How UNLV became the unlikely center of the college football universe

LAS VEGAS — Erick Harper wrapped his head football coach in a hug. The UNLV athletic director met Barry Odom at the goal line inside Allegiant Stadium and embraced for one long moment Saturday afternoon before walking off the field together.

They had just reached new heights in the seemingly endless roller-coaster ride they were on, a 59-14 blowout win over Fresno State in which the Rebels were dominant in every way. Still, they looked more exhausted than exhilarated.

“You look at each other like, ‘It’s been a tough week, but I’m proud of how you handled this week. I’m proud of how you’ve led this team,'” Harper said. “There’s more for us out there.”

Last week, UNLV became the unlikely center of the college football universe as it navigated two unique situations, both of which could help shape the future of the sport. Harper arrived at a defining decision for the university, rejecting overtures from the rebuilding Pac-12 to remain in the Mountain West. This played out as Odom dealt with his starting quarterback quitting the team over NIL compensation and a public back and forth about what may or may not have been promised.

On their own, either situation would have been testing for an athletic department.

“It’s been good in the sense that we wanted to be on the national scene,” Harper said. “We got there, we just didn’t know it’d all be in one week.”

Ultimately, the school landed somewhere it feels comfortable. The football team moved into the AP Top 25 on Sunday for the first time in program history, and a Mountain West title — with a potential berth in the expanded, 12-team College Football Playoff — is a reasonable objective.

The Rebels are trying to go places they’ve never been before — including a Power 4 autonomy conference — and with that comes new challenges and a more intense spotlight.

“Unfortunately, it’s not always going to be sunny and 75,” Odom said. “There are things that happen and you work together, you find a way to continue to move the program and the athletic department forward. I know our leadership is strong and, you know, unfortunately, there’s no experience like sitting in the chair.”

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WHEN NEWS BROKE on Sept. 11 that four Mountain West schools — Boise State, Colorado State, Fresno State and San Diego State — were leaving for the Pac-12, Harper had no warning. He learned the news on social media and was miffed why UNLV had been excluded from the process.

“Immediately, it was, ‘Where’d that come from?'” Harper said. “Tell me what decisions were made to include those four and not us? And I’m not saying we would’ve jumped in on the first wave, don’t get me wrong.”

The next 48 hours didn’t provide much clarity. During a news conference announcing the moves the next day, San Diego State president Adela de la Torre was asked about UNLV’s omission and said metrics used by the Pac-12 objectively determined the “best four” to be selected.

“I’m like, “What are the metrics?'” Harper said. “Based on what I understand, we are a Research 1 institution. We’ve got some recent success in football performance. We sit in a top-40 market. We have donor support, we have community support. We’re in the sports and entertainment capital of the world. Explain to me how some of those other schools can compare?

“If we try to read between the lines, the message I got is we’re not good enough. I’m sorry, but I do believe we are.”

After the Pac-12 added the four Mountain West schools, its primary focus shifted to the American Athletic Conference, with the hope to siphon some of its top schools — with Memphis as the priority — to create a best-of-the-rest football conference outside the Power 4.

As those conversations took place, Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez worked to shore up her conference’s remaining membership, knowing the likelihood of the Pac-12 circling back. After Memphis, Tulane, UTSA and South Florida all released statements last Monday reaffirming their commitment to the AAC, the Pac-12’s focus shifted back to the Mountain West.

On that same day, the Mountain West began collecting signed commitments from member schools to remain in the conference, including one from UNLV. However, those were predicated on all eight remaining schools agreeing to stay. When Utah State decided to jump to the Pac-12 that evening, all bets were off. UNLV backed away from its pledge to the Mountain West and reconsidered a move to the Pac-12.

Harper and UNLV president Keith Whitfield remained in near-constant contact by phone or in person — mostly in Harper’s office, where he had piles of handwritten notes, typed notes and other documents they would use to inform their decision.

“Neither one of us has been through this before, but we wanted to make sure that we were on the same page,” Harper said.

One challenging part of the process, Harper said, was that any decision was going to be made largely based on projections. The Pac-12 couldn’t provide a financial guarantee about distribution without a media rights deal. The Mountain West doesn’t have a deal beyond the 2025-26 school year, either. It was safe to assume the distributions would eventually be much better because of the Pac-12’s stronger lineup of schools, but it’s unclear by how much.

With the five departing schools expected to pay about $18 million each in exit fees, the Mountain West found itself in a position to where it could use those funds to incentivize UNLV — and others — to stay.

But as all of this was being sorted out, UNLV found itself thrust into the national spotlight for a different reason.

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LAST MONDAY, MATTHEW SLUKA was UNLV’s starting quarterback. On Tuesday, he was missing from practice. By Wednesday, he was gone.

The graduate transfer quarterback from Holy Cross had an extra season of eligibility following a decorated four-year run in the Patriot League and moved across the country to play at the FBS level. His father and agent both allege he was verbally promised $100,000 by offensive coordinator Brennan Marion during his recruitment. The problem? They never got that agreement in writing with UNLV’s NIL collective or leadership.

After receiving just $3,000 from the collective for a community event, Sluka’s agent, Marcus Cromartie, reached out in late August to discuss the quarterback’s deal. His father, Bob Sluka, said payments kept getting deferred. When it became clear the money wasn’t coming, Matthew Sluka opted to redshirt for the rest of the season and transfer in December. From Sluka’s perspective, this wasn’t about demanding more money after a 3-0 start, it was about getting what he believed he was originally owed.

“We have no idea what the hell happened,” Bob Sluka told ESPN. “No one can explain this. Why would you let your starting quarterback walk out of the building?”

Former Holy Cross coach Bob Chesney told reporters Monday that Sluka turned down more money from Power 4 programs this spring — in the range of $350,000 to $600,000 — out of loyalty to his commitment to UNLV.

“Whatever happened there, I can’t necessarily speak to, but I can assure you that it has nothing to do with money,” said Chesney, who’s now leading James Madison. “Maybe trust and [keeping your] word and things of that nature.”

UNLV officials have said little publicly about their side of the story. In a statement last Wednesday, the school said Sluka’s “representatives made financial demands upon the University and its NIL collective in order to continue playing.”

The school added that it viewed those demands for payment as impermissible pay-for-play and didn’t respond to “implied threats.” Harper said all football-related NIL dealings go through Odom, not assistant coaches, and he’s confident the school has handled the issue appropriately.

“We’ve done our due diligence and we move on,” Harper said. “I wish Sluka the best.”

Last Wednesday morning, a rep for Circa Resort and Casino CEO Derek Stevens called UNLV to ask if he could cover the $100,000 to keep Sluka on the team and keep the program’s CFP hopes alive. By then, it was too late.

But Odom had a feeling they were going to be just fine. Sluka’s sudden exit was an unprecedented twist to a promising season, but players weren’t panicking.

“I thought our Tuesday practice was the best one we’ve had all year,” Odom said. “I thought our Wednesday was even better than that.”

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BY THE TIME the Sluka fiasco had mostly been dealt with, Harper and Whitfield had inched closer to, again, committing to a future in the Mountain West.

There were constructive conversations with the Pac-12 over the previous two days, but the financial package engineered by Mountain West chief financial officer Gary Walenga provided short-term financial guarantees in a way that UNLV felt it would not have by exiting.

UNLV expects to receive a lump sum payment of between $10 to 14 million from the Mountain West in 2025, with additional payments between $1.5 to $1.8 million annually starting in July 2026. Staying also meant UNLV would avoid being on the hook for the $18 million exit fee (less what is believed to have been a roughly $6 million portion the Pac-12 would have covered.)

Several industry sources were puzzled by the decision, citing a belief that the eventual gap between the Pac-12 and Mountain West media deals will likely be large enough to pay off in the long run.

On top of that, there’s what this signals about the school’s ambition.

By choosing to align with the Mountain West, UNLV has grouped itself with schools that have not invested in football on the level of their peers in the western part of the country. At almost every juncture in realignment over the past several years, schools have attempted to move to conferences with stronger competition. UNLV is an outlier, content to stay loyal to a league that lost five of its best brands within a matter of weeks.

As part of the release announcing its decision Thursday, UNLV said it “will also have the flexibility to explore future membership in an autonomous “Power Four’ conference without penalty should the opportunity become available.”

While this is technically true, the idea that UNLV will generate interest from a Power 4 conference in the next few years is a long shot, at best, and suggesting that possibility played a role in remaining in the Mountain West is unconvincing.

Harper was undeterred by some of the negative reaction that arrived when UNLV announced it would stay Thursday.

“The shots we took on social media for not just jumping at it right away — well, sometimes one plus one doesn’t equal two and two plus two doesn’t always equal four,” he said.

“If I could release all the financials, everybody would understand more of our decision. There’s a lot that still needs to play out, but it’s kind of interesting how the Memphis AD said [the Pac-12’s offer] was a bad deal for them. I think at this point that’s probably about all I would say. Yeah, overall complexity of the deal and all the evaluation, it wasn’t a good deal once you look at the now, the middle and the future. It didn’t make sense.”

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HAJI-MALIK WILLIAMS dropped the football in the end zone, looked up to the crowd and tapped a finger to his left wrist.

After punching in his first touchdown as a Rebel, a 6-yard run on a perfectly executed option keeper, Williams was making a declaration: It’s his time now.

UNLV’s new starting quarterback is no rookie. The sixth-year senior will turn 25 in November. Like Sluka, Williams had an extra season of eligibility after a record-setting career at the FCS level at Campbell. He joined this program back in January and worked to earn his teammates’ trust. Williams lost a close competition with Sluka in preseason camp. Now he’s getting his chance.

“He’s a leader,” said senior linebacker Jackson Woodard, a team captain. “He knows what it takes. He’s the first one in the building.”

Twenty minutes before kickoff against Fresno State, Williams was announced as UNLV’s starter on Allegiant Stadium videoboards to roaring applause. A young fan had a front-row seat right behind the Rebels’ sideline and held up a large white sign: Hey Sluka it’s UNLV not UNILV.

Williams won over the fan base with ease. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound playmaker demonstrated impressive command of Marion’s Go-Go offense and its triple option concepts. He put up big numbers against the Bulldogs and did so with efficiency, hitting 13 of 16 passes for 182 yards and three touchdowns and turning 12 rushes into 119 yards and another score.

“The change, it was definitely good for us,” UNLV receiver Ricky White III said.

Odom was careful not to heap praise on his new QB1. Williams played with poise, he said, but everybody around him stepped up. Four interceptions on defense. Two touchdowns on special teams. They never trailed and never doubted.

“They were on a mission to try to be as good as we can get,” Odom said. “We’re not there yet, but I knew we would take a step this week in galvanizing as a team and continuing to move forward.”

The 45-point win in fact was the program’s largest margin of victory in a Mountain West game since the league formed in 1999. The Rebels are off to their first 4-0 start since 1976. They’ve firmly established themselves as a frontrunner for the Group of 5 automatic bid in the expanded Playoff. Boise State (No. 21) and UNLV (No. 25) are the only G5 teams currently ranked in the AP poll. They’ll meet on Oct. 25.

As the Rebels made their way off the field after the rout, senior defensive lineman Alexander Whitmore held a souvenir from a chaotic week. He folded up the fan’s white Sluka sign and took it with him.

“We’ve got 109 guys in the locker room now,” Odom said. “We need all 109 to accept their role, continue to improve in what they’re doing and then put the team first.”

That’s what White had in mind when he spoke up at the end of UNLV’s postgame news conference. He wished to send a message to Stevens and Circa Sports.

“I would ask that somebody reach out to the Circa CEO and ask him, with that $100,000 that he wanted to donate, give it to our O-line please,” White said with a smile.

Harper chuckled when he heard that line. He says he’s ready to meet with Stevens and discuss a much grander deal. He knows it’s going to take some serious fundraising if they hope to sustain this success and retain their head coach.

“Donors, get ready,” Harper said. “Because we’ll be coming and asking.”