Tony Sanchez
Tony Sanchez went 29–61 as a head coach, 2015–2026, at UNLV and New Mexico State. Share
- Record
- 29–61 career
- Seasons
- 8
- Schools
- 2
- Final AP top 10
- 0 seasons
- Born
- Jan 25, 1974
- Best season
- 2017 5–7
Season by season
| Season | School | Record | Conference finish | Bowl | AP final | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | UNLV | 3–9 | T–4th | |||
| 2016 | UNLV | 4–8 | T–3rd | |||
| 2017 | UNLV | 5–7 | 3rd | |||
| 2018 | UNLV | 4–8 | 5th | |||
| 2019 | UNLV | 4–8 | T–4th | |||
| 2020–23: not a college head coach | ||||||
| 2024 | New Mexico State | 3–9 | T–8th | |||
| 2025 | New Mexico State | 4–8 | T–9th | |||
| 2026 | New Mexico State | 2–4 | ||||
Each season links to the team’s season page; bowls and playoff games link to the game. Conference finishes from the Wikipedia article’s record table.
How his teams did
| Kind of game | Games | Record | Won |
|---|---|---|---|
| Against ranked teams | 9 | 0–9 | 0% |
| Against top-10 teams | 1 | 0–1 | 0% |
| Against rivals | 15 | 7–8 | 47% |
| Conference games | 58 | 18–40 | 31% |
| Decided by 8 points or fewer | 32 | 13–19 | 41% |
| At home | 43 | 17–26 | 40% |
| On the road | 44 | 10–34 | 23% |
| At neutral sites | 3 | 2–1 | 67% |
| As our Elo’s favorite | 31 | 16–15 | 52% |
| As our Elo’s underdog | 59 | 13–46 | 22% |
His own 90 games on file, 2015–2026, as played (vacated wins counted, ties as half a win). Ranks are the AP poll going into the game; rivals are the ones either program’s Wikipedia article names; favorite and underdog by our own Elo rating, which reads only scores.
Against other head coaches
| Coach | Record | Their schools | Games | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky Long 2015–2019 | 1–4 | San Diego State | 5 | |
| Nick Rolovich 2016–2019 | 2–2 | Hawai’i | 4 | |
| Brent Brennan 2017–2019 | 2–1 | San José State | 3 | |
| Jay Norvell 2017–2019 | 2–1 | Nevada | 3 | |
| Derek Mason 2019–2025 | 2–1 | Vanderbilt, Middle Tennessee | 3 | |
| Craig Bohl 2015–2019 | 1–2 | Wyoming | 3 | |
| Jeff Tedford 2017–2019 | 1–2 | Fresno State | 3 | |
| Tyson Helton 2024–2026 | 1–2 | Western Kentucky | 3 | |
| Bryan Harsin 2015–2019 | 0–3 | Boise State | 3 | |
| Mike Bobo 2015–2019 | 0–3 | Colorado State | 3 |
Tony Sanchez’s record against the head coaches he met three or more times, from the games on file, as played.
Most-faced opponents
| Opponent | Games | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Hawai’iseries | 6 | 3–3 |
| Fresno Stateseries | 6 | 2–4 |
| Nevadaseries | 5 | 3–2 |
| San José Stateseries | 5 | 2–3 |
| San Diego Stateseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| New Mexicoseries | 5 | 1–4 |
| UTEPseries | 3 | 2–1 |
| Western Kentuckyseries | 3 | 1–2 |
Career
| Years | Team | Job | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | New Mexico State | Student assistant | |
| 1998 | Onate HS (NM) high school | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2000 | Irvin HS (TX) high school | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2001–02 | Onate HS (NM) high school | Defensive backs coach | |
| 2003 | Onate HS (NM) high school | Defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach | |
| 2004–08 | California HS (CA) high school | Head coach | |
| 2009–14 | Bishop Gorman HS (NV) high school | Head coach | |
| 2015–19 | UNLV | Head coach | |
| 2021 | TCU | Offensive assistant | |
| 2022–23 | New Mexico State | Wide receivers coach | |
| 2024–present | New Mexico State | Head coach |
Every job as the infobox of his Wikipedia article lists it (CC BY-SA), assistant jobs included.
Coaching tree
Worked under
- Jim HessNew Mexico State
- Jerry KillTCU, New Mexico State
- Gary PattersonTCU
Assistants who became head coaches
- Barney CottonNebraska, Hastings
- Kent BaerNotre Dame, San José State
- Tony SamuelNew Mexico State, Southeast Missouri State
- Garin JusticeConcord
- Tim SkipperFresno State, UCLA, Cal Poly
Worked under (3)
| Head coach | Team | Years | His job | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jim Hess | New Mexico State | 1996 | Student assistant | |
| Jerry Kill | TCU | 2021 | Offensive assistant | |
| Gary Patterson | TCU | 2021 | Offensive assistant | |
| Jerry Kill | New Mexico State | 2022–23 | Wide receivers coach |
Coached under him, later head coaches (5)
| Coach | With him | Head coach at | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barney Cotton | UNLV, 2015–18: offensive coordinator and tight ends coach | Nebraska, Hastings | |
| Kent Baer | UNLV, 2015–17: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Notre Dame, San José State | |
| Tony Samuel | UNLV, 2016–19: defensive line coach | New Mexico State, Southeast Missouri State | |
| Garin Justice | UNLV, 2018: running game coordinator and offensive line coach; 2019: offensive coordinator and offensive line coach | Concord | |
| Tim Skipper | UNLV, 2018–19: defensive coordinator and linebackers coach | Fresno State, UCLA, Cal Poly |
Other assistants under him (5)
| Coach | With him | |
|---|---|---|
| Todd Lyght | Bishop Gorman High School, 2009–10: defensive backs assistant coach | |
| Andrew Mitchell | New Mexico State, 2024: offensive coordinator | |
| Joe Morris | New Mexico State, 2024–26: defensive coordinator | |
| Tyler Wright | New Mexico State, 2024: offensive coordinator | |
| David Yost | New Mexico State, 2025–26: offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach |
From coaches’ Wikipedia infoboxes (CC BY-SA) and each season’s article for its coordinators: an assistant’s seasons at a school count under its head coach in our records; jobs in the NFL and elsewhere, under the head coach whose own article lists the job that year. Names without a page here link to their Wikipedia articles.
Pay
| Year | School | Job | Contract pay | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | UNLV | head coachbonuses up to $260,000; $30,000 in bonuses paid; buyout $1,250,000 | $600,000 USA Today | |
| 2016 | UNLV | head coachbonuses up to $325,000; $15,000 in bonuses paid | $510,000 USA Today | |
| 2015 | UNLV | head coachbonuses up to $175,000 | $560,000 USA Today |
USA Today’s coaches salary database (2014–17, from public-records requests to the schools; Rachel Ehlers’ copy): the season’s contract pay, school pay plus outside money, before bonuses.
Pay of public employees in their public job only: head coaches, and assistants in the seasons our records name them a coordinator, at public universities.
How he coached
Sanchez’s teams went for it on 22% of fourth downs and on 37% of those where the model said go for it, passed on 46% of plays and took 25.3 seconds a play, 2015–2026.
| Season | School | Went for it on fourth | When the model said go | Pass rate | Seconds a play | EPA a play | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 12 g | UNLV | 19 of 102 19% | 31% | 46% | 25.3 | −0.01 | |
| 2016 12 g | UNLV | 16 of 100 16% | 23% | 38% | 24.8 | +0.12 | |
| 2017 12 g | UNLV | 20 of 96 21% | 44% | 39% | 26.0 | +0.07 | |
| 2018 12 g | UNLV | 31 of 110 28% | 48% | 42% | 23.9 | +0.01 | |
| 2019 12 g | UNLV | 33 of 114 29% | 36% | 50% | 25.5 | −0.03 | |
| 2024 11 g | New Mexico State | 15 of 91 16% | 29% | 42% | 26.3 | −0.08 | |
| 2025 12 g | New Mexico State | 17 of 101 17% | 40% | 61% | 25.5 | −0.09 | |
| 2026 6 g | New Mexico State | 13 of 44 30% | 50% | 55% | 24.8 | +0.01 | |
| All 89 g | 164 of 758 22% | 37% | 46% | 25.3 | 0.00 |
His seasons as a head coach from 2004 on, from ESPN’s play by play: fourth downs where he went for it out of every fourth-down decision; how often he went when SportsDataverse’s fourth-down model said going for it was the better call; the share of his offense’s plays that were passes; seconds of game clock per offensive play (lower is faster); and expected points added per offensive play (EPA, a measure of how much each play moved the offense toward points). The season in progress counts its games so far. SportsDataverse’s coach tendencies, from ESPN’s play by play; the EPA and the fourth-down model are SportsDataverse’s.