John Robinson: Let the era begin

Tuesday, Aug. 31, 1999 | 11:45 a.m.

A look at John Robinson

College coaching record: 104-35-4 (.741) in 12 years in two stints at USC -- 67-14-2 (1976-82) and 37-21-2 (1993-97). He won a national championship in 1978 and had two No. 2 finishes. He is 4-0 in Rose Bowl games and is 8-3-1 against Notre Dame. His 7-1 bowl record gives him a higher winning percentage in the postseason (.875) than any active college coach with a minimum of eight games. National Coach of the Year in 1979. Fired by USC after the 1997 season following 6-6 and 6-5-1 campaigns.

* Pro coaching record: Went 79-74 (.516) in nine seasons with the Los Angeles Rams. Reached the playoffs six times and advanced twice (1985 and 1989) to the National Football Conference championship game. Won the NFC West title in 1985.

* Other coaching experience: Was an assistant at his alma mater, Oregon, from 1960-71. Also was backfield coach for the Oakland Raiders and childhood friend John Madden in 1975 before leaving to replace legendary John McKay at USC in 1976.

It has been almost nine months since John Robinson was named the eighth head football coach at UNLV, replacing Jeff Horton.

Robinson, 64, sat out the 1998 season, one that saw the Rebels go 0-11 and extend a school-record losing streak to 16 games, after an ugly parting with Southern Cal and athletic director Mike Garrett, who left notice of Robinson's firing on the coach's telephone answering machine.

Now Robinson, who just recently turned 64, faces the biggest challenge of his coaching career -- trying to turn around a UNLV program that seemed better suited for junior college football instead of Division I-A in 1998.

The man who coached Heisman Trophy winners Charles White and Marcus Allen at USC as well as a 1978 co-national championship squad sat down for a wide-ranging interview with Sun sports writer Steve Guiremand.

SUN: We're just hours away from the kickoff of the John Robinson era of UNLV football. How are you feeling right about now? Anxious? Nervous?

ROBINSON: I think we're anxious to play. There's some trepidation. Not only is it a new coaching staff, but it's pretty much a new team that has very little experience but I think has talent. If we are able to bring out the best in ourselves ... I'm just nervous that we're not going to do the little things right ... fumble the ball, fumble the snap from center, those kinds of things that can happen to you. But if we stay relaxed and focused and play good I think it will be a night that we'll enjoy.

SUN: Is it going to be strange not to hear Conquest (USC's fight song) played about 150 times during the game?

ROBINSON: Not really. You know, whatever is in your past fades very quickly. We all live in the present, particularly in coaching we do. My focus will be on our team and my guys and how we're doing.

SUN: In the last few days, you've been featured in cover stories in newspapers such as USA Today, the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register to name a few. Are you surprised about how much national media coverage you've gotten coming here?

ROBINSON: I'm kind of curious at this point. It serves a purpose for us, though, because it brings attention to our program. I'm past the ego rush of having your picture in the paper. But the identification of UNLV being on the map and maybe something exciting is happening here I think is important for us. So I appreciate all of those articles. It's embarrassing a little bit, but I think it's good for us.

SUN: When you first took the job, it seemed like a lot of people were in shock and a lot of negative things nationally were written, such as you we're just coming here for an extra pay day and you were lowering yourself to coaching a team that has lost 16 straight games. But now it seems like the tone has changed and people are starting to see your vision of what can be accomplished here under the right circumstances.

ROBINSON: I think people realize that we're serious about trying to effect change and trying to build something that everybody in this area would love to see. We've been serious about our work I think. We recognize that there are a lot of things that have to be done beyond the practice field and games and we've set out to do them. And I think we'll be tireless until we achieve those goals.

SUN: What were your first thoughts the first time you Sam Boyd Stadium?

ROBINSON: It reminded me of a county fair rodeo rink. It was pretty dilapidated. But in some ways it was great because it looked so bad and now (because of $18 million of improvements) it's going to look so good. It's going to be 'Wow!' The thing I really like about it is that it is really tangible proof that we are in fact changing and the face of UNLV football has changed. How long it takes before we see the results on the field, we're all wondering. But I know that it's coming. But I think the first time people go out and see the stadium they will have the reaction of 'Wow, this is different.'

SUN: How would you compare Sam Boyd Stadium now to some of the other stadiums you coached in over the years?

ROBINSON: What I like about it is the proximity and closeness to the field, a sense that you're in a pit almost. That first row is only up there 10 or 12 feet. I don't know if there is going to be any stadium that is going to have a bigger influence. I go out there and see the day that it's full and the other guy goes out and walks on the field and says, 'Oh, boy, it's going to be a long night tonight.' We could develop that same sense that Thomas & Mack has developed down through the years ... an excitement about the event and what's going on, something you don't want to miss. I see that day coming.

SUN: You also changed a lot of other things, like the uniforms and the helmets and the shoes. Why?

ROBINSON: I think what we're trying to say is that we're starting over and give our own team a sense of newness. I feel it is critical that we not take on the burden of past sins or whatever. We just don't want to do that. We want to start over and whatever our strengths and weaknesses are this season, go on from there. We need to have a sense of newness -- not that the people in the past didn't give their best effort or anything like that. But just the sense that this is the beginning of an era that we hope brings us to a great place.

SUN: A lot of people thought you got kind of a raw deal at USC, especially from the administration there. After going through something like that, was there any fear of taking another college coaching job?

ROBINSON: Nah. This job is probably the biggest risk job I've taken in my life in terms of other peoples' belief in your chances to succeed. But I don't mind that. I relish this chance. Every once in a while I say 'Ohmigod, what am I doing?' But for the most part, I think there's a realistic chance, if we persevere, to do this. I think the key issue will be are we tough enough to stay the course and stay after the goals. Or will somebody say 'Well, maybe we should try something else' and get weary. If we stay after it, we're going to be all the things we talked about.

SUN: It seems like a lot of old Trojans and old USC players have stopped by. Do you think your firing kind of split the Trojan Family, or is this just USC East now?

ROBINSON: Oh, I don't think (it split USC fans). It's been said that when you leave a place they remember you for three or four days and then it's on to the next thing. And that's the way it should be. I think you should be looking to go on in your life, whatever it is. Staying around and counting up the pluses and minuses of your past don't make much sense. It's kind of boring. And the people who have done that and have finished careers kind of get unhappy when they look back. I had the best of times at SC. I had a great experience with the Rams. And I'm having a great experience here now.

SUN: So you see the glass as half full instead of half empty despite how things ended at SC?

ROBINSON: Absolutely. This job has consumed me. I don't have much time or energy for being interested in anything else, really. My plate is full right now.

SUN: Speaking of time and energy, you were up at 5 a.m. every day for morning practice in two-a-days and usually didn't get home until around midnight after the evening practice. Is this the hardest you've ever worked at a job?

ROBINSON: Oh, I don't think so. I think I've worked something like this before. But I don't know if I've worked as consistently hard as we have since we first came in. From December to July, when we went on vacation, it was everything you had all the time ... be it recruiting or putting a staff together or spring practice or fund raising or what have you. But it's been fun.

SUN: But getting up at 5 a.m. every day and going to bed at midnight is tough for even a young 21-year-old, much less someone who just turned 64, isn't it?

ROBINSON: I think you find that when you're 64 you're a heckuva lot tougher than when you were younger.

SUN: Really?

ROBINSON: Sure. I couldn't win any races anywhere, but I think mentally you learn to recognize and prioritize you life to where you get the most out of it.

SUN: Ever stay in touch with (USC successor) Paul Hackett?

ROBINSON: I've talked to Paul maybe three times since I left. Initially, we talked a little bit about some of the people there and some of the circumstances at SC. Paul's a good guy who worked for me. I've known him a long time.

SUN: So no hard feelings?

ROBINSON: Oh, no, absolutely not.

SUN: How tough was it those last three weeks at SC with all those rumors about Lou Holtz possibly getting the job and all that?

ROBINSON: Oh, I think by then we had pretty much understood the conflicts (with the athletic administration) that went on there. Those conflicts had gone on for three or four years. I think everybody kind of knew what was happening. I think everybody just wanted it to go one way or the other.

SUN: Still, the way it was handled. You were kind of left dangling out there for several days.

ROBINSON: Yeah, it had those aspects to it. But I don't think there's ever a good way to do those things. It's difficult to take.

SUN: Do you find it ironic that there are you and your old Notre Dame rival, Lou Holtz, both pictured on the cover of USA Today, starting over again?

ROBINSON: No, I don't. That's just the way coaching life is. I just got done talking to a friend who is in coaching who right at the moment is down and I said, 'You couldn't be any lower than Mike Shanahan was after the Raiders fired him. Now he's probably considered the best coach in football.' I don't think anybody who has a setback in any phase of life, but particularly coaches, can doubt themselves. That's not to say you couldn't have done the job better or you've got to improve to do the next job better. But there are so many cases of people like Mike Shanahan. That's the way of coaching.

SUN: Ever talk to Holtz since the SC fiasco?

ROBINSON: No. We're coaching colleagues, but we don't have a real friendship.

SUN: Ever wonder if Ricky Williams hadn't changed his mind and decided to go to SC instead of Texas what might have happened?

ROBINSON: Yes. At the time I was stunned that we weren't able to recruit him. He made that decision so quickly. I really like him and obviously he would have had success at USC. But he couldn't have had any more success than he had at Texas.

SUN: Still, if you had a back like that those last few years ... ?

ROBINSON: That was one of the issues that slipped away from us. We just didn't develop that key player that would have given us more momentum. We had momentum when we won the (1996) Rose Bowl, but we fell right after that to where we had to almost start over again. Now that second phase of recruiting is taking shape (at USC).

SUN: What has been the biggest chore in trying to turn UNLV around?

ROBINSON: The need for patience, the need for people who look at you and think that maybe you're crazy for trying to do this and who, if they are any way involved with the program, aren't eager to change and have gotten comfortable. There's no specific individual, but I think losing brings about those kinds of mind-sets that are hard to change. They're habits that we're all going to have to outgrow here.

SUN: What would you consider to be a successful first year here? Any specific record?

ROBINSON: We've got two goals. One is to start the foundation of a program that is going to be a championship level program. In that, there isn't going to be any benchmark that is going to be obvious. But at the same time, as you get into coaching your team, we want to have a winning season. To some that may be unrealistic to say that we're going to win six games, but it's not to us. It's real to us that that's what we want to do. If we win less than six games, say we're 5-6, we're going to be disappointed. Now I don't know if we'll get even close to that. But I don't want to give us a cushion of saying 'Aw, gee, poor us.' The seniors don't have any cushion. I read where Len Ware said, 'I want to know what it's like to win before I get out of college.' That to me was a telling remark about what we have to do. I read that and said 'OK, that's my job, to hel p create a situation where that can happen.' That's our goal. We're not going to hide behind anything to make it easier for us. We're going to win six games. Or more. If we don't, we'll keep working on the first goal of getting better until we can win and can be champions.

SUN: Have you thought about what you're going to tell the team before you go out for Thursday night's game?

ROBINSON: Some of the same things we've been talking six months about ... about winning, how we're going to approach the game, what we're going to do, how we're going to play, what we're going to do after the game. We've already talked about how we're going to react if, say, we win, 31-14. What are we going to do? Do we stop practicing now? We're going to come back and get on the practice field and try and get better. If we lose this game, we're going to get back on the practice field and do the same thing. The understanding of what goes into winning is something that we must learn. Winning is hard and great. But I'm a little worried that we're kind of euphoric and then go down and get hit in the mouth a little bit. The winner is the one who can keep coming on. Those are the challenges.

SUN: What kind of legacy do you hope to leave here when you're done?

ROBINSON: I don't want to leave a legacy. I want to leave a program that is talked about all over the country, that people would consider coming to play here. If we can build it, it would be a great place to come, to go to school. It's an up-and-coming school, it's an up-and-coming city, it's a great place to be. And if our program is solid and nationally respected, it can add to what is a great environment.