Hauck reflects on trials and tribulations of first season, looks ahead to recruiting

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Monday, Dec. 13, 2010 | 2:05 a.m.

A wall-wrap of photos documenting the school’s legendary teams and performers greets UNLV athletes when they enter the Lied Athletic Complex for training.

There is a picture of the 1998 national championship golf squad, a portrait of former star softball pitcher and Olympian Lori Harrigan and plenty of images to celebrate the storied basketball program.

Noticeably missing from the spread is an abundance of images honoring the football team’s successes. You see, there haven’t been many memorable moments in the perennial losing program’s history.

Still, there is a photo of a championship ring for winning the 1994 Big West Conference title, an image of wide receiver Nate Turner holding the 2000 Las Vegas Bowl trophy and a picture of legend Randall Cunningham, the program’s most notable former player.

On the second floor of the complex are the football offices, where head coach Bobby Hauck has logged numerous hours since he was hired last December trying to turn the program into winner.

That transformation, as he learned this fall during his initial campaign, is easier said than done. The Rebels posted a 2-11 record, lost by an average of 34.7 points on the road and often were overmatched at several positions.

Hauck knows the only way to make improvements is by upgrading talent in the program. He’s been aggressive on the recruiting trail the past two weeks since the season ended, looking to attract athletes who fit into his formula for overhauling the program.

The program’s lack of history and tradition, as illustrated on the wall-wrap, will surely be an obstacle when talking to prospects. But Hauck, who formerly was the recruiting coordinator at Colorado and is widely considered as being an expert recruiter, turns the program’s downfalls into a selling point.

“When (recruits) ask you about your biggest tradition, (you have to tell them) we don’t have many here, but we are building them,” Hauck said.

Hauck hosted about eight junior college recruits this past weekend, looking first to the junior college ranks for immediate help — especially at quarterback. Sophomore-to-be Caleb Herring and redshirt freshman Taylor Barnhill are the lone two quarterbacks in the program, making signing a junior college signal caller a priority.

Hauck said he would prefer to sign high school players he can develop, and said he would only take a junior college player if the player could contribute in the short term.

Contributing immediately is something several players from last year’s signing class did. In total, 23 freshmen were part of the regular rotation, including 14 true freshman — something unheard of in college football.

True freshman running back Tim Cornett had arguably the most success, rushing for 539 yards and scoring eight touchdowns (six rushing), while redshirt freshman returner Marcus Sullivan averaged 27.9 yards per kickoff return.

Hauck knew the younger players would take their lumps while getting their feet wet, but said they showed several encouraging characteristics — most notably in terms of effort.

While the record and some of the performances were an eyesore, that didn’t take away from Hauck enjoying his time on the sideline. The small improvements each week were the result of not throwing in the towel.

“The improvements aren’t things that necessarily showed up on the scoreboard,” Hauck said. “But that is where they need to show up eventually.”

Getting the younger players experience will only help in future seasons. The schedule was downright brutal with nine of the 13 opponents having played in bowl games last year, and two (TCU and Wisconsin) opponents earning Bowl Championship Series berths this year.

The schedule, which Hauck believes is easily one of the toughest in the nation, made for some challenging Saturdays.

“We were up against it every week,” he said.

If all goes according to the coach’s plan, it would be his team on the other end of those lopsided defeats.

“I had fun coaching these guys this year. I just wish that showed more on the scoreboard,” he said.

Phillip Payne earns praise from coach

Junior Phillip Payne, who was suspended for two games midway through the season for making negative comments on Twitter about Hauck, is back in good graces with the coach.

The two talked while traveling back from the season-ending road trip to Hawaii, and Hauck had nothing but positives to say about his star receiver. Despite the two games missed and not being a major part of the offense for some games, Payne finished with nearly 700 yards receiving and five touchdowns.

“I'm really proud of him for rallying back and working his tail off the last month," Hauck said. "... He's a good football player and a good guy."