Columnist Tim Graham: Cavagnaro turns it around

Tim Graham

Friday, Dec. 4, 1998 | 10:54 a.m.

Tim Graham's column appears Thursday. His media notebook appears Wednesday. Reach him at tim@lasvegassun.com or 259-4078.

Charlie Cavagnaro certainly could have related to Norman Dale.

Dale, the basketball coach in the film "Hoosiers," just couldn't seem to catch a break no matter what he did. Everything he did was damned.

The town didn't like the way Dale ran his program at Hickory High. There were rumors circulating about wrongs he committed. He just couldn't seem to get out from under, and it was obvious.

"Sun don't shine on the same dog's (behind) every day," Opal Fleener tells Dale as he helps her load groceries into the back of her pickup. "But, mister, you ain't seen a ray of light since you got here."

Cavagnaro could commiserate.

UNLV's athletic director was under fire for a long time. Over the summer he was pounded with accusations that he uttered racist and sexist slurs toward student-athletes. It was rumored he hired women's basketball coach Regina Miller, a black, simply to soothe those wounds.

The subsequent internal investigation, even though it exonerated him, made national headlines and besmirched his reputation.

It could easily be considered one of the darkest times of Cavagnaro's career, maybe even his entire life.

Today, however, the sun is shining on him.

Just as the sharpshooting Jimmy Chitwood suddenly swooped in and saved Coach Dale by leading Hickory to an unlikely state title, Cavagnaro finally saw the sun completely rise on Thursday when he welcomed the legendary John Robinson as UNLV's new football coach.

It was the brightest moment in Rebel football history. It marked the dawn of a new day at UNLV -- and for Charlie Cavagnaro.

Whether it be through dumb luck or sheer genius, Cavagnaro is standing tall now.

"He has been under so much pressure," UNLV president Carol Harter said. "To survive that, to display the integrity to come back from that and put in this kind of effort says everything about the kind of person he is."

In addition to landing Robinson, one of the greatest coaches in college history, Cavagnaro has boosted the athletic department with some gutsy decisions.

Although he came under fire from other coaches, he nearly doubled volleyball coach Deitre Collins' salary to $70,000 to keep her from going to Iowa. The volleyball team, three years out of dormancy, went 23-8 and made a legitimate run at this year's NCAA tournament.

Cavagnaro's controversial decision this summer to hire Miller, who owned a career 60-100 record, came at the behest of some search committee members. The Lady Rebels are 4-0 entering their home debut tonight at 7.

He also helped orchestrate UNLV's move into the Mountain West Conference next year; he facilitated the effort to refurbish Sam Boyd Stadium; he instituted a women's soccer program that was competitive in its first season; he had the guts to fire football coach Jeff Horton after giving him a one-year contract extension (well, not all of his decisions were winners).

"I think, as a university, we are in a unique place right now in athletic history," Cavagnaro said. "These are the things that bring me back to work every day."

For the first time in a long time, people are pleased he's still around.