Intense Hauck doesn’t need yelling to get points across

ELY -- A vicious rumor is going around town, and it has nothing to do with Harry Reid making an impromptu stop for a community luncheon at the Hotel Nevada. Harry plays in these parts like Eminem's greatest hits would at a two-step contest.

The buzz instead is about a football coach spending his days over at a local park. Word around the horse stalls is Bobby Hauck isn't yelling as much in his second season running UNLV's program.

The guy with a handshake that could break granite is supposedly -- can it be? -- more relaxed.

"I guess I'm losing my edge, but I promise that will change tomorrow," Hauck said. "I'll get that fixed right away. I always say you can question my intelligence but never my intensity. I don't think I'm calmer, but what we have been able to do this (camp) is spend more time on technique and scheme and less on procedure and attitude.

"That's a good thing. That's what you want. If nothing else, we're better at that."

Nothing humbles a coach like losing, and when you lose as the Rebels did in Hauck's first season -- a 2-11 record and having been outscored 516-239 -- you can't help but feel a slap upside your self-confidence.

It probably stung Hauck for a good two seconds, long enough to ignite his competitive fire.

He says the temper is from his mother's Irish side, that his late father and coach never yelled much at home or on the field. Hauck is one of those coaches who does his best to answer questions while not telling you much at all, guarded about his program and yet supremely confident he is the one to rebuild it.

He received a two-year contract extension last week, and that makes all the sense in the world for stability and recruiting and consistency and everything else talented prep and junior college players look for when deciding where to sign.

Some cathedrals took more than 600 years to build. If you have seen UNLV football of late, you know Hauck's original three-year deal wouldn't have been enough to gather all the needed stone, much less start work on the structure.

Those medieval masons had nothing on Hauck when it comes to discovering something that resembles a defense.

Everything with the Rebels, who last enjoyed a winning season in 2000, is relative at this point. There appears more talent in camp this season. The team appears better at certain skill positions. The defensive backs again appear to struggle, well, defending the pass.

Hauck appears to be yelling less.

At least that's one rumor.

"I wouldn't say he's any less (intense)," senior linebacker Nate Carter said. "He is what he is -- a good coach who coaches hard. His style hasn't changed. He still demands a lot. He's a straightforward guy who expects us to be perfect. I have no problem with that. We all want to be as good as we possibly can be.

"This isn't a pat-on-the-back system here. Just do your job. That's what it comes down to for him."

This is how a first-year coaching staff spends fall camp: Taking everything the previous staff did and throwing it in the trash. Starting everything, every message, every movement, every drill, every X, every O, every motivational ploy, from scratch.

Hauck did that last year and now gets to focus more on strategy than approach, more on teaching than behavior. It's a natural progression from Years 1 and 2 of any program. It doesn't mean the Rebels won't struggle to find three or four wins this season, but even those masons needed to start somewhere.

"Certainly, there is a level of frustration in losing," Hauck said. "But I believe you learn more from a loss than a win and more about people in how they react to adversity than success. So I guess we learned a lot last year.

"I want to be here. I love it. If you're a competitive person, you love a challenge, and that's what we have. I try never to yell for the sake of yelling. If you're going to yell, have a message behind it. I hope it's always constructive. When there's a point to yelling, it makes more sense."

Rumor is, he's making those points in a quieter vein this camp. Not that he ever would admit it.

Las Vegas Review-Journal sports columnist Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be heard from 3 to 5 p.m. Monday and Thursday on "Monsters of the Midday," Fox Sports Radio 920 AM. Follow him on Twitter: @edgraney.