Las Vegas’ footfall is everywhere in sports and entertainment, and UNLV, a program with few winning seasons since Randall Cunningham’s days in the early 1980s, is running right in the middle of it all. .
How it got its fortune back is not just a big gamble gone well. The Rebels, seeded in the majors for the first time, quickly became a lesson in finding instant success with an open-minded coach who could balance recruiting and portal passing.
Barry Odom makes history in just 17 games at No. A 3-0 start is guaranteed by a blowout over Houston and a comeback at Kansas, which is (theoretically) good enough for No. 1 (2-0) in the Big 12.
“We have a good thing. We’ve made progress, but we’re a long way from playing our best football,” Odom told CBS Sports.
There’s still a tough schedule to go, but Odom has UNLV in contention for a second straight appearance in the Mountain West Championship game — maybe even more, with a veteran roster. who are supplemented by a transfer from SEC to FCS.
“In the world of football right now, I don’t believe in rebuilding because of the way you can build your own roster,” Odom said. “I believe the expectation is that kids don’t want to hear ‘refreshing.’ My vision for them from Day 1 is that we will go to work. There is a level and expectation that UNLV should compete and win the championship every year.
The 3-0 start is the program’s first since the Cunningham-led team in 1984. The roster has benefited from an FCS transfer in Arkansas’ backfield and backfield, but there are veterans a few that remained with the current staff. Among them is receiver Ricky White III, who set a school receiving record last year as a third-team AP All-American.
The staff worked, too. Bobby Petrino was the first assistant to hire Odom, but he left for Texas A&M after a few days on the job. Next up was Brennan Marion, a wunderkind player whose Go-Go offense with a low offense takes advantage of space and tempo. Odom’s defense and Marion’s offense helped each other, and the Marion team broke the school record with six games with at least 40 points.
A new rising star is quarterback Matthew Sluka, from FCS Holy Cross who didn’t arrive on campus until the second week of June but won the starting job in August. His game-winning drive against Kansas is exciting: eight rushes for 56 yards, kept the chains moving, and burned 9:22 off the clock.
Luke’s pounding heart and murmur spoke to Odom’s tough teaching style.
“He’s not perfect and he’s gotten better from Game 1 to Game 3,” Odom said. “He’s just the beginning of what he’s going to be. He wants the ball, succeeds for those moments, and has great inner courage to try to produce, to help his team win. He has a point that will not show. get up when you go to visit school or home, He has certain characteristics when the lights are on and he goes to play.
UNLV’s big time on national television coincided with the Pac-12’s plans to add four schools from the Mountain West (Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State, San Diego State) on July 1, 2026, when The instigating revolutionaries are not among them. .
The MWC is still on the hunt for more members, and administrators are aiming for at least three more schools to reach nine football members, sources told CBS Sports. UNLV’s growing status makes it a candidate for a new look in the Pac-12, and it has received interest from the AAC as the next round of conference expansion.
Late success in one program doesn’t speak for the health of the entire athletic department and university, but Kansas’ victory certainly helped those short-term visions again.
“When people ask me about change, I tell them, if we don’t take care of the home, there’s no point in fixing things, because changing things involves more than just one thing – involves more than just winning,” UNLV. Athletic director Erick Harper said. “It involves a lot of other aspects, from community support to campus support to winning, obviously, but also the market we’re in.
“[Houston and Kansas] it gave us a bigger picture saying ‘They are real, and they have made a football investment in a city that is thriving as the sports and entertainment capital of the world.’ That bodes well for us as an agency as a whole. “
A package deal with UNLV and Nevada in the next round of the draft is also off the table, sources told CBS Sports. A member of the Nevada System of Higher Education’s Board of Regents told The San Diego Union-Tribune “there is nothing formal with the merger.”
“There’s always interest,” Harper said. “You have to be interested in promoting your department. If it promotes your department, we have to have a conversation. If it doesn’t promote our department and our institution, we have to check.”
Odom doesn’t worry about it. He’s focused on a month-long stretch that includes opportunities against Boise State, Fresno State, Oregon State and Syracuse, three of which are at home.
“We’ve gotten some respect, but I also believe we’re still looking at what this place can be,” Odom said.
That doesn’t mean Odom is shying away from future opportunities. The College Football Playoff is a common discussion, making it an obvious focus of the season.
“Philosophically I’m not much different than I was [Missouri],” said Odom, who coached the Tigers from 2016-19, “but it’s really good to see the big picture of what we really need to do.”
UNLV signed 48 high school players in Odom’s first two teams, including eight from the Las Vegas area in 2024. The Rebels’ transfer class in 2024 was tops in the Mountain West, per 247Sports. Running back Kylin James, who scored the game-winning touchdown at Kansas, left FCS Central Arkansas. Linebacker Jackson Woodard, who played for Odom at Arkansas, picked off Jalon Daniels and took the Jayhawks’ offense off the field in a tough third.
“We’ve been very selective, very straightforward in the transfer world,” Odom said. “We beat guys we knew before through previous relationships or saw with our own eyes.”
Odom has the chops as a defensive mind, dating back to his days at Missouri and before he was promoted to coach. In 2015, the Tigers finished in the top-10 in total defense for the first time since the NCAA began recording defensive statistics in 1978. He destroyed the Memphis defense overnight, take a team that was 117th to the fifth-best scoring defense in the country. in 2014.
A 6-6 finish until 2019 was Odom’s last at Missouri, but he bounced back a few days later at Arkansas. In 2021, the Razorbacks posted their best defensive season in seven years.
“It hurt to get fired from Mizzou,” Odom said. “Like life, I’m a better coach today than I was in 2016, 2019 and even last year at this time. You learn from your experiences.” , you make changes, you look in the mirror and you do a lot of self-examination. You hire the right people, you build them and you put your stamp on the program and the foundation.”
When UNLV fired Marcus Arroyo after three years that included a winless record in 2020, Harper sought “a football coach, a guy who lives and breathes football.”
Odom was that man. “When his picture comes up (on Google), it’s a guy with a T-shirt, a whistle, shorts and a hat,” Harper said. “To me, that’s the epitome of a football coach.”
The Rebels won nine games in 2023; more will be needed if College Football is the goal.
“We don’t necessarily live in a world of guarantees,” Harper said. “I live in Vegas. We are a gambling city, and sometimes you have to be there. But when you weigh the pros and cons and what’s best for your agency, there’s an opportunity in a city full of risk takers. the lights aren’t on because they’re giving away money every day, but they’re really doing a good job of attracting people to come and gamble.”
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