Columnist Dean Juipe: UNLV could use someone like Kazor

Dean Juipe

Friday, Oct. 25, 2002 | 10:03 a.m.

Dean Juipe's column appears Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. His boxing notebook appears Thursday. Reach him at juipe@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4084.

Steve Kazor has held a succession of football coaching jobs and would likely be interested in another, if the right opportunity came along.

Might UNLV present that opportunity?

Kazor, who has been the head coach at Wayne State University in Detroit for the past three seasons, is an offensive specialist. He prides himself in the scoring and yardage totals his teams habitually compile.

But, two points to consider: Kazor, based on a phone conversation this week, sounds as if he would leave Wayne State and has expressed an interest in returning to Las Vegas (where he grew up) and/or coaching in the Mountain West or Western Athletic conferences; and UNLV, given the poor job quarterbacks coach Vince Alcalde has done both calling plays and grooming Jason Thomas, might be on the lookout for someone who can do a better job.

"We've scored 130 points our last five games and everywhere I've been my teams have averaged 30 points a game," Kazor said from his Wayne State office. "Our trouble right now is that we can't stop anybody."

Wayne State, a Division II school that specializes in medical training and has an enrollment of 32,000, is 2-5 this season headed into Saturday's homecoming game with Northern Michigan. Getting quality athletes is doubly difficult for Kazor, given Wayne State's high academic requirements and its placement in the heart of Big Ten country.

"I don't think I realized what a battle it would be," he said. "It's so hard getting guys into school, and then keeping them in."

Limited to partial scholarships and a 55-man traveling squad has Kazor yearning for something a little better. The school president who promised him Wayne State would move up to Division I within three years has yet to follow through, which may have Kazor looking elsewhere.

"Us going to D-I was the reason I took this job," he said. "It's definitely a sticking point with me now, because D-I or even I-AA would allow us to attract much better players and offer full-ride scholarships."

Kazor, 52, has been around good players most of his life. A graduate of Rancho High School, he was an assistant coach in the National Football League with Dallas, Chicago and Detroit, and has been a college assistant at UTEP, Texas-Arlington and Texas, and was a head coach at Iowa Wesleyan and McPherson (Kansas) before going to Wayne State.

"I miss that a lot," he said of life in the NFL, adding that he has been looking at potential coaching changes in the Mountain West and WAC as an additional alternative.

He retains some good contacts -- he took Seattle Seahawks head coach Mike Holmgren for a quick tour of Detroit's new Ford Field during the summer -- and has the desire to leave D-II behind. An 11-hour bus ride and a walk-through practice in a Holiday Inn parking lot preceded Wayne State's game last week at Michigan Tech, and players are frequently missing practice to tend to academic needs.

With UNLV unimaginative in its play calling, an offensive infusion would seem to be in order and Kazor clearly would make himself available.

Nothing personal against Alcalde, but I'd dump him after the season and find someone else. If it's Kazor, all the better.