Very ballsy move by Hamrick. Most AD's would cave to the boo-birds. Sanford is a big-time talent and now he has time to get his kids and his system firmly in place.

I can't tell you how much I look forward to watching UNLV run the Sanford version of the Spread Option... Its a beautiful sight to see.

I look for substantial improvement in '09, and MWC championship contention in '10 and beyond.

Job well done, Mr. Hamrick.

Congrats FastCameron. Now that Sanford is firmly in place, the good spread-option recruits will find their way to UNLV in droves. Sanford is very well known among the top spread high school coaches, and UNLV will be one of the top-20 schools in the nation for any spread-option talent who wants to take their skills to the next level.

Oh and Cameron, good idea to get your digs in now, because when Sanford's program starts winning big, these boo-birds will be nowhere to be found.

Newyorkrebel's contract outline makes perfect sense.

Reality check... It takes six years minimum to rebuild a program as downtrodden as UNLV... Sanford is the guy who can do it. This season (despite the loss to SD) was a turning point.

If you fire Sanford, and some phenom comes in and wins 9 games with Sanford's recruits, he'll be on to the next gig in a skinny little minute. Bank on it.

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.

Case Study... Brady Hoke, Head Coach at 12-0 Ball State...

Hoke had FOUR losing seasons at Ball State before going 7-6 in his fifth season. He is, of course, undefeated in this his sixth season (and Ball State is expecting its best recruiting year in the history of the program... they are ON THE MAP!).

Hoke went 5-7 in his fourth year as head coach... imagine that.

"I've been hearing the "see what he does next year" for three years."

Building UNLV into a viable program is a seven year project... minimum. Doesn't matter WHO you get in here. Seems like UNLV hires 'em and fires 'em about every four years since the '70's (except for Robinson, who should have retired instead of taking on the UNLV job).

I don't know how on earth anyone can judge a coach until he gets a full roster of his own recruits (unless he's lucky enough to inherit a loaded team... not the case when Sanford arrived). It takes at least six seasons for a coach to get a full team of his own developed players.

UNLV has a big-time talent in Sanford. In reading these boards it's nice to see the "sharper knives in the drawer" are aware that continuous four-year-and-out coaching stints are killing the UNLV football program, not helping it.

Kudos to Alex and Christine on the video... brilliant piece of work.

Thanks for the comments, Ron. I would also like to see Sanford stay. I'm a football fan first and foremost, and am a huge admirer of the Spread offense. As to the Utah Spread... I think no one has run the Spread better than Sanford at Utah, before or after. Mullen at Florida hasn't come close (though with blue-chip talent six-deep, he's done well enough).

My sense is that Sanford is looking for a little support from the administration in the form of an extension (and that he is already fielding serious and lucrative offers)... at 150K base, I can't see the problem for UNLV. The additional monies typically come from shoe companies and TV sponsors and the like... no skin off the AD's nose. If the AD is skittish, let any increases by derived from stated goals... 8 wins, bowl appearance, MWC standings, etc.

If you really want Sanford to stay, Ron, you may want to reconsider tying Hamrick's hands (as to a contract extension) from your influential position in the UNLV forum of public opinion... would a three year extension be so bad? (if '09, '10, and '11 look anything like I'm guessing, you may wish you went for a much longer deal, though).

I've been following the Spread since Jack Elway ran a form of it in the 80's. If I were making a very short list of the best Spread OC's for a big-time program, it would be Coach Rod, Chip Kelly at Ore., and Mike Sanford... Sanford would be #1. Mullen at Florida would be at 10 or 11.

All that said Ron, I enjoy your wit and your insights, and I hope you and your family have a great Thanksgiving.

One more question for Kantowski... do you think you could get your dad's union rep to cut Sanford's new deal with Hamrick? With Sanford's 80 hour workweeks and year-round responsibilities, he'd make a helluva lot more money under the steelworker's contract than the contract he's under now... do the math! :)

Hamrick might want to take a shot at the above pop quiz as well.