UNLV’s coaching staff looks to close on top recruits this weekend

“Put that coffee down! Coffee’s for closers only.”

“A-B-C. A-Always, B-Be, C-Closing. Always be closing. Always be closing!”

— Quotes from the classic scene starring Alec Baldwin in the 1992 film “Glengarry Glen Ross”

To help inspire his staff on the recruiting trail, UNLV football coach Tony Sanchez showed them the aforementioned scene when Baldwin tries to motivate a group of real estate salesmen.

“We were just having fun with it,” Sanchez said.

The Rebels’ second-year coach didn’t channel his inner Baldwin and tell his assistants, “You close, or you hit the bricks!” before they all hit the road Thursday and Friday to recruit during UNLV’s bye week.

But Sanchez is hoping to secure oral commitments from up to 14 of the Rebels’ top remaining high school targets — all of whom have been offered scholarships to UNLV. As a point of emphasis, the recruits have been told about plans for the Fertitta Football Complex, a state-of-the-art facility expected to cost about $25 million and break ground in the spring.

“We’ve used the facility like crazy. The kids already know about it. Now we’re going in trying to close the deal,” Sanchez said. “We’re not looking anymore. We’ve already honed in. Now we’re finalizing. It’s deal-close time.”

Sanchez brought in arguably the best recruiting class in school history in February that featured a Rebels-record 10 three-star recruits — including true freshman running back Charles Williams, who is second on the team in rushing this season with 601 yards.

“We’ve got to do a better job of getting more talented on defense, but we’ve done a pretty good job of bringing in guys that have been impactful,” Sanchez said.

Including Sanchez, 10 UNLV coaches took separate recruiting trips to Southern California, Arizona, Kansas and New Mexico.

The Rebels already have recruited players on the road this season before their games in Hawaii, San Diego and San Jose, California, and they’ve also recruited extensively at home.

“All the Vegas kids, we’ve already seen in person,” Sanchez said. “The kids that we’re recruiting, I think we’ve seen 31 local kids live this year.”

UNLV, which has 21 allotted scholarships for its 2017 recruiting class, already has seven oral commitments, including Bishop Gorman linebacker Farrell Hester, Desert Pines quarterback Marckell Grayson and three-star wide receiver Jaelon Darden from Houston.

The Rebels have targeted two other locals in Bishop Gorman safety Greg Francis and Las Vegas offensive lineman Dyllan Kounovsky. They are eyeing five other three-star recruits: cornerback Kieston Roach from Houston and four from California in defensive end Victor Jones (Sacramento), linebacker Colin Schooler (Mission Viejo), and receiv ers Chris Brooks (Newbury Park) and Michael Onyemaobi (Temecula).

“We like the class we’re bringing in. The biggest thing for us is being good evaluators and doing a really good job of fixing the depth problems throughout the roster,” Sanchez said. “Because we can’t ever have a year where we lose three receivers and then you’re dead.”

The Rebels (3-6, 2-3 Mountain West) have one of the weakest passing attacks in the country this season partly because they have lost three starting wideouts to season-ending injuries, leaving junior Devonte Boyd and three true freshmen as the only scholarship receivers.

Sanchez is planning to sign players at every position except punter/kicker, including three receivers and four offensive linemen, to help fix the depth problems on the team.

“We’ve got to get to a point in this program that when we recruit, there’s six spots just for athletes, just for great players,” he said. “But we have to fix these numbers or they’re never going to be fixed. So we’re pretty broad.”

Sanchez constantly challenges his staff to keep up with him.

“I tell our guys all the time, ‘It’s my job to outrecruit you. It’s your job to not let me do it,’ ” he said.

During a recruiting meeting Monday, Sanchez told his staff to grade each player on four evaluations: athletic, competitive, academic and social.

“The No. 1 thing is athletic and competitive. That trumps everything else,” Sanchez said. “But then if the academic and social is a problem, maybe that pulls you off the board.”

As for the development of true freshman quarterback Armani Rogers — the headliner of the 2016 class who was rated a four-star recruit by ESPN — Sanchez said it’s “really good.”

“We’re so fired up about him. We think he’s going to be a great player,” he said. “That’s another thing. Do you panic and take guys’ redshirts off? No, you don’t. You just build and build.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0354. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.