Back in the game
Ex-USC coach Robinson taking over at UNLV
Posted: Friday December 04, 1998 01:57 AM
| |
UNLV currently has a losing streak of 16 games Glenn Cratty/Allsport |
LAS VEGAS (AP) -- John Robinson knows something about coaching
one of the elite teams in college football. He's about to get an
education on coaching one of the worst.
Robinson returned to college football Thursday after a one-year
absence, taking charge of a UNLV football program that is about as
bad as any of the doormats Robinson's Southern California teams
played over the years.
"We have to create a miracle or a sense of passion first off,"
Robinson said. "We've lost a lot of football games and we have to
be willing to change."
The 63-year-old former USC and Los Angeles Rams coach was given
a three-year contract at $350,000 per season to turn around the
fortunes of a Rebel team that went winless this year and has lost
its last 16 games.
He admitted the job looms large, but said changes in the depth
of college football programs have changed the odds of turning
around programs from when he first started coaching.
"In college football now it can happen. Twenty years ago, it
couldn't happen," Robinson said. "The powers then were the powers
and the have-nots were the have-nots. That's not true now. Every
time I look around I see programs making rapid changes."
Robinson capped a whirlwind two-week courtship with UNLV by
agreeing to a contract that will return him to coaching a year
after he was fired from USC after a final two years in which his
teams went a combined 12-11.
He appeared at a news conference with UNLV president Carol
Harter and athletic director Charles Cavagnaro with the enthusiasm
he will need to turn around a program that not only loses but draws
only a few thousand fans to its games.
"It's ridiculous for us to make some lofty predictions,"
Robinson said. "But UNLV football will be on the move. We are
going to be second to none and we're going to recruit the best
players possible."
The new coach inherits a team with no proven quarterback and
little depth on either side of the ball. But the university is
renovating its 40,000-seat stadium, and is one of the founders of
the new Mountain West football conference that begins play next
season.
Robinson, whose wife, Linda, sat next to him, said his
recruiting connections in the Southern California area should pay
dividends at UNLV, which focused without success on Los
Angeles-area players in the past.
CNN/SI | |
He admitted he was taking a chance by returning to the game, but
said he was enthusiastic about moving to a city he visits often and
finds exciting.
"Anytime you have the opportunity to gamble on yourself, it is
the best thing you can do," Robinson said. "It gives us a chance
to put ourselves on the line. We're all at our best when we put
ourselves on the line."
Robinson, who will not be retaining any of UNLV's former staff,
said he has talked to some possible assistant coaches but has not
made any hires yet.
Cavagnaro said he spent the last few days negotiating a contract
with Robinson, the only coach given serious consideration by a
selection committee. Cavagnaro had earlier set a late December date
as a deadline for naming a coach, and said even he was surprised by
how quickly the deal came together.
"Two weeks ago, I had no idea how incredibly fast this
procedure would lead to this afternoon," he said.
Robinson replaces Jeff Horton, fired last month after an 0-11
season that put his five-year record at 13-44.
Robinson is the nation's sixth-winningest active coach with a
career record in college of 104-35-4. Ironically, he won his 100th
college game against UNLV last year.
Robinson first coached at USC in 1976, and his Trojans won the
national title in 1978. He left for the NFL in 1983 and coached the
Rams to two NFC championship games in nine years.
Robinson returned to USC in 1993, and his team won the Rose Bowl
over Northwestern two years later. But he was fired from the
university after two mediocre seasons and reported problems with
the school's athletic director.
Robinson said he plans to meet with team members next week,
after going to Florida to be a radio analyst for the UCLA-Miami
game on Saturday. He said he and his wife were looking for a home
to buy in Las Vegas.
The new coach declined to say what his salary was at the press
conference, calling it a "private matter." That drew a nudge from
Harter, who whispered in his ear that UNLV was a public school and
that his contract would be made public.
Harter later said the contract was for three years with a
$135,000 base salary. He will also get $125,000 for television and
radio appearances and $90,000 for personal appearances each year.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
| 
