I haven't had a chance to respond to a lot of stuff over the past week or so, but I've read a bit and felt like responding to some things in general.
One thing that strikes me is the disparity between where we actually are and where we think we are, as fans, in general. Let alone where we are and where we SHOULD be.
I probably know too much behind the scenes to call UNLV a great job. There are a lot of things about this job that are unique to UNLV that make it EXTREMELY difficult. But it's certainly not a "bad" job. I'd probably call it a top 40 to top 50 job nationally, even with some of the unique hurdles.
But we have fans acting like we are on par with some great schools. News flash, we aren't, we aren't even close. With our history of 30 years ago maybe, but that's it. I take that back. Facilities, in general, are pretty good overall even though UNLV comes up short in a few areas. But overall, pretty good. But what is it that makes the world go round? Money. UNLV doesn't have much of it at all. And some of the booster money is conditional and might not be as much as people expect. So that stark limitation can have a huge impact. Everyone is fantastic at spending other people's money to come up with rock solid ideas. But the real world doesn't work that way.
.... I still can't say how this is all going to go. Over the last few weeks, there may have been some leans with hires, but trust me, nothing close to being set in stone. Still alot in play, I can't say that it looks better or worse than before because we need seasons to end in order to get a better feel. Coaches aren't going to want to talk right now. That's just the way it is. Actually, I'll say it looks worse because there are more threats with jobs popping up open all over the place. But there is nothing impending one way or the other. Still along way to go but we are getting into the last turn.
... I've thought about this alot. One thing I liked about Rice is he dreamed bigger than any coach since Tark and did everything he could to reach it. Granted, he fell far short but his plans were the ultimate plans. And at the time, that sounded incredible. It's not about a strong MWC product, it's about national product. In retrospect, that's too big of a chasm to jump from where we were. I think UNLV needs to the spot where the MWC is a primary goal - I know the league is down and SDSU (thankfully) proved that winning the MWC doesn't have to mean a thing ... but we know that if you cannot compete in your own conference, regardless of what conference you are in, you cannot be a national player. Cannot have the second without the first. So UNLV kinda needs to focus on becoming the best in the MWC and allowing the national chips to fall where they may with that. And then keep building on it.
One thing that strikes me is the disparity between where we actually are and where we think we are, as fans, in general. Let alone where we are and where we SHOULD be.
I probably know too much behind the scenes to call UNLV a great job. There are a lot of things about this job that are unique to UNLV that make it EXTREMELY difficult. But it's certainly not a "bad" job. I'd probably call it a top 40 to top 50 job nationally, even with some of the unique hurdles.
But we have fans acting like we are on par with some great schools. News flash, we aren't, we aren't even close. With our history of 30 years ago maybe, but that's it. I take that back. Facilities, in general, are pretty good overall even though UNLV comes up short in a few areas. But overall, pretty good. But what is it that makes the world go round? Money. UNLV doesn't have much of it at all. And some of the booster money is conditional and might not be as much as people expect. So that stark limitation can have a huge impact. Everyone is fantastic at spending other people's money to come up with rock solid ideas. But the real world doesn't work that way.
.... I still can't say how this is all going to go. Over the last few weeks, there may have been some leans with hires, but trust me, nothing close to being set in stone. Still alot in play, I can't say that it looks better or worse than before because we need seasons to end in order to get a better feel. Coaches aren't going to want to talk right now. That's just the way it is. Actually, I'll say it looks worse because there are more threats with jobs popping up open all over the place. But there is nothing impending one way or the other. Still along way to go but we are getting into the last turn.
... I've thought about this alot. One thing I liked about Rice is he dreamed bigger than any coach since Tark and did everything he could to reach it. Granted, he fell far short but his plans were the ultimate plans. And at the time, that sounded incredible. It's not about a strong MWC product, it's about national product. In retrospect, that's too big of a chasm to jump from where we were. I think UNLV needs to the spot where the MWC is a primary goal - I know the league is down and SDSU (thankfully) proved that winning the MWC doesn't have to mean a thing ... but we know that if you cannot compete in your own conference, regardless of what conference you are in, you cannot be a national player. Cannot have the second without the first. So UNLV kinda needs to focus on becoming the best in the MWC and allowing the national chips to fall where they may with that. And then keep building on it.
