Why Tony Sanchez will transform UNLV football into winning program

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Thursday, Dec. 11, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Tony Sanchez’s last college football game for New Mexico State was at Sam Boyd Stadium against UNLV in the mid-1990s.

He remembers a lot from that afternoon. Sanchez, a wide receiver, had a few catches and his team won.

He also remembers how poor the UNLV facilities were, especially the outdated locker rooms.

When he returned to Sam Boyd nearly 15 years later as the Bishop Gorman coach in 2009 for the Nevada high school state championship game, he surely felt as if he was back in college. The locker rooms were mostly the same.

Mike Sanford, UNLV’s coach from 2005-09, called the locker rooms the worst in college football when he was fired after the 2009 season.

Those locker rooms are Sanchez’s problem now. That’s a good thing for UNLV football because the eyesore will finally get fixed.

Sanchez, who spent the past six years transforming Bishop Gorman into a national power, will get a crack at duplicating the success in college. He was announced Wednesday as the next UNLV coach, making the rare jump from high school to college in a move officials should be commended for making.

They found someone with the fundraising ability to fix the black eye of the athletic department. They found a dynamic coach with a proven track record who is passionate about Las Vegas. They found themselves someone to take the underachieving program — both financially and on the field — off life support.

Sanchez would not have left the best high school coaching job in the nation, one with air-tight job security, for one of the worst college jobs if changes weren’t on the horizon. He would not have put his coaching reputation at risk by taking over the sinking tugboat that is UNLV football unless the wheels of change were in motion.

He has a vision, something he’ll begin sharing today during his introductory news conference, and won’t settle for anything less than the best. He won’t settle for a winning record; he wants to win championships. He won’t be the next coach to win two games for a few seasons and wave the white flag in defeat.

He oversaw the creation and design of Gorman’s 41,000 square-foot training facility in 2012. The facility makes UNLV’s Lied Athletic Complex feel like the local YMCA, partially explaining why winning football games at UNLV — it has just four all-time bowl appearances — is easier said than done.

When Bobby Hauck was fired last month, UNLV officials took a look in the mirror and realized the football culture had to change. They needed a makeover, starting with a coach who had the vision to orchestrate the change.

That’s Tony Sanchez.

They hired a winner, motivator and tireless worker. They hired someone who will make the program relevant. Give him some time and he’ll turn you into a believer.

Those who say Sanchez was only hired because of his ability to raise funds, and his relationship with the casino- and fight league-owning Fertitta family, are completely wrong. Those connections surely helped, but it’s not all that jumps off the page on Sanchez’s resume.

Those who say Sanchez won at Gorman because the other teams they played had inferior players are also completely wrong. Please, you and a few buddies wouldn’t have coached Gorman to the state championship.

Sanchez is the best coach I’ve been around. And not just on the high school level. I’ve intimately followed Gorman the past six years. I’ve seen Sanchez work behind the scenes and know what he is capable of. I’ve had a chance to hear stories of when he played at New Mexico State and how he nearly built a high school team in Northern California to dethrone powerhouse De La Salle.

There’s no reason to doubt his coaching style won’t translate in college. The jump from Gorman to UNLV, after all, isn’t as significant as some feel.

His practices are planned to the minute, fast-paced, intense and loud. Expect music to the blasting from speakers at Rebel Ark — it’s Rebel Park, but the ‘P’ is missing above the entrance sign in a true indicator of UNLV’s previous lack of commitment.

I remember the grin he flashed two years ago when I first mentioned the possibility of taking over the UNLV program. You could tell he was interested. You could tell he had a plan to transform the program like he did Gorman, who went 85-5 under his watch and won six state championships.

The possibilities are endless for this UNLV football coach. Sanchez might be the person to make the Rebels relevant. At the very least, he might get those locker rooms fixed.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21