Players get a taste of the coach’s intensity

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Dec. 7, 2004 | 8:53 a.m.

New UNLV coach Mike Sanford laid down the law with his new team during a 40-minute meeting on Monday afternoon at the Lied Athletic Complex.

The law won, as three players who arrived late and weren't allowed inside the auditorium can well attest. Not exactly the best way to get on the good side of your new head coach.

Sanford, the offensive coordinator of a Utah team that is arguably the No. 1 story in college football this year, stressed to his new team the importance of hard work and discipline if they hope to turn around a program that has gone through three consecutive losing seasons.

"To sum it up in one word, it's 'intensity,' " running back Erick Jackson said. "You could just look into his eyes and know he meant business, but at the same time you could see that he's ready to work for us, too.

"He told us it's going to be hard. He said we're going to be the best conditioned team and the best prepared team in the conference. We are already buying into it. ... I'm just ready to play right now."

Junior safety Joe Miklos added: "He said everything that I think the whole team wanted to hear as far as discipline, winning and hard work. He put down guidelines. If you miss one workout or meeting, this is what the disciplinary action is going to be. If you miss two, then this is what's going to happen, and so forth."

Rebels players seemed to welcome that news.

"The thing that impressed me most about him is he's on the same page as us players, because in our meetings we've all been talking about the discipline we need to have through the season," junior defensive end Leon Moore said. "He came in there and said the things we've been saying."

Sanford also told them he planned to form a leadership committee made up of players to deal with certain forms of discipline similiar to one Urban Meyer installed at Utah.

"That's putting a lot of pressure on the players, which I like," Miklos said.

Moore added: "I feel like as a coach, one of the best things you can do is to allow your players to govern themselves like that. I don't care who you are, as a coach you can't see what the players see."

Quarterback Shane Steichen, whose older brother, Sean, was a roommate of Sanford's son, Mike Jr., at Boise State, echoed the feeling of most players who are excited about the high-scoring spread offensive attack Sanford is bringing with him from Salt Lake City.

"You look at what Utah did this year (offensively), it's exciting," Steichen said. "And Alex Smith is a Heisman guy, you know. Being in that kind of offense is going to be exciting."

Sophomore wide receiver Tremayne Kirkland said: "Ironically, one of my relatives, (all-Mountain West pick) Paris Warren, starts at wide receiver for them. He's called me already to tell me we've got a good guy coming. And that's real exciting to hear."

Added Moore, memories of UNLV's painful 63-28 loss to Utah this season no doubt still fresh in his head: "We've seen what his offense does to defenses firsthand. Just to have him here is a great honor. ... I feel bad for the guys at Utah because they're losing him, but I'm extremely happy that we're getting him here."

The fact that UNLV is adopting some of the same guidelines that Utah used the past two seasons en route to back-to-back Mountain West titles and a Fiesta Bowl berth made Sanford's words even stronger.

"I've seen Utah's progress in the last three years and it's amazing," Jackson said. "Not to take anything away from Utah, but I believe we have just as much talent as they do and the rest of the Mountain West."

Steichen said: "There's a lot of excitement around here. We can't wait to get going."