UNLV’s Robinson lost hero in McKay

Steve Guiremand

Monday, June 11, 2001 | 9:55 a.m.

The news that coaching legend John McKay had died on Sunday hit particularly close to home for UNLV head football coach John Robinson.

The two weren't only linked by the national championships and Rose Bowls each won during USC's glory days in the 1960s and '70s, but also by their University of Oregon roots.

"He was my hero in coaching," Robinson said. "When I was a player at the University of Oregon, he was my coach. And when I was a graduate assistant there in 1958, I worked for him. I always looked up to him. He was the smartest guy I knew in coaching."

McKay, who would go on to coach USC to a 127-40-8 record from 1960 to 1975 and win four national championships (1962, 1967, 1972 and 1974), died on Sunday.

McKay may have easily surpassed that number if he had not decided to leave USC following the 1975 campaign to take over the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National Football League.

Robinson, an offensive assistant under McKay for three years (1972-74) and two national titles, took over as head coach of the Trojans in 1976 and guided USC to a No. 2 national ranking that season. The Trojans eventually won a share of the national championship in 1978 and also finished No. 2 again in 1979.

"John Madden and I used to drive down to USC when we were starting out and he was always gracious enough to spend a couple of hours with us," Robinson said.

During his three years as an assistant under McKay, Robinson helped mold a 1972 USC squad that went 12-0 and whipped Ohio State, 42-17, in the Rose Bowl. That squad was regarded by some college football experts as the greatest college team of all time.

Two years later, Robinson was on the sidelines with McKay when USC pulled off perhaps the greatest comeback in modern college football history, a stunning 55-24 victory over Notre Dame.

"We were No. 1 at the time and we trailed that game 24-0 late in the first half and 24-6 at halftime," Robinson recalled. "They had kicked the hell out of us. (McKay) had been known to get kind of violent in situations like that. But when we went in at halftime, he sat down and talked in a low and calm tone and settled the team down. I remember him saying at the end, 'Men, I think we're going to go out and play very well in the second half. We just need a big play to get us going.' "

When Anthony Davis returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, it set off a 35-0 third quarter rally by the Trojans against an Irish defense rated No. 1 in the nation. USC outscored Notre Dame, 49-0, in the second half.

"I've used that same halftime approach in two or three games we fell behind," Robinson said. "Instead of yelling and screaming, just kind of speaking softly to calm the team down."

McKay's trademark at USC was running the I-formation and its' bread-and-butter Student Body Left and Student Body Right sweep plays. He produced two Heisman Trophy winning tailbacks, Mike Garrett in 1965 and O.J. Simpson in 1968, as well as 40 All-Americans and Outland Trophy winner Ron Yary.

Robinson tinkered very little with the Trojan offense when he first took over for McKay and produced two more Heisman winners, Charles White (1979) and Marcus Allen (1981).

"I copied most of the stuff he had done when I first took over," Robinson said.