Columnist Dean Juipe: Cavagnaro may have been forced out

Dean Juipe

Friday, June 22, 2001 | 10:25 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or 259-4084.

In light of the supposedly mixed review he received from the president of the university when his contract was about to expire this past spring, there seemed to be something fishy about UNLV athletic director Charlie Cavagnaro announcing his retirement -- effective in another year -- as he did Wednesday.

By Thursday, additional light had emerged on the subject.

And it painted a picture of Cavagnaro being at least partially forced out of a job that he never seemed completely comfortable with, and one in which the community had second thoughts about him.

Cavagnaro's downfall, as such, wasn't simply presiding over a department that has had difficulty holding its own financially, nor was it his lack of interest in attending his teams' games, or his failure to twist Rick Pitino's arm when the UNLV men's basketball coaching job was open, or the recent uproar over football and basketball ticketing procedures.

Those are all legitimate reasons for dissatisfaction with Cavagnaro, but a reliable source within the university says the last straw has everything to do with Tim Chambers and Mike Meyer of the Community College of Southern Nevada.

Here's how: With Cavagnaro's OK, Chambers and Meyer were going to hop to UNLV as head baseball coach and athletic department fund-raiser extraordinaire, respectively. The plan, which was supported by a number of influential boosters, was that Chambers would replace the fired Rod Soesbe and Meyer would fill the departed Jim Bolla's shoes and would raise money -- which he's very good at -- and eventually replace Cavagnaro as A.D.

But Cavagnaro, and perhaps Cavagnaro alone, didn't like the package deal and, in effect, reneged on it. The inference was that he would have been uncomfortable with his designated successor, Meyer, around.

Chambers maintains he has never been approached about the still-vacant baseball opening, and has stated for the record that he's no longer interested in it.

Meyer, the acting president at CCSN, remains an excellent choice to replace Cavagnaro and would have to be considered the local favorite for the job. (Sorry, Don Logan.)

Cavagnaro, 60, now has what we in the office are calling a "free year." It's as if he has given nothing more than two weeks' notice and will have the luxury of doing as much or as little as he chooses between now and his departing date of June 30, 2002.

He can even defer any tough decisions, should any come along, to UNLV president Carol Harter.

That's a nice way to go out, especially in exchange for the $148,000 he'll receive in completing the one and only year left on his current contract.

It's a real sweet deal for him if there was some danger, either now or potentially in the future, in which he would be fired. And there's reason to suspect he had been on thin ice for at least awhile.

The fact that Cavagnaro refused to discuss his retirement even after it was announced could indicate it wasn't all that voluntary and that he has some misgivings about it.

Turns out it may have been "voluntary" in only the broadest sense.

It may well have been quit or be fired or forewarned that your contract will no longer be renewed.