Robinson interviews for UNLV coaching job

Friday, Nov. 27, 1998 | 10:41 a.m.

The possibility of former Southern Cal and Los Angeles Rams coach John Robinson taking over the UNLV football program has moved at least two steps closer to fruition.

Sources say Robinson and UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro met not once but twice during the past several days to discuss the Rebels' head coaching vacancy. The opening was created when Jeff Horton was fired prior to the Rebels' season finale against Texas Christian earlier this month.

Cavagnaro was not available for comment today. But in a copyrighted story, the Los Angeles Daily news confirmed that Robinson met with Cavagnaro in Los Angeles last Sunday and then flew to Las Vegas Tuesday night for another visit with the Rebels A.D. and UNLV president Dr. Carol Harter.

Although the meetings have intensified, according to the Daily News story, no formal job offer has been made to Robinson.

Robinson was not available for comment. But a source close to the situation told the SUN he is very interested in the Rebels' job.

Robinson, 63, was fired after his second go-round at USC, following the 1997 season. But his dismissal was blamed more on his adversarial relationship with Trojans A.D. Mike Garrett than his team's on-the-field performance.

USC finished 6-5 last year, losing to Cade McNown and the powerful UCLA Bruins 31-24 in the season finale. But as recently as 1995, Robinson guided the Trojans to a Rose bowl victory over Northwestern.

Robinson's four-year record after his return to Southern Cal was 37-22-2, giving him an overall mark of 104-35-4 at the school. His 1978 squad won the national championship and his teams finished No. 2 in the nation on two other occasions before he moved on to the pros.

Robinson accepted a $600,000 buyout from Southern Cal last season. Sources say he is itching to get back into coaching after working only sporadically as a TV analyst during the past season.

His is the kind of name that would bring the UNLV football program, coming off the school's first winless season in history, instant recognition and credibility. And landing Robinson would fulfill Cavagnaro's intention of hiring a "recognizable" replacement for Horton.

"I think we make a mistake if we (don't think) as big as we can," Cavagnaro said in the aftermath of Horton's firing.

Probably the biggest stumbling block in UNLV landing a name coach like Robinson is salary. But Cavagnaro has vowed to upgrade the financial package for football, and sources said there are boosters in Southern Nevada with USC ties that would work to bring Robinson to Las Vegas.

A 16-member search committee has been formed to identify coaching prospects but it doesn't meet again until Dec. 7. A UNLV source indicated it's possible the Rebels could identify their man at that time, and have the new coach on board the following week.

And it's possible, according to sources, that Cavagnaro may have had Robinson in mind from the start.

"There's not an ahtletic director alive -- and if he tells you otherwise he's lying to you -- who in the back of his mind doesn't have this coach or that coach that you'd like to think about or talk about (as the new coach)," he said previously.