Sanchez, staff looking for ways to overcome UNLV’s depth issues

By Taylor Bern

Friday, April 10, 2015 | 2 a.m.

From the time the preseason was really churning at Bishop Gorman High at the end of July to UNLV’s spring break last week, Rebels' football coach Tony Sanchez guessed he hadn’t spent two straight days without working. So while there’s still a mountain of work left to be done before Sanchez coaches his first college game, enjoying some time away from the offices was a priority for the entire coaching staff.

“I got out of here, went and hung out with my wife and kids and reintroduced myself to them,” Sanchez said.

The vast majority of the staff is new to Las Vegas, and with the recruiting season and spring practice preparations dominating their time, the brief respite was a chance to work on getting families and possessions settled in the desert. Now that they’re back to work it’s about finishing what they started with just more than a week remaining before the spring game on Saturday, April 18.

That means refining the sets and formations already implemented while continuing to build. On Wednesday that meant working with a few different offensive tempos and focusing on the defense’s adjustments.

The Rebels have enough two-win seasons to prove that everything needs to be better, but nowhere has that been more consistently true than on defense. Up front, in the secondary and in between UNLV has given up large chunks of yards year after year in ways that won’t be easy to fix.

Part of it is depth, something that is a problem at a few positions this spring. Sanchez highlighted the receivers and the defensive line as two of the spots where the coaches are, among other things, trying to not overwork the thin ranks.

At both positions there will be reinforcements coming in the summer but along the line it’s likely that Sanchez won’t have the eight- to 10-man rotation that would make him comfortable. As a result this year’s team might put a little more emphasis on taking risks that Sanchez would eventually like to avoid.

“We’re going to have to be able to make plays that get people off schedule until we can get the talent and depth up front that we need,” Sanchez said.

That could mean giving up a lot of the big plays that have led to so many previous UNLV losses over the year. But if it works that could also mean some extra possessions and some momentum-shifting plays.

It’s still a long time until the games actually start but the Rebels are slowly starting to round into form. The mistakes will certainly persist but if they continue to show up fewer and farther between it’s progress. Progress towards a season in which many would view four victories as a huge success.

When victories are as infrequent as they’ve been at UNLV, it wouldn’t take a lot to consider this thing moving in the right direction. And while Sanchez and the Rebels certainly have a higher standard for themselves, some extra risks on defense and a lot of extra nights in the office are working towards that same goal.

Taylor Bern can be reached at 948-7844 or [email protected]. Follow Taylor on Twitter at twitter.com/taylorbern.