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After nearly 40 years of coaching defenses in college football, Cache Valley native Kent Baer jokes that he wants to become an offensive coordinator in his next life.

His current existence as UNLV's defensive coordinator, takes him out of the Pac-12, where he has spent the bulk of his career at five schools across the conference. That's not to suggest life will be easier in the Mountain West, a league also known for prolific offenses.

Baer's extensive experience gives him an innate database of offensive football. He can only marvel about how his job description has changed since 1977, when he began coaching at Utah State, where he had played as a linebacker.

"Offenses have changed so much," said Baer, 64. "You'd better evolve defensively, or you're going to get gassed."

Interviewed earlier this spring in Las Vegas as UNLV was about to start practicing under new coach Tony Sanchez, Baer pointed out how fast-paced offensive schemes and their level of production have changed the standards of defenses, and the elements he emphasizes.

Basically, yards no longer matter to him — just points. He concedes that opponents are going to move the ball, so takeaways, red-zone stops and third-down situations have become more important. The offenses' tempo "dictates that you can't do that much, because you don't have the time to do it," Baer said. "You've got to get lined up."

Joining the staff of Sanchez, formerly the coach of Bishop Gorman High School's powerful program in Las Vegas, is the latest adventure for Baer. UNLV is his 10th stop as a defensive coordinator. Here's the list: Utah State, Idaho, California, Arizona State, Stanford, Notre Dame, Washington, San Jose State, Colorado and UNLV.

His travels are partly explained by his attachment to two coaches: Bruce Snyder (USU, Cal, ASU) and Tyrone Willingham (Stanford, Notre Dame, Washington). He also followed Mike MacIntyre from San Jose State to Colorado, where coaching a very young group of players apparently wore him down.

Coming to UNLV was "a great move for me," Baer said, without elaborating on his two years at Colorado. "I'm just a lot happier."

Baer intends to keep coaching for a long time. Sanchez hired him and former Nebraska offensive line coach Barney Cotton to give the UNLV staff a veteran presence in the coordinator positions. That role still seems weird to Baer. "It wasn't too long ago that I was the youngest guy on the staff," he said.

In the late '70s at USU, Baer was part of a remarkable group, assembled by Snyder. The staff included Rod Marinelli, a former NFL coach and now the defensive coordinator of the Dallas Cowboys, and the likes of Terry Shea and Keith Gilbertson, who became college head coaches and worked in the NFL.

They were "a bunch of young guys who thought we knew everything," Baer said. "We didn't know anything. Bruce taught us how to coach."

Baer learned well, launching a career that he often reflects about, looking back as "a kid out of Providence, Utah." He can rattle off the names of USU players that he watched in the 1960s, never imagining himself coaching at the highest levels of college football — including Notre Dame, which he labels "the pinnacle."

In 2002, the Fighting Irish were 10-1 and in the national championship picture, before losing to USC. Two years later, Willingham and the staff were fired — although Baer served as Notre Dame's interim coach in a bowl game. Baer filled a similar role with San Jose State in 2012, while MacIntyre was transitioning to Colorado.

So Baer is 1-1 lifetime as a head coach, amid his 38 years as an assistant.

Due to the Mountain West's scheduling rotation, UNLV won't meet Utah State in 2015 or '16 — unless both schools win division championships.

Twitter: @tribkurt