Dahlquist to leave Rebels for post in Europe

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Aug. 28, 2000 | 10:44 a.m.

Less than two weeks before his team's 2000 season opener, UNLV head football coach John Robinson is losing one of his top offensive assistant coaches.

Gene Dahlquist, the Rebels' passing game coordinator in charge of coaching both quarterbacks and wide receivers, is expected to become the new head coach of the Scottish Claymores of NFL Europe, replacing Jim Criner, who left recently to become the head coach of the Las Vegas Outlaws of the new XFL.

Dahlquist, 58, who has never held a head coach position in his 32 years of college coaching, still was waiting to receive a copy of his final contract on Sunday night. However, a source in the UNLV football program called it "a done deal" and said an official announcement of Dahlquist's departure could come as early as Tuesday.

Approached by a Sun reporter last week on the NFL Europe rumors, Dahlquist said he had been contacted by representatives from the league but that no official offer had been made at the time. He said Robinson had strongly encouraged him to take such a job if it were offered.

A native of Mt. Prospect, Ill., Dahlquist has developed a strong reputation in the coaching fraternity for his development of quarterbacks. He worked with Washington Redskins quarterback Jeff George, the No. 1 choice in the 1990 NFL draft, while an assistant at Illinois for John Mackovic and also received credit for developing the skills of former University of Texas star James Brown.

Dahlquist has spent the past year tutoring USC transfer Jason Thomas as well as last season's UNLV starting quarterbacks, Jason Vaughan and Matt Ray.

Dahlquist's duties are expected to assumed by Robinson and tight ends coach Ken Niumatalolo, a former University of Hawaii quarterback who was also offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Navy for two years (1997-98) before coming to UNLV last year.

Meanwhile, according to sources in the football program, Dahlquist's position on the staff is expected to be a familiar face around the Lied Athletic Complex.

DelVaughn Alexander, who was a wide receivers coach with the Rebels in 1998 under Jeff Horton and helped recruit current Rebels Nate Turner and Jeremi Rudolph to UNLV for Robinson before accepting a quality control assistant coaching job with the San Diego Chargers, is expected to accept an offer to become wide receivers coach again.

The Daily News did not quote Knight or attribute a source for the story.

Robinson on Sunday night said that the 6-3, 225-pound Knight had not contacted him and that the Rebels were out of scholarships for the current semester. However, it is possible that Knight, the younger brother of former USC star and New Orleans Saints safety Sammy Knight, could pay his own way for a semester and be awarded a scholarship in January if he obtains a release from USC.

Knight, who started two games in 1999 for the injured Markus Steele, apparently decided to quit the Trojans last week after getting booted off the practice field at UC Irvine by defensive coordinator Bill Young for allegedly not paying attention during a walk-through drill. He had been shuffled between a variety of positions, including safety, tight end and linebacker, under new Trojan head coach Paul Hackett.

Knight needs to make a quick decision. Classes start at both USC and UNLV today. If he stays at USC and attends a class, he will be forced to remain there a full semester.

If Knight does enroll at UNLV, he would have to sit out this season and would have just one year of eligibility remaining.