Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Tony Sanchez was right guy at right time for UNLV football

Tony Sanchez fired as UNLV football coach

Miranda Alam / Special to the Sun

Tony Sanchez speaks about his dismissal as head coach from UNLV’s football program during a press conference at the Fertitta Football Complex at UNLV Monday, Nov. 25, 2019.

Tony Sanchez fired as UNLV football coach

Tony Sanchez speaks about his dismissal as head coach from UNLV's football program during a press conference at the Fertitta Football Complex at UNLV Monday, Nov. 25, 2019. Launch slideshow »

What Tony Sanchez was able to accomplish at UNLV is nothing short of phenomenal. Don’t let the 19-40 record through five seasons and no bowl-game appearances fool you.

He got a university, one whose athletic success over the years was mostly in basketball and whose football program always took a back seat, to firmly invest in football for one of the first times. Eventually, the Rebels will be a winner, and when that day comes, let’s not forget about the man whose vision got the ball rolling.

Sanchez was fired Monday in a decision that wasn’t surprising. He needed to reach a bowl or else, and else came a few days before the season finale at UNR.

But let’s not call his run a failure. He’s leaving the program in great shape for the next guy, better than it’s ever been.

Sanchez was the right person at the right time for UNLV, modernizing the program by instituting some of the basics, such as fundraising for a nutrition table for after-practice meals or securing funds so players could enroll in summer school to start training for the new season. And, of course, delivering on his promise for the new state-of-the-art complex the team calls home.

Those things are commonplace at the program’s UNLV hopes to become. But until Sanchez came, nobody was able to fix what was broke.

He was told to raise money, which he did to the tune of securing major donations to build the $34 million Fertitta Football Complex. Players and coaches moved into the 73,000-square-foot facility last month. It’s a shame Sanchez won’t get to enjoy that office with a Strip view.

He was told to beat Reno, which UNLV had done just once in the previous 10 seasons before he was hired. He’s 2-2 entering Saturday’s game, which he will be allowed to coach in. He won more games through four seasons than previous coaches Bobby Hauck and Mike Sanford did in five years. He also led the program to its first win against a Southeastern Conference opponent.

They told him to address the Academic Progress Rate, which dipped so low in 2014 the Rebels nearly were banned from the postseason. Under Sanchez, the team posted the highest semester and cumulative grade point averages in program history.

The program was rarely a winner on the field. At least Sanchez made them one off of it.

“We moved the needle,” Sanchez said. “This community is so generous. They’ve done such a good job of believing in something that doesn’t exist, that’s UNLV football."

It’s a shame Sanchez will be remembered by locals for coming up short at UNLV because his contributions to the football scene in Las Vegas can’t be overstated. When he arrived at Bishop Gorman in 2009, the Gaels weren’t even the best team in Nevada.

Six years later, Gorman was a national brand, playing more games on ESPN networks than UNLV and sending players to major college programs. Those college recruiters, from places such as Ohio State and USC that never scouted in Las Vegas before, didn’t only go to Gorman. They also recruited at Arbor View, Desert Pines, Liberty and other programs.

This isn’t Sanchez’s obituary. He’ll get another chance to coach again, likely as a college position-coach, then maybe as a coordinator and then again his own program. If anything, he’s a proven builder.

UNLV is surely better off because of it.

“I truly believe bigger and better days are ahead for UNLV,” he said.

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

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