejon Reynolds.

Lee officially signed on Monday.

Three players - Borders, Elksnis and Reynolds - were part of Mullen’s 2021 recruiting class during his time at Florida, while Lee was part of the class of 2020. After Mullen’s departure from the university, each player spent a year playing under Billy Napier’s regime before ultimately transferring to other schools.

Since leaving Florida, Borders has played at two other universities (Pitt and Nebraska) where he has primarily served as a reserve linebacker. He made 21 tackles across two seasons.

Borders’ former Gators and Panther teammate, Daejon Reynolds, has put up respectable numbers throughout his time at Pitt. The grad transfer saw the most playing time of his collegiate career in 2023, where caught 28 passes for 316 yards in seven starts. This season, he caught 15 passes for 189 yards and one touchdown.

After leaving Florida, Elksnis stayed in the SEC, deciding to play at the University of South Carolina. Throughout his time at South Carolina, he has appeared in 13 games but has not recorded a statistic.

Lee transferred to LSU in the summer of 2023, where he has played in 11 games, totaling two tackles and a fumble recovery.

Besides the four former Gators football players who will be playing at UNLV, another former member of the program will also be moving out to Nevada. Lee Davis, who served as Florida’s director of recruiting operations from 2017 to 2021, will be joining UNLV’s program as the team's chief of staff.


Published
Tyler Carmona
TYLER CARMONA