UNLV Rebels Athletic Director Erick Harper On The 'UNLV Brand' Attracting Coaching Candidates

UNLV Rebels athletic director Erick Harper has done an unbelievable job building up all of the school's athletic programs, especially the football program. He has turned to a team that was once an afterthought and in debt, to a thriving and profitable program coming off back-to-back Mountain West Conference Championship games with an elite head coach in Dan Mullen, a roster full of Power 4 talent, and a potential G5 powerhouse in the making.

People around college football have taken notice of UNLV's ascension. That includes coaches around the country. Recently, Harper sat down with UNLV's official website to talk about how the improved UNLV brand has i mpacted hiring new coaches for his sports programs.

UNLV Athletic Director Erick Harper On How The UNLV Brand And The City Of Las Vegas Help With Hiring Coaches

"The four letters — UNLV — are as strong as ever. And honestly, we have the early Tark [Jerry Tarkanian] days to thank for that. It’s still the main reason why UNLV is a brand that everybody knows and understands. Now, it’s been hotter in the last few years because of [our resurgence in] football and because of Allegiant Stadium. But those four letters mean a lot to Rebel followers.

One of the very neat things about UNLV are those last two letters: Las Vegas. Obviously, we have 40-million-plus tourists a year coming through here, but in general, there are always a lot of eyeballs on this city. And let’s face it, most people want to go where there’s ener gy, vibrancy and passion, and we have that here.

When you’re at a UNLV soccer or baseball game and you can look out and see the Sphere and see the High Roller — or from the Thomas & Mack Center, you can look out and see Luxor, Mandalay Bay, Allegiant Stadium — these backdrops are as impressive as any college campus can offer in the entire country.

Plus, this is a pretty doggone good place to live."

Harper On Coaches Wanting The Head Football Coach Job This Offseason

"I received no less than 50 to 75 calls or text messages, including from a lot of people I didn’t even know. And many of those [inquiries] came before Coach Odom officially stepped down, as they were anticipating he would leave. So for sure, there was no shortage of people interested.

In fact, it’s funny — and I’ll never out the guy — but one coach actually called me in August, saying “Hey, if Barry leaves, I’d like to be considered.” I’m like, “Dude, it’s August!...

No doubt. Everybody’s paying attention now. But the job is attractive not just because we’re winning. Our day-to-day facility, the Fertitta Football Complex, is a $35 million facility. And our game-day facility is a $2 billion stadium. No other college football team in the country can say that they play every single home game in a $2 billion stadium. We can.

Our crowds continue to grow and we soon hope to be averaging 50,000 per game, including 10,000 students. When we get there, we will be ecstatic."