UNLV's football team is 6-2 and eligible for a postseason bowl game for the first time since 2013. The program, with 10 winning seasons in 45 years, looks to be on the upswing. But is there room for major college football in a city that now boasts three major sports teams — the Raiders, Golden Knights, and Aces — and with the impending arrival of Major League Baseball's Athletics, soon to be four?
Joe Hawk, a part of the Southern Nevada sports landscape since 1977, when he came to UNLV to finish his communications degree from his native Oregon, shares his thoughts. Hawk, 67, worked in the office of the school’s sports information director, was the media liaison for the Las Vegas Stars Triple-A baseball franchise (now the Aviators), and was sports editor and sports columnist for the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Now retired, he still works as a part-time copy editor for the newspaper.
UNLV has qualified for a bowl game for the first time since 2013 in Barry Odom's first year as coach. Does its rapid rise here surprise you?
It does in that they're 6-2 (as of late October) in a first-year coach's run because they have not had any success of any extended period since Tony Knap was the coach, and he retired in 1981. Barry Odom is the 13th coach, and they've only had four of them, including Odom, with winning records at UNLV. And the other three — Bill Ireland, Ron Meyer, and Tony Knap — were the first three they had.
Why such an incredible run of bad teams?
I think there's a lot of things. You can take a look at basketball. UNLV was able to have success because they were able to get the right people in places to coach, and that started with Tark (Jerry Tarkanian) in the 1970s. Once he was gone, the program took a substantial step backward.
The problem with football overall is that it takes so many good players to be a really successful program. The city of Las Vegas, in a weird sort of way, has made it hard for the program to get enough good players. There were times when I first came here that other coaches would recruit against the city, not so much against the program. Coaches would tell recruits' parents, “You don't want to send your son to Las Vegas because they'll get involved in gambling and prostitution. The city has Mafia connections.”
I mean they would really use all that, push that, and make it look like you'd be sending your kid to Sin City.
You might have some success with a few good players, like Randall Cunningham and Ickey Woods, and even early on, with someone like Mike Thomas. They've had some good players here. But with any good college football program, one that makes the national scene, you just can't do it with three- or four-star players. You have to have depth, backups, and good, solid players at all positions, especially on the offensive and defensive lines. And they just have never been able to do that.
Over the years, UNLV has been a team that would just wear down because it just didn't have the depth.
In the present sports landscape, is there room for UNLV football? Can it attract fans?
There certainly would be if the program could get up to the next level, and by that I don't mean you have to be like Alabama or Oklahoma or Texas. But you have to be a substantial second-tier Division I program to get fans out on a consistent basis. There's just nothing that fires up fans. As long as you're playing Utah State or San Jose State, there's just nothing there that really fires up people.
You play teams like Arkansas, Wisconsin, even Nebraska, then you can develop a real interest in the community. Until they can get to that point, being in the conference they're stuck in and still struggling to win games, it's going to be difficult.
Money for entertainment is an issue, too, right?
I used to write about this all the time as a columnist. It's about discretionary dollars. A lot of people think everyone who lives in Las Vegas is wealthy. There are a lot of people who live paycheck to paycheck, a lot who work in the service industry. It's not all casino executives.
Until you can have a program that's successful, able to compete against some other (big) name programs, and affordable, it's going to be difficult. The school did it in basketball because it was so, so successful. The front row of games was nicknamed Gucci Row because of the celebrities who wanted to attend games.
Mom and dad are looking at the discretionary dollars saying, “Am I going to take the kids to see UNLV football or do I go to see the Golden Knights play?” Now, you might be able to see three UNLV football games for the cost of one Knights game, but would you rather go to see the Knights be successful or watch UNLV struggle?
People in this town, even if they're residents, they like to gamble. Going to a UNLV game, that takes away money for gambling ... There's only so much discretionary dollars, so how much will they be willing to spend on UNLV football? Well, the first step, I think, is winning consistently.
Does Allegiant Stadium benefit UNLV? Great venue. Will it be a recruiting tool as some think?
That's a huge step. I think it's yet to be borne out as far as recruiting is concerned. Obviously, it's going to have a positive effect ... But it comes down to the opponent you're playing, too. If you can get the teams like Wisconsin in and you're competitive and it's exciting, then you've got the start of a foundation.
In Lincoln, Nebraska, obviously, Nebraska football is big. They're struggling now, but it's the only game in town. In Las Vegas, there are lots of attractions, lots of ways to spend your money ... You've got to put product on the field. That's the way you try to steal away that discretionary dollar.
Money in this town speaks in so many different ways.
So, with Allegiant, the metro area's growth, and more talented players in area high schools, can Odom recruit enough talent?
I think he can. I go back to John Robinson (who won four Rose Bowls and shared the 1978 national championship at Southern California before coming to coach UNLV). That was name recognition. He should have been able to bring in more quality players ... but he had a .400 winning percentage in five seasons. And Tony Sanchez, who won so much at (Bishop) Gorman (High School). At UNLV, he couldn't get enough good players. He won only one-third of his games. So, I don't know if that kind of name recognition means very much. It comes down to getting players ...
Eventually, your program, if it's going to bring in the best kids, has to be part of a Power Five conference (the Mountain West Conference is part of the Football Bowl Subdivision but not the Power Five). I do believe in the next 10 years that if you're not part of a Power Five conference, you may as well shut down your program.
If UNLV is talking to a player and he's also got Notre Dame or USC (both Power Five schools) after him ... UNLV is saying, “Come play for us and help build the program.” That's not what players want to hear ... They want to hear that in two or three years you're going to be seen by everyone on TV and NFL scouts are going to be coming to your games.