2016 Press Conference

[rebel5280]

A year ago, I wasn't sure about the hiring of a high school coach for UNLV football but as the 2015 season went on, I could see that Coach Sanchez was getting the most out of a team that was not supposed to be that good. They played well in a few big games last season despite their record, until late in the season, when injuries finally took their toll.


But moving ahead to this season, coach has started something that cannot be ignored, high level recruiting!

I can't remember the last time I saw this many 3 star commits, let alone 9 in one class. But after watching the press conference today, one word sums this guy up to me, Sincere!


There is absolutely NO used car salesman in his approach or recruiting and I could listen to him talk about his staff and players for another 34 minutes. I know there are many of you who see what I see and that is, we may have found a "steal" in this guy they call Tony Sanchez!

 

[depuppy3]

You could see early on that he has that "It" factor that the really good ones have. He has great energy and passion, and has the ability to relate to the kids he recruits and Coach. He was able to let go of any ego and hire an experienced staff that many coaches of his experience would be intimidated by having around.

 

[rebel Homer]

You could see early on that he has that "It" factor that the really good ones have. He has great energy and passion, and has the ability to relate to the kids he recruits and Coach. He was able to let go of any ego and hire an experienced staff that many coaches of his experience would be intimidated by having around.

His "experience?" What, high school football? I think he is a great Coach, and quite honestly, the shot in the arm UNLV needed since we were a year or two away from dropping football all together. But, putting aside his experience to hire WAY more experienced staff was a no brainer.

 

[Bullmastiff 1]

I think where Coach Sanchez is different from the other guys that made the jump from HS to college are his organizational skills and a better understanding of all the 'other' things it takes to be successful.

Also football/recruiting/information/media has all changed since Faust and Dodge tried and failed. Both said it wasn't the Xs and Os that were their undoing but all the administrative duties that went along with the job.

There were great HS programs when Faust and Dodge were coaching at that level. They did not however receive the type of coverage that the big HS programs get nowadays.

Sanchez attended camps, had a lot more media obligations than most HS coaches, the high profile of Gorman had college coaches around there all the time. He was able to witness first hand how certain colleges approached recruiting.

All of that, plus his willingness to hire not only an experienced staff, but also one made up of guys known to be good recruiters, has made the transition less daunting.

 

[depuppy3]

I meant his experience as in "lack of experience" compared to the coaches he hired as assistants. You say "no brainer" but people can let there ego and/or insecurities take over and hire guys with much less coaching experience than he did.

 

[DocRebel]

I get pumped every time I hear Sanchez talk, whether on the radio, postgame and pregame pressers, or anywhere else. Sanchez is as dynamic and energetic as they come. He's smart and has natural leadership traits that gravitate people toward him. He's the real deal and UNLV is lucky to have him, not only for his coaching and leadership, but also his marketing, branding, recruiting, fundraising, etc., etc. He is a program visionary on top of being a high quality "coach".

Over these next few years we'll see Sanchez gradually takeover the MWC, and other big programs will enter in and try to hire him away. Now that we finally have the right coach, UNLV needs to find a way to keep him long-term. A new stadium needs to be built on campus and the football facilities need upgrades. UNLV can become a major college football program if the pieces--including Tony Sanchez--come together. In the meantime Sanchez and his staff has this program moving in the right direction at an impressive pace.

 

[Sam-I-am]

....., putting aside his experience to hire WAY more experienced staff was a no brainer.

Yet it's a "no brainer" that many first time HCs have failed to do with the result being that they subsequently failed, at least partially, because of it. I'm not just talking about HS coaches moving up either. I'm including HCs who had been coordinators or HCs at lower level programs. Routinely, we've seen them fail because they didn't surround themselves with the best of the best, particularly when it came to experience of staff members. What Tony has done is truly unique.

 

[Sam-I-am]

.... He was able to let go of any ego and hire an experienced staff that many coaches of his experience would be intimidated by having around.

Yup!
This is simply the best example of Tony's potential to become a truly great HC.

 

[Sam-I-am]

.... Now that we finally have the right coach, UNLV needs to find a way to keep him long-term. A new stadium needs to be built on campus and the football facilities need upgrades. UNLV can become a major college football program if the pieces--including Tony Sanchez--come together. In the meantime Sanchez and his staff has this program moving in the right direction at an impressive pace.

We also need to get into the 21st Century in how we take care of our Graduate Assistants. To big time programs, the GA staff is worth its weight in GOLD and they are treated that way. It's like having 4 extra coaches and quasi-recruiters on the staff. We are incredibly lucky to have guys the quality of Cody Green, Ben Cotton, etc, right now primarily because of loyalty but you don't pay for the necessities in life with loyalty. We aren't going to get that level of GA in the future if we don't treat them as well as GAs are treated by Power 5 programs, the Domers, BYU, Boise State, San Diego State, San Jose State, etc. This is something that needs to be fixed right now.