Columnist Dean Juipe: Kazor goes back to school

Dean Juipe

Tuesday, June 16, 1998 | 10:51 a.m.

For a man with 15 years of experience as an assistant coach in the National Football League, Steve Kazor could look at his new job as a head coach at an NAIA-II school as a step down. But the Rancho High alumnus isn't taking that approach as he settles in at McPherson (Kan.) College.

"This is what I want to do," he said. "It's always been my goal to be a head coach and run my own show, and this is a start. Eventually I hope to get to Division I and be good at it."

Actually, Kazor did serve as a head coach at NAIA school Iowa Wesleyan in 1994, inheriting a 2-9 team and turning it into one that went 9-3. Yet even then he wanted to get back in the NFL and build his pension time to a fully compensated 15 years, which he was able to do after putting in two years with the Detroit Lions in 1995-96 (after earlier stints with the Dallas Cowboys and Chicago Bears).

Last year he served as a part-time scout for the Oakland Raiders.

"I had some other (NFL) job opportunities this spring," he said. "I thought I might get on with the Raiders and I interviewed in Seattle, Miami and Washington. I was offered a couple of scouting jobs but I didn't want to do that.

"I also interviewed with Winnipeg in the CFL but I didn't feel comfortable there and I didn't take it."

In addition, Kazor passed up a chance to take over the Wooster High program in Reno. Instead, he landed at McPherson, a school with an enrollment of 700 and a football team that went 6-4 in 1997.

"I'm not sure what I have here," he said of his Bulldogs. "I do know they ran a single wing last year, so that's sort of interesting.

"The only thing I can say is that college jobs are hard to come by but I found a nice school with a beautiful campus and good facilities. I'll make the football team better and we'll see what happens from there."

Another Las Vegan, baseball pitcher Doug Vanderweele, is following a similar path as Kazor: Taking a job that appears to be a step down but with the hope of stepping back up. Vanderweele, formerly of Bonanza High and UNLV, signed over the weekend with Somerset of the (independent) Atlantic League. "He told me, 'Dad, I'm just not ready to give it up yet,' so I told him to go for it," his father, Bernard, said. Doug is 28 and played for triple-A Phoenix of the San Francisco Giants' chain in 1997 before developing a blood clot in his right (pitching) arm. "It was life threatening," his father said. "He had to quit last July 18. He tried throwing again in November but had to shut back down and in February he had a four-inch piece of a rib taken out." The Giants didn't re-sign Vanderweele and the Milwaukee Brewers passed on him after a tryout. That led him to Somerset, a team in a new league that's managed by former big-league pitcher Sparky Lyle. ... Here's another familiar name back in the news: Pauline Jordan. A member of the UNLV athletic Hall of Fame, she made the roster of the Phoenix Mercury of the Women's National Basketball Association. ... The days of NBA players dominating international competition may be over, as the executive commission of USA Basketball is meeting this week and may decide to send collegians to represent the U.S. not only in next month's World Championships in Greece but in the 2000 Olympics at Sydney. Goodbye "Dream Teams."

It was a little startling -- at least for a man -- to hear LPGA player Muffin Spencer-Devlin say "menopause has been quite a challenge" when discussing her 1998 season, as she did during Saturday's TV coverage of the Oldsmobile Classic. She's 44. ... Las Vegas annually sends several high-school players into pro baseball, yet there's something to be said for refining your game in college. Only 21.9 percent of the 773 U.S. players currently in the majors bypassed college. In last week's amateur draft, 629 of the 1,445 players selected were recent high-school grads. ... Henderson resident Wayne Kirby is back in the major leagues as the New York Mets acquired him from the St. Louis Cardinals' triple-A team last Thursday and immediately installed him in right field. He's 2 for 8 for his first three games. ... Home-run specialist Mark McGwire of the Cardinals said he'll retire if he hits 70 dingers this year. ... With Cincinnati's All-Star shortstop Barry Larkin on the trading block, the San Diego Padres are interested and may part with Las Vegas Stars pitching ace Matt Clement if a deal can be arranged. ... The Los Angeles Dodgers turned an odd triple play last week: 1-6-4-5 off a bunt. ... Las Vegan Greg Maddux continues to amaze. He's 9-2 this season with a 1.75 ERA for the Atlanta Braves.

Prosecutors in Kentucky feel they'll get a conviction in a case involving the death of the great race horse Alydar in 1990. His owner, Alton Stone, collected $36.5 million in insurance after Alydar mysteriously was injured and had to be put away. ... The Olympic Club in San Francisco, which hosts the U.S. Open golf tournament this week, has hundreds of gnarly old trees and sometimes they need some pruning. When a large branch was trimmed from a tree in preparation for this week's event, bystanders were dumbfounded to find 105 golf balls lodged in the limb. ... European golfers have won seven of the last 11 Masters yet no European has won the U.S. Open since Tony Jacklin in 1970. ... The men who have won the Open in the 1990s did so with an average of 7.8 victories under their belt. ... It's mixed reviews for the 1998-99 UNLV men's basketball schedule, as there are some interesting opponents like USC, Kansas, UCLA and Cincinnati but some real dogs in Sacred Heart, Troy State, Weber State and Cal Poly SLO. Note to head coach Bill Bayno: You'll take some heat on this.