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StumblePublished Saturday, Nov. 29, 2008 | 4:46 p.m.
Updated Sunday, Nov. 30, 2008 | 12:06 a.m.
With one year remaining on his contract, UNLV football coach Mike Sanford's job status for the 2009 season is safe. This was confirmed by athletic director Mike Hamrick on Friday night at the Thomas & Mack Center before UNLV's hoops game against California.
"Yes," Hamrick said emphatically.
It's Sanford's status beyond 2009 which is the big mystery. At least for a few more days, that is.
The two will sit down early this next week and hammer out the details of the program's future. This, of course, includes whether Sanford's contract will be extended.
"We'll sit down and evaluate the program and talk about what we need to do, what's worked, what doesn't work," Hamrick added. "I'll give him my perspective, I'll hear his perspective, then we'll go from there and see where we go."
Sanford has been out of town for much of the time since his team's 42-21 season-ending loss at San Diego State last Saturday, both for the Thanksgiving holiday and to recruit. A victory in San Diego would have made the Rebels bowl eligible following four straight 2-10 seasons, and may have all but secured a healthy extension for the fourth-year coach. Instead, UNLV finished 5-7.
In four seasons at UNLV, Sanford has a record of 11-37.
The 2009 season will bring a decent amount of promise, as the core of the Rebels' efficient offense returns. The schedule also features seven home games, including three straight to start the season. It will kickoff on Sept. 5 with a home date against Sacramento State, followed with visits to Sam Boyd Stadium by Oregon State and Hawaii.
Stay tuned to www.lasvegassun.com/rebels for more on this story as it develops throughout the week.
Time for the president to fire Hamrick.
Safe for next year? Sounds like UNLV's prepared for failure, but what if Sanford has a break-out season... a one-year deal doesn't protect UNLV in the event of success.
Ball State's coach Brady Hoke's first four seasons were losing seasons... in his fifth he went 7-6... in this his sixth season his team went 12-0.
What's Hamrick's contingency plan for success? Year-to-year, when the bigger programs come calling? Lotsa luck with that.
Rockne: Why do you defend Sanford so much?
I agree that he deserves to be back next year and he has done a lot of things to build the program.
I also like that UNLV was willing to sit through 3 of the most miserable years in the history of the program to build it the right way with high school players and develop them.
There are a lot of signs and a lot of hope for the future, but if Sanford gets an extension, it should be with only one years worth of buyout.
Coaching is not as much about X's and O's as it is about LEADERSHIP AND MOTIVATING. Sanford is an elite offensive mind, but does he posses the intangibles that distinguish the winners from the losers? That is the difference in coaches. Nick Saban and Brian Kelly at Alabama and Cincy respectively are taking teams to BCS games in their SECOND YEAR.
Sanford has done a great job of placing the program on a solid footing, but sadly, he has the 7th WORST winning percentage of any active coach (and a few on the list below might be fired soon):
Mike Sanford, UNLV 23.4%
Hal Mumme, New Mexico State 22.4% (likely fired)
Mario Cristobal, Florida International 21.7%
Gene Chizick, Iowa State 20.8%
Paul Wulff, Washington State 15.4%
Robb Akey, Idaho 12.5%
Todd Dodge, North Texas 12.5%
Many excuses can be made for UNLV football. Until the university sees the benefit of having a real team and building the atmosphere and home field advantage that comes with having an on-campus stadium, then ANY coach will be hamstrung in a way.
But my generally supportive position on Sanford vanished after the SDSU loss.
Hamrick and Sanford both need to go away and make it far far away
toomanybongs, they have an extra ticket and they want you to go with them.