Team preview: UNLV
The Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook previews the 2008 UNLV Rebels, exclusively on Insider.
Originally Published: June 30, 2008
Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook
Editor's Note: ESPN Insider has teamed with Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook to provide a comprehensive look at the Division I-A teams. To order the complete 2008 edition of Blue Ribbon College Football Yearbook, visit www.blueribbonyearbook.com or call 1-866-805-BALL (2255).
(All information as of June 20, 2008)
When UNLV introduced Mike Sanford as its ninth head coach in December 2004, he was lauded as "one of college football's leading offensive minds" based largely on his success at Utah as Urban Meyer's innovative offensive coordinator. Sanford, 53, still has a great offensive mind, but it's wins that matter and those have been too few and too far between during his tenure with the Rebels. Injuries and inexperience at quarterback have repeatedly derailed his efforts to implement the explosive spread attack that helped the Utes go 21-2 in 2003-04 (and helped Meyer's Florida Gators claim a BCS championship in 2006). With just six wins since taking over for John Robinson, the 2008 season is likely Sanford's last roll of the dice in Las Vegas.
COACH AND PROGRAM
When UNLV introduced Mike Sanford as its ninth head coach in December 2004, he was lauded as "one of college football's leading offensive minds" based largely on his success at Utah as Urban Meyer's innovative offensive coordinator. Sanford, 53, still has a great offensive mind, but it's wins that matter and those have been too few and too far between during his tenure with the Rebels. Injuries and inexperience at quarterback have repeatedly derailed his efforts to implement the explosive spread attack that helped the Utes go 21-2 in 2003-04 (and helped Meyer's Florida Gators claim a BCS championship in 2006). With just six wins since taking over for John Robinson, the 2008 season is likely Sanford's last roll of the dice in Las Vegas.
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