User profile: Rebels1990

Truthfully, I am glad that Harrison is going somewhere else. The way this guy was grandstanding and promoting his announcement on the local sports radio show just reeks of arrogance and that is not what this team needs. This team needs players who are going to put their head down, be humble, and work hard.

They don't need some JUNIOR COLLEGE player who thinks he is better than he is. I mean he came from a JUNIOR COLLEGE.

We don't want Harrison. Especially a guy who would turn his back on his hometown school that is on the way up.

Missouri wasn't much better than UNLV about 3 years ago.

You can't be better than your recruiting. I think we have a lot of real good, fast players in the program. If we can bring in some more and start understanding that DEFENSE is the most important aspect of football, we are going to keep getting better. That is why we need to make a move and hire Rocky Long as defensive coordinator immediately.

With an improved defense we could actually win a lot of games because the offense if very efficient.

If we continue the positives of this year, notably the low turnovers, near perfect red-zone scoring, and low penalties, we could get to the 8-9-10 win total which would be a major major accomplishment.

Then if we could figure out how to build a stadium on campus we may be able to establish a respectable football program which would help UNLV advance its academic mission in a myriad of ways.

A better UNLV is the key to diversifying Nevada's narrow economy. Make no mistake about it, football done right has a LOT to do with the success of a university on many levels.

Lets get this thing rolling! Go Rebels!

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.

I sat very close to the floor last night and watched Wink closely. He has a hitch in his shot. Very obvious and it is just something he has to be aware of and correct.

It is disappointing to say, but this season really is already shot because of these two losses. I know it is early, and I know we have historically had two losses early every year in the Kruger era, but, like Lenny said above, these have damaged our chances at a good seed.

There is only one chance left in the non-conference to make it up and turn it around and that would be a win at Louisville. A win there and a conference championship would make these losses a distant memory.

However you need sustained winning streaks and style points to get the kind of seed necessary to make a deep run.

At best, with the scenario above, we could get a 5 seed and at worst we are in the 8-9 game again. Assuming we are able to make the tournament which is a BIG question mark at this point.

This team has shown a lot of warning signs and a lot of weaknesses that cast doubt over the entire season. We will be fine because the MWC is not very strong this year, but:

DIDN'T WE ALL EXPECT MORE THAN THE SAME TYPE OF SEASON WE HAVE HAD THE LAST TWO YEARS WITH A VETERAN, SENIOR LADEN TEAM?

I know I did and that is why I am so disappointed right now. We are on track to have the same season we have had the last two years. Start out slow, lose to all the "name" teams on our non-conference slate, then gel for conference and finish second in the conference, win the conference tournament, get a 7-8-9 seed, win the first game then get rolled out of the tourney in round two unless we face a team whose best player gets injured (Wisconsin 2007).

Shouldn't a program that has won a NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP and has an elite coach do better than that? Or am I just being "unrealistic"?

WE HAVE WON A NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP!! THAT SHOULD BE OUR FOCUS AND OUR GOAL.

Las Vegas is a town built on losers. We see people losing all day. We see the football team losing all fall. ALL WE WANT TO SEE IS WINNING AT A VERY HIGH LEVEL. Nothing else will suffice, especially not losing two in a row at HOME to middle of the road teams.

We just flat out do not have the players to compete at the level that we expect to play at or that we were hyped to play at. Luckily, next years recruiting class is stacked and we appear to be getting the type of players it is going to take to get us back to the top. Not just a solid top 75 team like we are now, I mean a FEARSOME top 10 team.

Making a FINAL FOUR is the ONLY outcome that any Rebel fan should accept. Anything else is short of what we have ALREADY accomplished 4 other times.

This year is not the year. Thankfully, this will probably be Kruger's worst team in the next 4 years (if he doesn't move on to another job).