UNLV athletic director: Horton has vote of confidence

HIS TEAM HAS averaged just two wins over the past three seasons.

His star player recently left the program.

The schedule may be the toughest in school history.

In most Division I football towns, that would all but spell doom for the head football coach. Apparently, not so at UNLV.

There has been speculation in some media circles that fifth-year head coach Jeff Horton could be on the so-called "hot seat" as the Rebels enter what could be a very trying 1998 season.

But those around the program, including athletic director Charles Cavagnaro, say that simply is not so.

"It makes nice reading," Cavagnaro said.

So is the hot seat talk a media creation?

"Yes," Cavagnaro said. "I've said (that Horton is returning) as many times as I can."

Including giving Horton a one-year contract extension last spring through the year 1999.

"It wasn't (an indirect vote of confidence)," Cavagnaro said. "That's exactly what it was."

The boosters also continue to back Horton, who embarks on his fifth season Saturday when UNLV visits Northwestern of the Big Ten.

"That (hot seat) talk certainly won't come from any of us," Bob Rather, president of the UNLV Rebel Football Foundation, said.

"I think that discussion is fair and I think Jeff would probably say its fair, too. When you win six games in three years there's no question that that talk is going to be there. But no one I know wants to see Jeff leave."

Patience obviously is a virtue for UNLV football supporters.

"The only people who ever ask anything (about his job status) are the media people," Horton said.

"Everywhere we go in the community people are very positive. They like the direction this program is going. They like what kids are doing in the community, the fact the team GPA is over 2.7 now. We haven't had, knock-on-wood, a lot of kids in trouble off the field that other programs have had. I think things are on the up-and-up."

Cavagnaro agrees.

"This program is moving in the right direction," he said. "It's in a league now, the WAC, that in football it clearly wasn't prepared to be in when Jeff took over."

Indeed, when Horton replaced Jim Strong as head coach in 1993, UNLV had just 48 players on scholarship, 28 of which were seniors. That's about half of what most Division I programs have. The NCAA scholarship limit is 85.

Compound that with the fact the Rebels were making a huge leap from the Big West Conference --- a glorified 1-AA league --- to the much tougher WAC.

Also, Cavagnaro and Horton believed an increased emphasis on high school recruiting would be needed to keep the program more stable in the long run. That meant no quick junior college fix the past couple of years.

"Jeff has gone about things the absolute right way," Cavagnaro said.

"He's building from the basement, building with freshmen, and trying to build a program that will last over time. And I think you've got to respect that.

"This year we have 21 seniors. It's the first time we've had more than six or seven seniors in two years. Jeff and his staff could have gone out and done the shortcut and recruited junior college guys and we might have been better ... for one year. But I submit we wouldn't be better over the long haul unless we do it with high school kids."

Sooner or later, however, wins and losses eventually will enter the equation, too.

"Football is a numbers game," Cavagnaro said. "And numbers mean time. Having said that, there is a thing out there you look for in wins and losses. What's the magic number? I don't think that's fair for me to lay out a magic number.

"You have to see that we're making progress and we have. Unfortunately, that hasn't been shown in wins and losses. But it's been shown in the quality of the kids and the fact they're going to school and making good grades. Now it's time to put it all together and win."

Even with a schedule that includes games at Top 25-caliber programs like Northwestern, Wisconsin, Colorado State and BYU?

"I understand and know what the quality of the schedule is," Cavagnaro said. "But what that schedule does is give us an opportunity to do some things that this program has never had a chance to do.

"When I was at Memphis, we beat Arkansas four straight years. We beat Florida with Emmitt Smith. We beat Alabama. The only way you have an opportunity to beat those schools is to play them."

"I've never had a season that was easy," Horton said. "But I'm excited about the challenges. I think our team is, too. We relish the opportunity to play this schedule. And I think that when all is said and done, we'll surprise a lot of people."

Does Horton have any doubt he'll be back in 1999?

"No doubt," he said.

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