Nevada Sports Net columnist Chris Murray is known to be a bit wordy, so we’re giving him 1,000 words (but no more than that) every Friday to share his thoughts from the week that was in the world of sports.
* NEVADA FOOTBALL’S 2025 stated goal in is to play in the postseason for the first time since 2021. “That’s at the top of the pyramid,” Nevada football coach Jeff Choate said making a bowl’s placement on the 2025 to-do list (I’m sure beating UNLV and reclaiming the Fremont Cannon is high on that list, too). Reaching a bowl used to be so commonplace the Wolf Pack didn’t even celebrate when it hit that postseason-clinching sixth victory. Nevada went bowling 14 times over 17 seasons from 2005-21. Since then, the program is 7-30, which is barely enough wins to be bowl eligible even if those victories were cobbled into one season rather than spread over three.
* AND WHILE THAT bowl ambition is a good one, there’s an even more important — but related — goal. And that’s to get Northern Nevada interested in Wolf Pack football again. There’s a group of diehards who march out to Mackay Stadium every home game. Rain or shine. Day or night. Televised or not. But that group has dwindled significantly since the halcyon days of the 1990s with the recent losing seasons pushing even more people off the bandwagon. Nevada needs to get the on-the-fence fan interested again because the only thing worse than an angry fan base is an apathetic one, and that word can currently describe the majority of Nevada fans.
* CHOATE AND HIS team have made the rounds again this offseason, visiting local businesses to try and drum up support, and kudos to them for doing that. Many coaches don’t see that as part of their job description. Choate happily makes that a part of his routine. But it will take more than acts of community service. It will take wins, which have been in short supply for Nevada, whose seven victories from 2022-24 are the program’s fewest over a three-year period since 1956-58 when the Wolf Pack went 3-20-1 under Gordon McEachron (I ranked old Gordon 26th out of 26 Wolf Pack football coaches all-time). Nevada … must … win … games … in … 2025.
* NEVADA WAS RIGHTFULLY picked to finish last in the MW preseason poll. Now, I don’t think the Wolf Pack will finish last; I had the team ninth out of 12 teams, which also isn’t great. But when you place at the bottom of the standings three straight seasons like Nevada has, you’ve earned that spot in the preseason poll. But who cares. It’s a preseason poll. It means nothing. It’s there to create a little buzz for your conference. And Nevada football needs to build a local buzz this year. Choate seems like the ideal person to do that given his proclivity for press-conference fireworks (which we love). But this Wolf Pack fan base is so indifferent to this team it’s going to take wins and not words.
* THE WOLF PACK nearly got that momentum win in last year’s season opener as Nevada led SMU by 11 points with less than 10 minutes to play before collapsing late in a 29-24 loss to a Mustangs team that reached the College Football Playoff. That ended up being the story of the season as Nevada went 2-6 in one-possession games, and even in one of those victories (the win at Troy), the Wolf Pack nearly coughed up a late 11-point lead before getting a 2-point conversion stop with 21 seconds left. All those close losses ended up being an even bigger gut punch than Nevada’s borderline incompetence the two seasons that preceded Choate’s hiring.
* FAN SUPPORT IS more important than ever in modern college athletics where departments must milk as much money as possible out of its fan base with revenue sharing and name, image and likeness deals now part of the equation. Nevada’s goal this year is to share at least $5 million with its athletes. Given the Wolf Pack has struggled to break even financially, a lot of that $5 million must come from fans in the form of increased season tickets, single-game tickets sales and donations. And if your football team continues to run out 10-loss teams, generating legitimate revenue to recruit and retain high-level rosters across all of its sports ain’t happening.
* THAT’S WHY THIS season is so important for Nevada football, and equally so for all of Wolf Pack athletics. First-year coaches who inherit a situation like Choate did get a pass. But there’s no pass for the second season, especially given the transfer portal’s impact to more quickly flip a roster. More than 80 percent of Nevada’s 2025 roster is comprised of players recruited by Choate, who says he has a better understanding of the kind of player that works with the Wolf Pack, guys that are disciplined and blue collar rather than entitled and high maintenance. This roster has that hard-hat feel. The question is whether the team’s talent level hits the echelon required to at least go .500.
* NEVADA HAS AMPLE opportunity this season to open the eyes of fans who have closed them toward the program. The season opener is at Penn State. While nobody expects the Wolf Pack to win that game as a 42.5-point underdog, it’s a no-lose situation if Nevada can at least keep things reasonably close. The Wolf Pack also hosts its two big rivals (Boise State and UNLV) at Mackay Stadium. Nevada is expected to be sizable underdogs in both games as the Broncos and Rebels were picked one-two in the preseason poll. Win either and that could spark Wolf Pack fans who seem more interested in looking at GSR Arena artist renderings than actually attending a Nevada football game.
* RENO IS A BASKETBALL town these days. It’s been the way for most of the 21st century. That’s where the money is going. And that’s fine. But football must spark some interest, too. Reaching a bowl this season can’t only be the goal. It must be a reality. When Choate got the Wolf Pack job, he said his quest was to make Reno a football town again. It’s not that right now. But it could be in time. It will just take a lot of wins, and those have to start this season.
Columnist Chris Murray provides insight on Northern Nevada sports. Contact him at crmurray@sbgtv.com or follow him on Twitter @ByChrisMurray.