70 coaches apply for UNLV baseball post

Victoria Sun

Friday, June 15, 2001 | 9:59 a.m.

Today is the final day for candidates to apply for the UNLV baseball head coaching position.

The job became available in May after the university did not renew the contract of Rod Soesbe, who coached UNLV to a 139-155 record in five seasons.

UNLV associate athletic director Jerry Koloskie said more than 70 coaches have applied.

"We're very pleased," Koloskie said. "We've got a lot of good candidates to choose from.

"There's a lot of interest in the program. We hope to have a good baseball coach."

Koloskie is the head of a seven-person committee in charge of selecting the new coach.

The committee will soon begin sifting through resumes and start interviewing candidates at the end of this month.

"There is recruiting in July, but we don't want to make a decision just to make one, so if it takes a little longer, we're willing to wait until we get the right person," Koloskie said.

After much speculation, CCSN coach Tim Chambers decided not to apply for the job out of loyalty to the Coyotes. In two years, Chambers has guided CCSN to a 99-18 record.

"We talked to Tim about the position and he decided at this time that he didn't want to leave CCSN," Koloskie said.

Air Force coach Reed Peters, a former UNLV player and assistant coach, New Mexico State and former Oklahoma State coach Gary Ward and recently fired Florida coach Andy Lopez have all expressed interest.

Rodger Fairless, who coached Valley and Green Valley high schools and is a former UNLV assistant, and Steve Rodriguez, a Valley grad who is a current assistant at Pepperdine and previously worked for Lopez, have also applied.

Lopez was fired from Florida on June 4 after leading the Gators to a 278-159-1 record and two College World Series appearances (1996, 1998) in seven years. The Gators finished 35-27 and lost in the NCAA regional at Miami this year.

"I'm looking for a job on the West Coast, looking to get back into coaching," Lopez said. "I've really just kind of been caught off guard by the decision out here. I didn't feel we had done a poor job and I was a bit surprised by their decision."

Before coaching at Florida, Lopez -- the 1996 collegiate baseball coach of the year -- was the head coach at Pepperdine (1989-94) and guided the Waves to the 1992 NCAA championship.