Every five years when UNLV fires its football coach there is a great whoop-de-doo and la-di-da about football. It usually lasts until the UNLV basketball team plays a quality nonconference opponent. Is there a program out there UNLV ought to be imitating?
The question everyone wanted answered went unanswered at UNLV’s press conference on Thursday afternoon. And that was disappointing.
By now you probably are familiar with Notre Dame having hired a wildly successful high school coach named Gerry Faust to wake up the echoes. But there’s an even bolder experiment that better correlates to UNLV that was conducted in North Texas.
What are people so worried about, that he might lose games? The Rebels have been experts at that for decades. Few programs nationally lose with the regularity of UNLV. Here’s a thought: What if Tony Sanchez wins?
Jim Fassel is the experience in this equation. The one whose credentials wouldn’t be scrutinized. His is a name that has been widely associated with the coaching job at UNLV, vacant since Bobby Hauck announced his resignation Friday.
A couple of hours after Bobby Hauck resigned as UNLV football coach on Friday, Gonzaga beat St. John’s in one of those sort-of-attractive early season college basketball matchups on TV.
Prediction: If there isn’t a fundamental change in assistance and vision, if facilities and salaries aren’t upgraded and academic support strengthened, you’re going to read this exact same column five years from now, minus a few name changes.
I would think fairness should matter to all athletic conferences across the country when it comes to membership and ensuring everyone within the framework has an equal opportunity at success. In this sense, the Mountain West and its TV contract for football has failed miserably for many schools, particularly UNLV.
Winds of change could be gusting in Honolulu on Saturday night, when Bobby Hauck, a beleaguered football coach on the hot seat, guides UNLV into one of his biggest games of the season.
