Mountain West Commissioner Gloria Nevarez Talks League Goals in New Era of CFB

Emily Van Buskirk | Sep 1, 2024

Mountain West commissioner Gloria Nevarez speaks to the media on Wednesday, Feb. 28-29 at Lawlor Events Center. Gloria Nevarez Mw / Jim Krajewski/RGJ / USA TODAY NETWORK

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As the final minutes of the Week Zero SMU-Nevada game played out and the possibility of an unexpected victory slipped from the Wolf Pack’s grasp, somewhere in the stadium’s crowd of mixed emotions sat a resolute Gloria Nevarez, Mountain West Conference Commissioner.

Nobody likes a moral victory, especially not newly minted Nevada head coach Jeff Choate, but the 29-24 loss to the Mustangs defied the projected 27-point spread and instead showcased a team with a renewed sense of fight, an awakened underdog.

“I like the underdog mentality when it pertains to our conference,” admitted Nevarez. “We are in a special place in this ecosystem where we have talent and it tends to get recruited away, but we keep rebuilding. We have eight talented new coaches this year in football - it's not like we took a step back. So I lean into it, I like being the underdog.”

Only four MWC teams begin this season with the same head coach that they began last season with, more than any FBS league. Choate, Bronco Mendenhall (New Mexico), Sean Lewis (San Diego State), Ken Niumatalolo (San José State), and Jay Sawvel (Wyoming) were all hired or promoted after their predecessors retired, left, or were fired at the end of last season.

Boise State’s Spencer Danielson enters his first full season for the Broncos after having his interim tag removed. Danielson took over for a fired Andy Avaolos ten games into the 2023 season.

Utah State promoted defensive coordinator Nate Dreiling to the interim head coach role in fall camp after firing Blake Anderson for alleged violations of university policy. Tim Skipper will also lead Fresno State in the interim after head coach Jeff Tedford stepped down in fall camp to tend to ongoing health issues.

The gallery of fresh faces adds to the league’s underdog image in 2024.

The Mountain West will be looking to compete on the national college stage come December when the College Football Playoff field is announced. The Mountain West arguably has the strongest non-conference schedule in the FBS, a slate that features 12 games against teams ranked or receiving votes in the preseason AFCA and/or AP top-25 polls and two CFP Playoff semifinalists in Week 1 alone.

Teams like Wyoming, Colorado State and Fresno State will be making opponents’ lives difficult across the country and the second-year commissioner wants to make sure the selection committee knows it.

“That’s one of the things for us this season that’s really important - is ensuring the committee acknowledges when teams are going out and playing a hard schedule - it’s not always about just wins and losses,” impressed Nevarez. “And with these big leagues now, I don’t think you are going to see a lot of undefeated teams.”

While Nevarez keeps her eye on the ball in this ever-changing college football landscape, she keeps the other one on those expanded playoff spots - she made it clear her conference is gunning for not only the spot guaranteed to the highest-ranked G5 league champion, but also the one of the seven at-large spots.

The conference received a plethora of pre-season accolades and its top teams garnering national attention heading into this season. Add in the scheduling agreement with the remaining Pac-12 teams and the multi-year television agreement with TNT, and the Mountain West is positioning themselves well heading into the future.

Nevarez told G5 Football Daily she is just focusing on what they can control and working on moving everyone forward as much as they can. With all the lawsuits, alliances and uncertainty across the sport, there’s something to be said for stability and durability, which is quickly becoming a cornerstone of the Mountain West brand.

“I think that when I was hired, it was clear that our board and ADs wanted elevation of our national brand,” explained Nevarez. “One of the hallmarks of the Mountain West - we’re like blue collar, gritty, roll up our sleeves, we’re going to outwork you. And along with that ethos is not a propensity to be boastful - we have a humble work ethic.”

With that mentality, the Mountain West has now become home to the humble brag - trumpeting who they are while sticking to the facts.

“I think it’s our role as a conference to figure out the appropriate national humblebrag,” said Nevarez. “Like our men's basketball billboard in Times Square. It wasn’t a boast, it wasn’t in your face, it was a congratulations to those six teams - a celebration of what we do well when we do it well. We are the amplification tool for that.”

Published Sep 1, 2024|Modified Sep 1, 2024

EMILY VAN BUSKIRK

Emily Van Buskirk is a seasoned sports industry veteran with a decade of experience covering a range of sports, including baseball, college basketball, and hockey. She joined the On SI brand just before the 2024 college football season and is based in Northern California. Emily's work has been featured in The Sporting Tribune, SB Nation, Yardbarker, and NCGA Golf Magazine. Emily is an official voter for the Doak Walker & Biletnikoff Awards and has covered college football on three continents. She boasts visits to 48 different FBS stadiums and has attended the Army-Navy Game and the Heisman ceremony on the same day. Notable moments in her career include witnessing the birth of the WildCaff, drinking Tito’s with Mike Leach, and being dubbed a "fullback in life" by Daryl Johnston.