Sanchez looks for immediate impact from first class

UNLV coach Tony Sanchez has been on the job for only a month and a half, but he knows the clock is already ticking.

So he and his staff went at it hard in putting together their first recruiting class, and Sanchez is not going to let his newest Rebels football players ease in, either.

In signing 22 players Wednesday, Sanchez expects all of them to have the attitude they will play next season, and he will give every one of them that chance.

“We need to win, and we need to recruit kids that can help us compete right away,” Sanchez said at UNLV’s signing day news conference. “I talked about it with the team. We don’t want to talk about a four- and five-year building process. That’s a luxury I don’t know we have. Some of these kids are going to need to be ready to play right away. We’ll see when they get here.

“When these guys come in, it’s not a plan to sit 20 guys and redshirt them. It’s going to be to put the best 11 on the field on both sides of the ball and on special teams.”

Sanchez, who coached Bishop Gorman to the past six state championships, understands the risk in making the leap from high school to college.

And in taking over a program that has produced eight two-victory seasons in the past 11 years, including a 2-11 record in 2014, Sanchez won’t let returning players feel comfortable about their spots.

So battles will take place throughout the lineup, with the wide receiver spots being mostly an exception with the return of sophomores Devonte Boyd and Kendal Keys. But even those positions will have competition, and new signees Brandon Presley (6 feet, 175 pounds) of Great Oak High School in Temecula, Calif., and Darren Woods Jr. (6-0, 210) of Elkins High in Missouri City, Texas, will have the opportunity to compete for playing time.

Presley is a three-star prospect, according to Rivals.com and 247Sports.com, and comes off a season in which he caught 88 passes for 1,467 yards and 21 touchdowns.

“Luckily for us, he was under-recruited,” Sanchez said. “Great player. A lot of other schools came in on home visits (after Presley’s UNLV commitment). Head coaches started showing up. He’s a guy that will make an impact early.”

Presley wasn’t the only player UNLV coaches sweated out losing late in the process.

Cornerback Darius Mouton (5-10, 170) of Houston’s North Shore High was offered scholarships by several Pac-12 and fellow Mountain West schools.

Cornerback Jay’Onn Myles (5-8, 175) of Pierce College in Los Angeles chose the Rebels over Baylor.

Salanoa-Alo Wily (6-0, 290), ranked the nation’s 98th-best defensive tackle by 247Sports, had first committed to Hawaii before switching to the Rebels. He attends Kahuku (Hawaii) High.

“Going down to the wire, we were worried if we were going to be able to get his (scholarship) papers through,” Sanchez said. “When they came through, that was a big relief.”

Wily’s Kahuku teammate, safety Soli Afalava (6-2, 200) also signed with the Rebels. He similarly had committed to Hawaii before flipping to UNLV late in the process.

Sanchez held on to the one commitment in this class that occurred under previous coach Bobby Hauck. Quarterback Dalton Sneed (6-0, 180) of Horizon High in Scottsdale, Ariz., had committed last June. The ESPN.com and 247Sports three-star recruit threw for 3,565 yards and 28 touchdowns last season, and he rushed for 984 yards and 14 TDs.

“When we watched film on him, we liked him,” Sanchez said. “We thought he was a good, competitive kid. He’s a kid that can help us grow, and I appreciated his commitment to the university before we even showed up. We wanted to honor that.”

From the time Sanchez could take his first recruiting trip Jan. 15, he and his staff sprinted to signing day.

The coaches brought in 29 recruits for visits, offered 26 scholarships and signed 22 players. Three major recruiting sites ranked UNLV anywhere from fifth to seventh in the 12-team Mountain West.

“It’s a great class, and I’m excited about it,” Sanchez said. “To be done at 10 o’clock this morning and to have all the faxes in, it was a big relief. You didn’t know how it was going to turn out.”

Contact Mark Anderson at manderson@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2914. Follow him on Twitter: @markanderson65.