It was the final tune up for the Rebels before the annual Spring Game, which will be held at Sam Boyd Stadium this Friday evening at 6:00 p.m., and with 14 practices in the books, UNLV head coach Mike Sanford was pleased with what he has seen thus far.

“This spring has been really good and we got to evaluate a lot of players at a lot of different positions,” Sanford said. “The only way you get better as a player is to play football and we have been able to do that.”
Among the players who have had impressive springs Sanford said were Beau Bell (Tustin, CA/Tustin HS), Travis Dixon (Chandler, AZ/Hamilton HS) Dacki Ishii (Hunting Beach, CA/Knoxville Catholic HS) Frank Summers (Oakland, CA/Skyline HS) and Chris Brogdon (Phoenix, AZ/Desert Vista HS).

VALUED VISITOR
Watching practice from the sidelines was former University of Miami head coach Larry Coker, who won the 2001 national championship and was in the 2002 title game with the Hurricanes. This past season new UNLV offensive coordinator and associate head coach Todd Berry was the Hurricanes’ quarterbacks coach under Coker.
        “Mike (Sanford) is doing a good job here and he is laying the ground work for the team. This is a program that is on the rise,” Coker said. “He had me speak to the team and I talked to them about how important being a team is.”
        Coker spoke to the Rebels for about 20 minutes before the start of Wednesday’s practice and he will also be in attendance at the spring game this Friday night.
        “He is highly respected among the coaching ranks,” Sanford said. “He talked to us about what it means to be a teammate and what it takes to be a good team.”

SPRING GAME SQUADS SET
Wednesday afternoon was the first time that the Rebels saw the squad breakdown for the Spring Game that will be played this Friday evening at Sam Boyd Stadium, beginning at 6:00 p.m. Sanford and his staff separated the squad into a Scarlet Team and a Gray Team, with the coaching staff also being split up to coach their respective teams. Sanford is the overall commissioner of the game.
The two opposing sides huddled up following Wednesday’s practice and the coaching staff will also look at scouting reports of each other heading into Friday’s contest.
“We have got a lot done so far and the Spring Game will be a great way to conclude spring practice,” Sanford said.

UP NEXT
UNLV will conclude its spring schedule with the annual Scarlet vs. Gray Spring Game, held this Friday evening at Sam Boyd Stadium beginning at 6:00 p.m. The game is FREE for fans and there will also be a BBQ following the game. Tickets for the BBQ are $15 for adults and $12 for children 12 & under, as well as UNLV students and seniors over 50.