Will UNLV's coach Tony Sanchez be successful?

[Yabadabadoo]

Just thinking about this as we get closer to the season...a few previous have made the jump from high school to Division 1 and none of them really distinguished themselves.

Most famous I think was Gerry Faust all those years ago at Notre Dame which turned out to be an unmitigated disaster.

North Texas hired Todd Dodge who had a tremendous record as a HS coach - that didn't go well either and he's back coaching at the HS level.

So what of Sanchez out in the desert?

Think he'll succeed where others did not?

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As an aside, I find it pretty amazing that there has not been a HS coach who has established himself through a number of years and was not able to translate that success at the college level. You would think a few would have been able to.

[J-Rod]

I think he's going to be a complete flaming turd, Dino. I heard he's all "rah! rah!" and no real coaching. Believe it or not, I think we haven't seen the worst of UNLV just yet.

VERY young roster + Sanchez + traditionally awful program = whoooooa buddy.

[CowboyNV]

The joke around Las Vegas is that Sanchez had a reputation of "recruiting" players outside the school district to come and play for Bishop Gorman. The only problem he has now - all college coaches get to recruit, hahaha.

UNLV will go down in flames, a meteoric plunge even farther into the depths of despair than they are now. They are the MWC's official "biggest poop show on turf."

[Yabadabadoo]

I see the early returns on Mr. Sanchez are not too favorable from our Cowboys constituents.

Why all the negatvity for UNLV?

[CowboyNV]

Since 1990 they have had 5 coaches, and a combined record of 89-205, or a .303 winning percentage. It isn't that they are bad on occasion, they are bad all the time. UNLV needs to stick with basketball. Hiring a high school coach for that poop show was a really bad idea.

[Cuttslam]

No he will not succeed. Why? Because its UNLV.

[MrTitleist]

Terrible hire.. dunno who they could have hired that'd be better, but I know that UNLV made a poor decision on a high school coach who was able to recruit the best athletes to his high school. College is a whole different game.

[GoPokes86]

I don't think he will have much success either, however some big time UNLV donors have said they will start pumping a ton of money into the program now that Sanchez has been hired. Money for facilities and the like certainly won't hurt the program, but I think he's going to be in over his head.

[Wyo2dal]

I'm actually in the complete and total minority here but I think he will be successful at the College level. I can name 4-5 coaches that came from High School and are big time college coaches today.

I think he has just as good of opportunity to turn UNLV around as Bohl does to turn Wyoming around because both schools are pretty much at the lowest point they can be at and still be considered FBS.

[Yabadabadoo]

It may well turn out to be a hire that doesn't work -- but at this juncture what else do they have to lose?

Bobby Hauck didn't work, Mike Sanford didn't work, big-name John Robinson didn't work.

It's hard to believe but since 1982 the most wins any one head coach has had in LV is Robinson's 28 over a 6 year period between 1999–2004. Think about that.

There's no disputing that Sanchez did a tremendous job at the HS level and has contacts throughout the valley...they are placing more emphasis on the program with more $$$ being allocated...I'll take a wait and see approach. I'm intrigued more than anything else with the hire and give UNLV points for thinking outside the box with this one.

[Yabadabadoo]

I'm actually in the complete and total minority here but I think he will be successful at the College level. I can name 4-5 coaches that came from High School and are big time college coaches today.

I think he has just as good of opportunity to turn UNLV around as Bohl does to turn Wyoming around because both schools are pretty much at the lowest point they can be at and still be considered FBS.

There are quite a few coaches over the past 50 years who have become very good CFB coaches, but none of them made the jump straight from HS HC to a College HC in doing so.

Art Briles is an example of a guy who was a great HS HC who has gone on to become a terrific College HC, but his entry point into the College game was as an assistant coach with Texas Tech for 3 years before being named the HC at Houston.

[Wyovanian]

If there's an MW football program in danger of folding, it's UNLV's. Sanchez was a VERY questionable hire and only got the job because of the Fertittas and Findlays. He's already had a highly-touted recruit blow up in his face...

Believe it or not, UNLV's probably harder to recruit high school football players to than Wyoming. Most scholarship-level football players and their families take their futures pretty seriously and the prospect of attending school in Las Vegas runs pretty counter to their instincts. Now, before y'all start in with, "What about UNLV Basketball?" that's simply a whole other animal. Coach Tarkanian was able to build a basketball tradition over twenty years, and for many people, including a huge segment of the LV population, UNLV is a basketball team before it's a university, let alone a football program.

Even during John Robinson's winning season capped off by a LV Bowl win over Arkansas, UNLV struggled to get 20-25k out to the games. People there simply don't associate the UNLV brand with football.

Some say UNLV had nothing to lose by rolling the dice with Sanchez, but if he has anything less than 6 wins by the end of his third season, there will be some very serious discussions about the viability of UNLV Football going forward...

[BeaverPoke]

If there's an MW football program in danger of folding, it's UNLV's. Sanchez was a VERY questionable hire and only got the job because of the Fertittas and Findlays. He's already had a highly-touted recruit blow up in his face...

Believe it or not, UNLV's probably harder to recruit high school football players to than Wyoming. Most scholarship-level football players and their families take their futures pretty seriously and the prospect of attending school in Las Vegas runs pretty counter to their instincts. Now, before y'all start in with, "What about UNLV Basketball?" that's simply a whole other animal. Coach Tarkanian was able to build a basketball tradition over twenty years, and for many people, including a huge segment of the LV population, UNLV is a basketball team before it's a university, let alone a football program.

Even during John Robinson's winning season capped off by a LV Bowl win over Arkansas, UNLV struggled to get 20-25k out to the games. People there simply don't associate the UNLV brand with football.

Some say UNLV had nothing to lose by rolling the dice with Sanchez, but if he has anything less than 6 wins by the end of his third season, there will be some very serious discussions about the viability of UNLV Football going forward...

What was this blow-up with a highly touted recruit you speak of?

And the way I see this hire is a low risk-high reward.
If they fail miserably, then so what? It's the same ol' UNLV.
But if Sanchez can bring a handful of his Bishop Gorman players to his squad each season for a couple of the next seasons, they could establish a great pipeline there, and build up to Boise State level seemingly overnight.

That's the kicker though, will he get those Bishop Gorman players?
If he does, high reward, if he doesn't then UNLV is the same crap team we know and they can get a new coach and start over again.

[J-Rod]

But if Sanchez can bring a handful of his Bishop Gorman players to his squad each season for a couple of the next seasons, they could establish a great pipeline there, and build up to Boise State level seemingly overnight.

BSU level? They're going to have double-digit win seasons 12 out of the next 15 years? That's throwing around BSU's success a little short IMO. More like USU level success.

[ragtimejoe1]

He put together a decent staff, IMO. Barney Cotton was a good move to help shore up recruitment at Gorman.

Kent Baer has a ton of experience and I'm shocked that UNLV got him.

Based on the crew he put together, I think he will succeed. That and I like how UNLV is embracing the Vegas theme now. Branding 101. Play to what is unique.

[WYO1016]

Tony Sanchez is going to be one of the more interesting people to watch in college football this season. He's a Vegas guy. He knows how to get a program recognized in the city. I think that this year is going to be rough for him, but he's definitely going to have his stamp on the program by the end of the season.

FWIW, I don't think he's a guaranteed flop. I actually like that the UNLV AD went out on a limb to try to inject some life into their program.

[Wyovanian]

If there's an MW football program in danger of folding, it's UNLV's. Sanchez was a VERY questionable hire and only got the job because of the Fertittas and Findlays. He's already had a highly-touted recruit blow up in his face...

Believe it or not, UNLV's probably harder to recruit high school football players to than Wyoming. Most scholarship-level football players and their families take their futures pretty seriously and the prospect of attending school in Las Vegas runs pretty counter to their instincts. Now, before y'all start in with, "What about UNLV Basketball?" that's simply a whole other animal. Coach Tarkanian was able to build a basketball tradition over twenty years, and for many people, including a huge segment of the LV population, UNLV is a basketball team before it's a university, let alone a football program.

Even during John Robinson's winning season capped off by a LV Bowl win over Arkansas, UNLV struggled to get 20-25k out to the games. People there simply don't associate the UNLV brand with football.

Some say UNLV had nothing to lose by rolling the dice with Sanchez, but if he has anything less than 6 wins by the end of his third season, there will be some very serious discussions about the viability of UNLV Football going forward...

What was this blow-up with a highly touted recruit you speak of?

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" 'I'm going to play at a junior college, and hopefully I will get a better scholarship than UNLV," Johnson said.

They also had the whole thing with the 'Bama transfer RB, Tenpenny, getting tossed from the team.

[WestWYOPoke]

Wow...this guy must be an idiot. Talk about burning your bridges...hopefully get a better scholarship than UNLV...if not I'll go back to UNLV. What a pompous ass; I would tell him to f&*k right off.

[Wyo2dal]

Wow...this guy must be an idiot. Talk about burning your bridges...hopefully get a better scholarship than UNLV...if not I'll go back to UNLV. What a pompous ass; I would tell him to f&*k right off.

Problem is as a G5 School none of us have the luxury to turn away talent because at 17/18 they say dumb poop.

[McPeachy]

I think Dirty Sanchez is going to smell up the joint.