LAS VEGAS — It was 1994. One of the few times UNLV actually had a successful football season.
Jeff Horton’s first year as coach of the Rebels resulted in a 7-5 record, a tie for first place in the Big West Conference, a win over archival Nevada and a bowl game victory over Central Michigan in the Las Vegas Bowl.
But other schools raided most of Horton’s coaching staff and by 1998, the Rebels were winless and Horton was shown the door by then-athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro who was unable or unwilling to find the funding to keep Horton’s talented staff in Las Vegas.
Here we are 30 years later. Nearly the same scenario. UNLV is enjoying success in football, actually unprecedented success. The 10-2 Rebels are nationally ranked (No. 22) for the first time in program history.
They’re headed to a bowl game in consecutive years for the first time. They retained the Fremont Cannon Saturday after taking care of the Wolf Pack 38-14 at Allegiant Stadium and they’ll play Boise State Friday at Albertsons Stadium for the Mountain West title and the chance to be in the College Football Playoff should they beat the Broncos.
Let that sink in for a moment. UNLV in the CFP.
This is a program that some were calling for the elimination of back in 1989 after getting blown out by Houston, 69-0, at Sam Boyd Stadium. That was just five years after Randall Cunningham won the California Bowl in Fresno.
Barry Odom, who has masterminded this metamorphosis on Maryland Parkway, will tell you the job’s not done. He’s under contract at UNLV through 2028. But he could always leave at a moment’s notice. So could his talented staff, including offensive coordinator Brennan Marion, defensive coordinated Mike Scherer and James Shibest, the special teams coordinator.
Which is why Erick Harper is the most important man connected to UNLV football at the moment. The current AD probably doesn’t need the aforementioned history lesson of Horton and Cavagnaro to be reminded that it’s going to be up to him to keep this thing going.
Yes, he extended Odom back in April. Yes, Odom’s making good money at UNLV — a reported $1.75 million. Yes, he managed to keep the bulk of his staff together and launch his program on its unprecedented run of success this season despite changing the starting quarterback in midstream. Home attendance has been at a record level this year.
There’s no question other schools will be looking to lure Odom and his key staffers away from UNLV in the coming weeks. It’s the sordid side of the business of college athletics. Harper has been in the game long enough to know this. Hopefully, he and president Keith Whitfield have a plan in place to deal with the poachers and keep their coach and his staff.
“Success brings challenges,” Harper said after the game. “Right now, I won’t go into any details about what we’re talking to Coach about.”
When I asked Harper about what has impressed him about Odom, he said: “His leadership and his consistency in how he handles relationships with his players. The consistency in everything he does — as a father, as a husband, as a mentor, as a leader. That’s the impressive part. Not only on the field. But what he does off the field magnifies what he does on the field.”
If it’s a matter of money, perhaps the bail-out UNLV has received to remain a member of the Mountain West can be partially appropriated toward the football staff and other needs Odom may have. Reportedly there’s $25 million that will be headed UNLV’s way with a good chunk is supposedly earmarked to erase a deficit of over $21 million the athletic department has accumulated over the past few years. But there should be enough funds remaining to help entice Odom’s staff from bolting elsewhere.
Of course, if Marion or Scherer are offered head coaching positions, it may not matter. Odom wouldn’t stand in their way of getting a chance to run their own program. But at least he can make it to where they’d have to think long and hard about leaving.
Odom himself may have to contemplate accepting a Power 4 head coaching job should he be offered one. I have no idea if his wife Tia is happy living in Las Vegas or his daughter Anna likes it here. They might love it and not want to leave.
That’s why Harper, who got Odom to come here in December 2022 and gave him a chance to run his own program again after Missouri let him go on this day in 2019, is so important as this process goes forward. He has the power to keep his football coach and his staff here. He deserves a lot of credit for bringing Odom here and now it’s up to him to help Odom remain at UNLV and keep it going.
“This team has been a lot of fun to coach and I don’t want it to stop,” Odom said.
For the second straight year, there’s going to be football in December. It’s not something we’re used to around these parts. We’ll see if the coach and the A.D. can maintain a new tradition and avoid it being just a blip in the struggling history of the sport here.