The Las Vegas Sun reports that UNLV head coach Mike Sanford and his AD may be at an impasse on the '09 season. This will come as great news to all the programs creating short-lists for coaching jobs that are soon to be vacant.
Sanford may walk away from UNLV unless his head coaching contract is extended. The grapevine has it that he is being considered as offensive coordinator by many big-time programs who could match or better his current compensation.
Sanford helped develop the hottest offense in college football...the Spread Option. He was the OC at Utah while Urban Meyer was head coach. Many believe that Sanford's Utah version of the spread was the best of 'em all. The last three national champions ran the spread, and in all likelihood this year's national champion will boast a spread offense as well.
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LSU, USC, Auburn, Notre Dame, and others have had disappointing offensive production of late. I'm predicting that Sanford will leave UNLV and will land a high profile OC position.
Florida may lose Dan Mullen to a head coaching opportunity. If so, Sanford would be a brilliant choice as the new OC. For those of you who saw Sanford's Utah Spread, imagine what he could do with the wealth of talent in G'ville.
With Tebow soon to be in the NFL draft, and the Spread proving itself in the toughest BCS conferences, the Spread-Option may become the main attraction at an NFL franchise near you... Sanford (who has had some NFL coaching experience) will be high on any NFL short-list of Spread OC's.
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about 1 month ago
Was reading another blog... I'll be surprised if a bigger program doesn't hire Sanford away from UNLV before the bowl games.
from about 1 month ago
MHO Sanford is as good at the Spread as anyone in the game. He has not yet been able to field a team made up entirely of his on recruits at UNLV. UNLV is paying him peanuts in comparison to other HC jobs.
from about 1 month ago
In another Las Vegas Sun article, it was reported that Sanford's salary is $150,000 per year... I doubt he'll last long at UNLV at that number.
about 1 month ago
Joe, have you read anything about Sarkesian taking the Washington job and Sanford going to USC as OC? With USC 's recruiting, that would be the spread on steroids! I heard a little about it on a talk show yesterday. I guess if anyone has the budget to lure Sanford away from a head coaching job it would be USC.
from about 1 month ago
Thanks for the comments, Henry. I hadn't heard about Sark going to Wash, but googled it and see quite a bit of buzz. Sanford would be a great fit at USC... kinda scary if he got the ball rolling there.
Now that Jo Pa has blessed the Spread and made it respectable, seems everyone wants in on the action.
about 1 month ago
Sanford gets paid half a mil a year, the 150K is his base pay.
He does not deserve a raise, and should at most get a 1 year extension - basically he has had three 2 win seasons prior to this "breakout" 5 win season, and managed to lose a game against one of the worst programs in the country (San Diego St).
He's got some of the worst game management skills you could ever see. But, if he landed an OC position in the SEC, he will be able to dominate all opposition as long as he has triple the talent level over his opposition.
I can't see him landing at Florida, as he and Urban are not exactly on speaking terms after Sanford claimed that he was the brains behind that spread offense. As a casual fan, I think Urban's Florida offense is maybe just a little more formidable than Sanford's UNLV offense.
from about 1 month ago
Right about the 150K as base, Cam. Though that's all UNLV is ponying up - the rest comes from TV, sponsors, etc.
Given the horrible condition the UNLV program was in when Sanford signed on, I don't see how he can be fairly judged until he has four of his full recruiting classes in place - that would be at the end of the '10 season.
I don't agree with the game management comment, as his game management was excellent at Utah. As to talent being a factor, I think we're in agreement there. However, Sanford got very good results from some very good talent at Utah (ex-coach McBride had Utah LOADED when Meyer/Sanford arrived)... some OC's don't get good results regardless of the talent.
I'm not familiar with any current rift between Meyer and Sanford, but I doubt Meyer is so thin-skinned as to eliminate Sanford as an OC candidate based on what he may or may not have said several years ago. And if anyone can justifiably lay claim to a hefty portion of credit for success of the Utah Spread it would be the Utah OC at the time, Mike Sanford.
Sorry Cam, but UNLV has been a dogcrap football program since the early '80's... you don't turn that around in three or four seasons... not against the heated competition of the MWC. I believe Sanford is the guy who CAN turn it around, but the lack of support from the fanbase and administration plus the current high demand for Spread-Option OC's add up to the end of the Sanford era at UNLV (IMHO).
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