Friday, Nov. 20, 1998 | 10:48 a.m.
Steve Guiremand's college football notebook appears Friday. Reach him at [email protected] or 259-2324.
It's time for UNLV athletic director Charles Cavagnaro to put his money where his mouth is.
At his press conference announcing the firing of Jeff Horton at the Lied Athletic Complex on Tuesday, Cavagnaro promised to put together an attractive financial package to lure a big-time football coach that would "excite" the community of Las Vegas.
Names like former UNLV coach Ron Meyer and former Rebels assistant Charlie Stubbs, now an assistant at Alabama and a old crony of Cavagnaro's, have come to the forefront, along with the usual outlandish names of Lou Holtz (he turned down USC last year because he didn't want to move west with his sick wife) and Terry Bowden, who stunningly pulled a "no mas" on auburn during the middle of this season when he got word his days were numbered.
Let's put these Meyer and Stubbs rumors to rest. Meyer hasn't coached college football in 17 years since his last stint at SMU, a.k.a. Death Penalty U. It probably would take him 17 years just to catch up on all the new rules and regulations in the NCAA manual, which apparently wasn't followed too closely in Dallas.
And his recent job as a casino greeter for the Rio Hotel isn't exactly the image I'm sure UNLV President Dr. Carol Harter wants to portray to the rest of the nation.
Stubbs? I thought we were talking big names here. Outside of Las Vegas, Tuscaloosa and Memphis, not too many people have heard of the man. And when he was offensive coordinator here, UNLV won a grand total of four games. In two years.
No, Cavagnaro needs to go out and get a head coach who can go head-to-head against folks like LaVell Edwards and Colorado State's Sonny Lubick for the top recruits on the West Coast, especially Southern California, where about 75 percent of UNLV's recruiting base should be.
He needs to bring in a man who, in Cavagnaro's own words, "can bring excitement" to UNLV football. A man who can recruit and develop NFL caliber talent. A man who can not only recruit head-to-head with the BYUs and Colorado States of the college football world, but also the USCs, UCLAs, Colorados and Nebraskas. A man who brings instant national credibility to UNLV's struggling program.
That man is John Robinson.
Do the names Marcus Allen, Anthony Munoz, Ronnie Lott, Keyshawn Johnson, Charles White and Chris Claiborne mean anything to you? Robinson recruited and coached them all as well as countless other NFL stars. And in nine years with the NFL's most dysfunctional team, the Rams, he came within one game of the Super Bowl twice.
He won a national championship at USC in 1978 and finished second in the nation two more times. As recently as three years ago, he was winning the Rose Bowl over the hottest name in college coaching, Gary Barnett and Northwestern.
It was about that time that Robinson fell out of favor with USC athletic director Mike Garrett. Reportedly, Garrett became incensed when Robinson asked him to quit coming into the locker room at halftime with his buddies, and to quit yelling at his players.
Garrett then did his best to undermine Robinson. He admits he didn't even speak to his head football coach for a year. When a young 6-4 Trojan team, comprised of primarily of sophomores and juniors, stumbled against a veteran UCLA squad and Cade McNown, 31-24, in last year's finale, Garrett seized the opportunity to go for the jugular.
Robinson these days is doing radio and televison work. In fact, he's due to do the color commentary on the Las Vegas Bowl for Pacific West Radio Sports here on Dec. 19.
A source close to Robinson says has the itch to return to coaching and would welcome the challenge of taking a program like UNLV to the next level.
This is, as they say, a no-brainer.
When it comes to speaking and fund-raising, Robinson is second to none. When you go to the College Football Hall of Fame in South Bend, it's Robinson they show on a video doing a halftime speech.
Recruiting? Robinson is right there with Bobby Bowden and Holtz as the best closer in the business. He would be able to compete with and beat a couple of his old assistants, USC's Paul Hackett and UCLA's Bob Toledo, for some of the top players on the west coast.
Academics? USC's admission requirements, among the most stringent in Pac-10, have mandated that Robinson recruit a higher-caliber student-athlete.
It also wouldn't be surprising if a few of his old Trojan quarterback recruits currently languishing on the bench at USC behind freshman supertalent Carson Palmer --- hello Jason Thomas and Mike Van Raaphorst --- might want to rejoin him in quarterback-depleted Las Vegas.
And just think of what having a future Hall of Famer like Robinson would mean in exposure, not only for UNLV but the new Mountain West Conference. Think ABC or ESPN wouldn't drool at the thought of a Robinson vs. LaVell Edwards matchup?
So it's time for Cavagnaro to forget this selection committee baloney -- it's probably just window dressing anyway -- and give Robinson a call at his Laguna Niguel home. The sooner Robinson can get here and begin recruiting, the quicker UNLV can begin talking about bowl matchups instead of losing streaks.
Once around the WAC
AIR FORCE: Falcons, who host Rice Saturday, have allowed a total of just 10 points against Army and Navy, two other teams that run the triple-option.
BYU: Running back Ronney Jenkins, who was Pacific Division offensive player of the week for his 176-yard effort at UTEP, became first Cougar since Ty Detmer in 1991 to win two offensive player of the week awards in the same season.
COLORADO STATE: With Saturday's season-ending 32-10 win over SMU, coach Sonny Lubick still has never lost a November road game with the Rams.
FRESNO STATE: Bulldogs, who host in-state rival San Jose State Saturday, are 6-1 in WAC home games under Pat Hill.
HAWAII: Rainbows had astounding 54 players treated for injuries Monday following bruising 51-12 loss at Fresno State.
UNLV: Barring a couple of shanks Saturday against TCU, punter Joe Kristosik (46.2 avg.), a Bishop Gorman product, should claim the NCAA punting title.
NEW MEXICO: Lobos will make only their second trek to Florida in 99 years when they face Duante Culpepper and Central Florida at the Citrus Bowl. In only other trip in 1989, a fellow named Emmitt Smith rushed for 316 yards against New Mexico a 27-21 Florida win.
RICE: Owls' starting quarterback Chad Richardson's dad, Charlie, played defensive back at Air Force from 1969-72 and hoped his son might also attend the academy. However, Chad opted to attend Rice for a degree in medicine. Hard as it is, dad will be rooting for Rice to upset Falcons Saturday in Colorado Springs.
SAN DIEGO STATE: Aztecs, who need a Utah win over BYU Saturday morning to keep Pacific Division title hopes alive Saturday night against UTEP, won't be able to watch key Utes-Cougars matchup because their hotel doesn't carry ESPN2.
SAN JOSE STATE: Spartans haven't won at Fresno State since 1987.
SMU: Junior Rodnick Phillips needs 36 yards at Navy Saturday to become first Mustang RB since Reggie Dupard in 1986 to rush for 1,000 yards in a season.
TCU: A win over UNLV Saturday would give Horned Frogs (5-5) fourth winning season of the '90s. TCU had just one winning season in the '80s and also just one in the '70s.
UTEP: Head coach Charlie Bailey, 57, who had hinted at retirement, told a booster group this week that he'd like to return next year.
TULSA: The injury-plagued Golden Hurricane has struggled in the red zone this season, scoring touchdowns on just 19 of 37 trips.
UTAH: Utes are just 10-20 vs. BYU over last 30 years, but have won four of the last five meetings.
WYOMING: Talented middle guard Jeff Boyle (sprained knee) is questionable for Saturday's game at Tulsa.
Once around the nation
ACC: Injured Florida State quarterback Chris Weinke is expected to be on the sidelines for Saturday's showdown with Florida, his first public appearance since suffering a severe season-ending neck injury two weeks ago against Virginia.
BIG 12: Missouri, which hosts a Kansas State team that is ranked No. 1 in this week's coaches' poll, is 0-8 against No. 1 rated teams in school history.
BIG EAST: Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer flatly denied an Alabama newspaper report that he would interview for the Auburn coaching job.
BIG TEN: Here's the stat that gives John Cooper and Buckeye fans nightmares: Ohio State is 1-8-1 vs. Michigan under Cooper. Meanwhile, Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr is 9-0 vs. Top 10 foes after last week's 27-10 win over Wisconsin.
BIG WEST: Nevada-Reno wide receiver Geoff Noisy needs 11 receptions Saturday against visiting Southern Miss to eclipse Jerry Rice's NCAA all-divisions career reception mark of 301.
CONFERENCE-USA: Louisville, led by red-hot quarterback Chris Redman, leads the nation in total offense with an average of 568 yards per game.
MAC: Marshall (9-1) will host Toledo (7-3) in the Dec. 4 MAC championship game.
PAC-10: This will mark the ninth time a UCLA (9-0) team has been undefeated going into its annual crosstown rivalry matchup with USC (7-2). Bruins are just 2-5-1 in those games.
SEC: Kentucky (7-3), which travels to Tennessee (9-0) Saturday, is averaging 550 yards a game in total offense and leads second place Florida by 62 yards.
WAC: Liberty Bowl is looking seriously at either BYU (8-3) or Air Force (9-1) to face Conference-USA champ Tulane (9-0).
INDEPENDENTS: Hold those Rose Bowl plans Notre Dame fans. If UCLA makes it to the Fiesta Bowl for the national championship game, Rose Bowl would likely take an 11-1 Arizona team over 10-1 Fighting Irish. Irish may wind up in Gator Bowl.
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