UNLV linebackers coach Ty Gregorak
One way or another, the UNLV football program will be moving forward without assistant coach Ty Gregorak.
Gregorak — who came from Montana with first-year head coach Bobby Hauck as the program's new linebackers coach and recruiting coordinator — spoke Tuesday night with athletic director Jim Livengood and is being urged to resign following his arrest last week.
The 31-year-old aide turned himself in to police in Boulder, Colo., following a May 1 incident, in which he allegedly stole a loaded handgun and wallet from the car of a strip-club bouncer who he had confronted outside of the downtown establishment.
As the dust begins to settle some more on the matter, Livengood and UNLV now are facing the human element of the situation.
"I'm very disappointed — I'm disappointed for Ty, and I'm disappointed for us," Livengood said. "He has not yet (resigned). I thought when I talked to him that it would probably take him a couple of days to decide exactly which direction to go.
"It's one of those things that, like with most things in life, we have to move on, and Bobby will do a great job in terms of leading that group and moving on. At the same time, I'm not going to forget about Ty, either. I'm not going to abandon him out there. I'm hoping and I have every reason to believe that he'll have other opportunities to coach, because he deserves that. Candidly, it won't be here."
Attempts made by the Sun to reach Gregorak have been unsuccessful, while Hauck has said that Livengood is speaking for the department on the matter.
Should Gregorak not choose to resign, he was told his contract would not be renewed when it expires June 30.
According to the police report from the incident, Gregorak woke up in his hotel room May 2 with no recollection of obtaining the belongings of Joseph Benedetto — a bouncer at the Nitro Club, who told police that he denied Gregorak entrance after determining that he was too intoxicated.
The report also details Gregorak going to Benedetto's home to return the items, followed by Benedetto getting the license plate number off Gregorak's rental car and calling the police after the two had a brief talk at Benedetto's front door.
Gregorak, who played linebacker at Colorado from 1997-99, was in Boulder for a visit that was not work-related. Livengood did say that Gregorak was supposed to head to Dallas from Boulder for a recruiting trip.
The next step for Livengood's department and Hauck's program will be putting the incident in the past.
"Some of these kinds of things, because of the kinds of things happening around the country right now, I'm not sure they have short shelf lives," he said. "But that's the way it is.
"In terms of the football program, this is a good staff, and if this were to be a huge issue with our staff, it just doesn't mean we have the staff that I think and Bobby thinks we have. Everyone will pull together; we'll get that position replaced and move forward. There's no other option."
As for any potential negative perception of the program from those on the outside, Livengood believes that the best defense against that is by doing things right moving forward.
He said he believes in the same mantra as Hauck, in that they don't want to guarantee a number of wins on the field, but rather that those within the program will be disciplined and be held accountable for their actions.
"Whatever you're doing, picture yourself as the headline above the fold on the front page (of the newspaper)," he said of the message he delivers to his student-athletes. "If you're doing something that would create embarrassment for you, your family, the program or the university, you'd better think about stopping it."
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