Clash of legends

Steve Guiremand

Thursday, Oct. 21, 1999 | 11 a.m.

John Robinson has stood across the field from some of the biggest names in football coaching history during his career.

Legends such as Bear Bryant, Bill Walsh, Bo Schembechler, Tom Landry and Joe Paterno, not to mention the likes of Bill Parcells, Mike Ditka, Bobby Bowden and Lou Holtz.

Saturday night at Sam Boyd Stadium, Robinson will shake hands at midfield before kickoff for the first time with another certain Hall of Famer, BYU's LaVell Edwards.

The two have a lot in common.

Both have coached national championship teams. Both have coached Heisman Trophy and Outland Trophy winners. Both have won national coach of the year honors. Both have sent more than their share of players on to NFL stardom.

And now as both move into their golden years, both are trying to put the new Mountain West Conference on the college football map.

To that end, the 69-year-old Edwards, who has compiled a 248-92-3 record in his 27-plus years in Provo, has a nice head start thanks to the likes of players like Kevin Feterik, Rob Morris and Brian Gray. But the 64-year-old Robinson, with talented transfers Jason Thomas and Kevin Brown waiting in the wings, figures to close that gap quickly with a few more top-notch recruiting efforts.

"I hope the UNLV-BYU game grows to be a major game for the championship of the conference," Robinson said. "We're not on a level with him yet. But I would really love to go out and shake his hand before a game that we're both ranked in the top 20 and for the championship. That's our goal."

Robinson and Edwards have spent some time together socially through the years as part of their commitments with Nike. Both have nothing but fond things to say about the other.

"I thought he was an excellent hire for UNLV," Edwards said. "John is a great motivator besides being an excellent coach and that's something that has served him well down there."

Robinson doesn't try to hide his admiration for Edwards.

"I think he's one of those people who are the foundation of college football," Robinson said. "That's in terms of what he stands for, who he is, the consistency with how he's done his job. He's one of those guys you say, 'Hey, the game is better because he's in it.' And he's been a very successful coach. But it's the way he's done it that I think distinguishes him from others. I feel good about college football partly because of him and men like him."

Does facing a coach with Edwards' glossy credentials get Robinson's coaching juices flowing a little more this week?

"Nah, I don't think so," Robinson said. "The fact that it is BYU, and it's his team, and the way they play ... yeah, that gets you going. We're looking to up our level to their level. That gets my juices flowing. Just saying hello to him and being on the same field as him is fun. I think it makes for a better deal. It's always distasteful when you play against a coach you think is a jerk."

So even though his team is a 19-point underdog, don't expect Robinson to be intimidated by Edwards' presence on the field Saturday.

After all, Robinson owns an 8-8 record in head-to-head battles with Bill Walsh, a.k.a. "The Genius."

"I have really good feelings about him, and how great a coach he is," Robinson said of his old college and pro rival. "I think he's one of the four or five best coaches ever. He was a masterful offensive coach."

And Robinson also split his two meetings with Bryant, earning a share of the 1978 national title thanks in part to a 24-14 win over the Crimson Tide at Legion Field in Birmingham.

"I remember him coming across the field after that one and saying, 'Y'all beat the hell out of us,' " Robinson said. "He was nice to me."

And he went 2-0 against Mr. Michigan Man, Bo Schembechler, in two Rose Bowl matchups.

"My first year at SC (1976), there was a story where a writer asked one of our players to compare John McKay to me," Robinson said. "I got up at this (Rose Bowl) press conference and said, 'How can a guy ask a kid that?' Here's John McKay who has won 150 college games, is a great coach, and I'm a rookie. I said, 'That's just wrong.' Then Bo jumped up, pushed me out of the way, took over the mike, and said, 'Yeah, yeah, that's right. That guy oughta be this and that.' But we became friends based on that first game. I used to go back to Michigan all the time to see him and he used to come out to the SC practices all the time."

* REBEL NOTES: BYU linebacker Rob Morris, a Butkus Award candidate who has been sidelined for four games with groin, hip flexor and lower abdominal strains, has practiced in pads each of the last two days and will start Saturday night. "I'll start the game and we'll take it from there," Morris said. "(Tuesday and Wednesday) I went pretty much full contact without any problems." ... Terry Cottle, UNLV's associate athletics director for sports marketing, said more than 29,200 tickets have been sold for Saturday night's game.