Thursday, Aug. 18, 2011 | 6:45 p.m.
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ELY — As Bobby Hauck begins his second season at the helm of the UNLV football program, he'll have a new selling point to use when pitching recruits.
His job security.
UNLV will be awarding Hauck a two-year extension on his original three-year deal, which runs through the 2012 season. Now, he'll be under contract through 2014 and will maintain the same $350,000 annual salary throughout the life of the contract. He'll also still be awarded his $450,000 completion bonus at the end of next season.
The contract will be up for approval by the Board of Regents when it meets Sept. 8 and 9.
"If the regents in fact approve it, I'll be excited about that, because I'm fired up about what's going on with UNLV athletics," Hauck said following Thursday's afternoon practice in Ely.
Hauck was hired in December 2009 following a successful seven-year run as the head coach at Montana. He inherited a roster with plenty of holes and faced one of the nation's toughest schedules in his first season.
The Rebels went 2-11 in 2010, but signs of improvement abound at this year's fall camp, ranging from his players being in better shape, an improved overall talent level, better depth and, quite frankly, better attitudes across the board.
"We are spending more time coaching technique and scheme rather than just attitude and effort," he said. "A lot of that is more of a mainstay now, day in and day out, which is good.
"Also, we knew going into last season that that schedule would be a Top 20-plus schedule, and we had a pretty good idea that we probably weren't going to be a Top 20 team. So we knew it was going to be uphill last season. Fact of the matter is we were up against it a lot of weeks, and by finishing fifth in the conference and getting two big wins in the conference season, we laid a little bit of a foundation there. That shows we're growing into being competitive in the Mountain West Conference."
The Rebels' schedule is not nearly as fierce this season as it was last fall, but it's still tough, with seven of their 12 games away from Sam Boyd Stadium. It all begins against No. 10 Wisconsin on Sept. 1 in Madison.
The schedule begins to lighten up next year, though, with home non-conference games against Minnesota and Washington State combined with trips to Utah State and Louisiana Tech. On top of that, TCU will be leaving the Mountain West for the Big East, and the conference will add rival Nevada-Reno, Fresno State and Hawaii.
Facing that 2012 schedule will be an experienced team. Though expectations are relatively low for the Rebels in 2011, they'll have underclassmen at nearly every key position.
This extension will help Hauck and his staff in their efforts to continue to add quality talent and depth on the recruiting trail, as piecing together a strong 2012 class would have been much tougher with Hauck only under contract for another year. The fact that he's receiving it now shows that the administration truly believes he has the program headed toward better days. UNLV hasn't had a winning season since 2000.
For more as UNLV continues to prepare for the 2011 season, stay tuned to lasvegassun.com/rebels.
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