Arizona athletic director Jim Livengood has landed on his feet after his contract was not renewed in Tucson.

Livengood will be named UNLV's new athletic director Thursday afternoon.

And there's relevance to football here: Livengood will immediately jump into the task of finding a new football coach for the Rebels. Mike Sanford was fired in late November.

There are a few rumors he might go after current Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes. The Wildcats already lost defensive coordinator Mark Stoops to Florida State since the end of the regular season.

Consider this from the Las Vegas Sun:

On Tuesday, Livengood didn't completely squash rumors that he potentially could bring Arizona offensive coordinator Sonny Dykes with him to Las Vegas to run the show at Sam Boyd Stadium. However, he was persistent, like the other finalists, in saying that previous head coaching experience would be preferred.

"Do I think he's a good football coach? Yes," Livengood said of Dykes. "He's done a remarkable job at Arizona. But, I also said I think in some context, this job might require head coaching experience."

Even if Livengood goes another direction, it's possible a Pac-10 assistant coach or two might be poached by whoever ends up with the UNLV job.