Where I Stand -- Jeff Horton: Building football program truly a community effort

WHEN I WAS HIRED as head coach at UNLV four years ago, it was to fix a program in turmoil. To "fix" meant to build a winning program the university and community could be proud of, and one that graduated its student-athletes. I knew "fix" would be fraught with frustration. A frustration, however, is only a challenge turned the wrong way.

College football players are called "student-athletes." The word "student" comes first. The team cumulative GPA in 1994 was 1.9. We immediately addressed academic issues and built a classroom-competitive pride in the players. The GPA is now 2.63, and this area will continue to be a priority in our plan.

Rebel football was thin in scholarship players and numbers as we headed into our first year in the Western Athletic Conference. This caused a lack of depth. As a result, injured players had no backups, and competition for playing time -- a crucial motivator for players to push themselves harder -- was at a low level. Recruiting junior-college players may be a quick fix for a sagging program, but it does not build the passion, loyalty, pride and tradition that we want Rebel football to have. We have built the team with a ratio of 90 percent freshmen and 10 percent junior-college transfers. This challenge has been similar to walking to the top of the Stratosphere instead of taking an elevator, but it's allowing the kids to make a total commitment to UNLV by investing four or five years of their lives here. The players in return are feeling a sense of family and interdependence to achieve success. That's a valuable lesson for later life.

Thanks to Christina Hixson, the Lied Foundation and the Honorary Lettermen's Club, we no longer have the challenge of sneaking our recruits past the weight room and locker rooms. We now have a first-class facility that not only has instilled pride among our players and coaches, but also has changed our recruiting against the top schools from an uphill grind to more of a downhill sprint.

Staff continuity has been an ongoing challenge. We have lost great coaches to other big schools because we can't compete with the salaries offered. When this occurs, it results in a temporary setback. But Las Vegas is a gambling town, and every time we have hired a new coach we have come out a winner.

Not only has it been a challenge to build a football program from point zero, but it also has been an awesome task to get both the campus and community excited about what we're trying to achieve. I make myself as visible on campus as time permits and am committed to supporting every team that wears a UNLV jersey. I have been fortunate to be asked by so many community organizations to speak to their groups and have made it a policy to never say no to any speaking or charity opportunity. We would like to be able to blink Sam Boyd Stadium onto our campus to increase interest and showcase our great university to potential students, newcomers to our city and tourists, enabling them to return home with a multifaceted view of Las Vegas, but our show isn't entitled "Bewitched."

Our biggest challenge has been watching our young, inexperienced players come off the field beat up. They know we'll go to the end of the world for them. They also know we won't play a soft schedule because that would not be in the best interest of them or the school. Adversity now will be a positive factor in their future personal and professional lives.

The Rebel football program is going forward. Our plan will not change. Slow and steady progress is imperative for stability in years to come. High standards, and our expectation that the players will live up to them, cannot change. Nor can their accountability in the classroom, in the community and on the field.

Las Vegas is the most exciting city in the world. We want our players to be productive members of this community. It has been great to me, my family, my coaches and my players. We will continue to give back as much as we can to the area because we love Las Vegas and all it has to offer.

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