UNLV’s Sanchez ready for his collegiate coaching debut

By Taylor Bern

Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015 | 2 a.m.

For eight months, Tony Sanchez has been a professional pitchman.

The city of Las Vegas, the university, the coaching staff — Sanchez has spent the majority of his transition from high school to college selling himself and everything his new program has to offer to anyone willing to listen. That includes his own players, to whom Sanchez has tried to act as a “gatekeeper of the culture” that he and the staff are trying to implement.

“There’s not one speech that really does it,” Sanchez said Tuesday at the Lied Athletic Complex. “It’s a constant dialogue about life, the way we want to live and the way we want to do things and then really challenging people to overcome obstacles.”

The Rebels know where they stand in most people’s eyes heading into the 2015 season, which kicks off at 4:34 p.m. Las Vegas time Saturday at Northern Illinois on CBS Sports Network. Coming off its eighth two-win season in the last 11 years, UNLV was picked to finish last in the Mountain West and its first three opponents combined — NIU, No. 13 UCLA and Michigan — are favored by nearly 90 points.

Outside doubt is familiar to the Rebels but not to Sanchez, who won the last six Nevada state titles at Bishop Gorman High. Part of his culture change has been trying to get players to switch from wanting to win to expecting victory.

That probably can’t take hold throughout the roster until there are some positive results to reinforce it, though the seniors looking for a last hurrah didn’t need to be convinced. Senior quarterback Blake Decker recalled the first meeting Sanchez held with the team and the coach was adamant that change could happen this year.

“We want to be a part of that,” Decker said. “We want to be the first group that sets it off. We don’t want to be swept under the rug.”

Last year against Northern Illinois at Sam Boyd Stadium, UNLV trailed by 23 early in the third quarter before a furious rally tied the game. Decker finished with 397 passing yards but an interception in the end zone helped the Huskies get out with a 48-34 victory after amassing 616 yards.

NIU junior quarterback Drew Hare, who had four total touchdowns in that game, is still leading the charge with a trio of receivers that contains a good mix of size and speed. And if he escapes the pocket Hare can do damage on the ground as he averaged 64.3 rushing yards per game with eight rushing touchdowns last season.

It’s a difficult test out of the gate for a defense that ranked in the bottom 15 nationally in both scoring defense and total defense last season. Of course, weeks two and three don’t figure to get much easier so Saturday is as good a time as any for the Rebels to hone their toughness and resiliency, the two things Sanchez said he wants his team to be known for.

“If you’re going to be a good football team you have to be tough and resilient, because the fact is things are going to happen through the course of the game, things are going to happen through the course of the year and how you respond to adversity really defines your football program,” Sanchez said.

How will UNLV football be defined in December? How about in five years?

Those are the key questions surrounding the Rebels’ latest rebuilding effort. There’s no doubt that Sanchez has brought energy and attention to the program that few, if any, previous UNLV coaches could match, but the next time the salesman hits the road to sell his product there will be results to go with the pitch.

While the odds are against those outcomes going his way, that situation is just fine with Sanchez. He’s perfectly comfortable standing in front of a room full of strangers and persuading them to believe in him, but it’s been 269 days since his last game and Sanchez is ready to coach some damn football.

“All the talking ends Saturday. All the this, all the that, all the speculation, all the picks; they mean nothing,” Sanchez said. “You go out and you play the game. There’s a winner and a loser and that’s fantastic. It’s America.”

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