The last time UNLV’s football team received as much offseason coverage as it has since December was, well, never. The Rebels were splashed across the pages of newspapers and magazines that in recent years hadn’t offered the slightest glance towards the program. All of it was terrific for the brand. And, as of Friday morning, none of it meant a thing.
Tony Sanchez delivers a lot of messages. He’s a courier with a whistle, a columnist’s dream for notebook material, a guy who talks about eating elephants one bite at a time and walking into an alley to rumble.
UNLV concluded spring football drills Saturday under first-year coach Tony Sanchez with a showcase scrimmage at the school’s soccer complex.
UNLV coach Tony Sanchez announced his first recruiting class Wednesday, but he knows he must change a culture and win games. The best haul Sanchez landed during this recruiting season was the group of veteran assistant coaches standing at the back of the room.
They have cast their disfigured net at the College Football Hall of Fame even wider, expanded their reasoning for induction even broader, devised cursory explanations for some who are now welcome to even greater lengths. Which makes the continuing exclusion of Randall Cunningham even more absurd.
The question everyone wanted answered went unanswered at UNLV’s press conference on Thursday afternoon. And that was disappointing.
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.
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.
