Redbirds return to roost

Tim Graham

Thursday, Sept. 25, 1997 | 9:03 a.m.

When Todd Berry returns to Las Vegas this weekend, he surely won't recognize it.

It has been six years since Berry was a member of UNLV's football staff, and much has changed since. Berry now is the head coach at Division I-AA Illinois State, and when he arrives with his Redbirds for Saturday's 7:05 p.m. homecoming game against the Rebels at Sam Boyd Stadium, the differences in the valley will be obvious.

But Berry won't be noting the city's ever-changing skyline, booming population or increasing prices. He will detect the biggest metamorphosis when he looks across the field to UNLV's sideline.

He will see familiar faces in Rebels head coach Jeff Horton, with whom he lived during his brief stay in Las Vegas, and defensive coordinator Ruffin McNeill, with whom he coached at East Carolina.

Other than that, the differences will be as drastic.

"It was a turbulent time," Berry recalls of his short stint with the Rebels. In fact, his tenure was so short it is not even mentioned in his Illinois State media guide biography. He was here only for the spring of 1991 and resigned prior to the season over philosophical differences with then-head coach Jim Strong.

Redbirds offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach John Bond remembers those days as well. He and Berry joined and left the Rebels at the same time. Bond also roomed with Horton and his wife, Teri.

"I was at Southwest Missouri State, running the triple option," Bond recalled. "We won several Division I-AA championships and we came out to Vegas (in 1990) and beat them (31-24).

"Jim was intrigued with the triple option. That's why I went out there. Three weeks later, he's running something else. There never was a strong continuity there. It was so unstable."

That was evident by the coaching staff exodus. Horton soon followed Berry and Bond, as did defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano and assistant Ron Cooper among others. Pagano now is an assistant at Miami (Fla.) and Cooper is the head coach at Louisville.

"It was a tough time," said Horton, who was Strong's assistant head coach in 1990-91 and replaced him following the '93 season. "There were some tough moments. We didn't have any continuity in our coaches. In those two years I was an assistant, we had 17, 18 coaches.

"For the kids, it's hard to get some stability when that's happening. It's hard for the staff to mesh."

The Rebels' play showed as much during that stretch. Despite having many NFL-caliber players -- Henry Bailey (Steelers), Hunkie Cooper (Saints), Keenan McCardell (Jaguars), Don Odegard (Bengals), Lonnie Palelei (Jets), Dustin Quinton (Browns) and Jerry Reynolds (Giants) -- UNLV went 8-14 overall and 5-9 in the Big West.

Although UNLV has struggled in recent years, Berry predicts Horton's philosophy will blossom in time.

"I always felt that program would take off with the right person in there," Berry said. "In fact, we're building our program with the same approach. What I chose to do here is exactly what Jeff did there. We're going with young players.

"We're an up-and-coming I-AA program. When I look at UNLV, it's like I'm looking in a mirror."

Bond's reviews of Horton and the direction he is taking the Rebels are equally as glowing.

"There really wasn't commitment before," said Bond, who has followed Horton's career since they parted company. "Now that Jeff has taken over the program, he knows what he wants to do.

"I think if the people there are patient, he will get the people he needs to play in (the Western Athletic Conference). He'll get it done."

As all three men look back on their short time together under Strong at UNLV, each agrees it was one of the most valuable experiences of their coaching careers.

"You grow stronger as a person and as a coach in tough times," Horton said. "Things are easy when you're on top, but when you're on the bottom you find out what you're made of.

"When I left (Nevada-Reno), we had been very successful. I came here and we've struggled. But as a coach I know I grew a lot, and I became better for it."

Added Berry: "I gained a lot of close friendships being out there with that staff. Even though I wasn't there very long, it was a productive time from a career standpoint."