It was UNLV all along for Sanford

Steve Guiremand

Monday, Dec. 6, 2004 | 9:08 a.m.

Sunday, Sept. 26 -- With his team off to an 0-4 start combined with continuing health problems for him and his wife, UNLV coach John Robinson announces his retirement effective at the end of the season.

Saturday, Oct. 23 -- After Utah whips UNLV, 63-28, in Salt Lake City, Utes offensive coordinator Mike Sanford bumps into Rebels AD Mike Hamrick outside the locker rooms and tells him of his interest in the job.

Monday, Nov. 22 -- Two days after Utah ends an 11-0 season with a 52-21 victory against BYU, Hamrick and senior associate AD Jerry Koloskie fly to Salt Lake City and meet with Sanford for three hours at the University Marriott Hotel.

Monday, Nov. 29 -- Purdue offensive coordinator Jim Chaney is brought in for a second interview with Hamrick and school president Dr. Carol Harter.

Tuesday, Nov. 30 --Arizona Cardinals running backs coach Kirby Wilson meets with Hamrick and Harter.

Wednesday, Dec. 1 -- Sanford, along with wife Melinda, flies to Las Vegas to meet with Hamrick and Harter.

Friday morning, Dec. 3 -- Bowling Green coach Gregg Brandon meets with Hamrick to discuss the job.

Friday night, Dec. 3 -- Hamrick calls Sanford that night to offer him the job.

Saturday, Dec. 4 -- Sanford, at Boise State for son Mike's senior football banquet, agrees in principle to take the job.

Sunday, Dec. 5 -- Sanford flies to Las Vegas to complete contract details and attend a booster dinner at Harter's home.

Today, Dec. 6 -- Sanford to be introduced as UNLV's ninth head football coach.

It was shortly after Utah had thrashed UNLV, 63-28, on Oct. 23 at rainy Rice-Eccles Stadium when Rebels athletic director Mike Hamrick bumped into an old friend and a man he once tried to hire at East Carolina named Urban Meyer.

Midway through their conversation, Utes offensive coordinator Mike Sanford stopped by.

"I hear you're looking for a head coach," Sanford said.

Meyer then looked at Hamrick and said, "This guy would be a great one."

UNLV football fans can only hope that Meyer is right.

That's because Sanford, 49, will be introduced this afternoon as the ninth head football coach in Rebels football history, replacing the man he once played and coached for at USC, John Robinson.

"I've been preparing and looking for this moment for 27 years and I'm going to make the most of it," Sanford said late Sunday night after returning from a dinner party at UNLV president Dr. Carol C. Harter's home in Green Valley. "I'm fired up."

Sanford has been the offensive coordinator who called the plays for the Fiesta Bowl-bound Utes (11-0). Utah's offense currently ranks third in the nation in scoring offense (46.3 points per game) and total offense (502.7 yards per game), numbers that could have been even glossier if Meyer hadn't substituted so freely in the second half of numerous blowouts.

After Meyer announced on Friday that he was leaving Utah for Florida, there had been much speculation in various media outlets that Sanford had decided to withdraw his name from consideration at UNLV so he could possibly replace Meyer in Salt Lake City. But those reports were false.

"The main thing from the beginning, when coach Robinson was going to retire, was UNLV," Sanford said. "To me it's a sleeping giant. I think it's got a great future. Its proximity to Southern California I feel makes it a great base for recruiting that area. I think Boise State is a good example of a program that has been able to capitalize on that."

Sanford should know. His son, Mike, who played at Southern California prep powerhouse Los Alamitos High School, is the backup quarterback for the WAC champion Broncos.

And when it comes to recruiting Southern California, few have done it better than Sanford over the past two decades. Keyshawn Johnson, Curtis Conway, Johnnie Morton and Daylon McCutcheon are some of the players he recruited from 1989-96 at USC who are still playing in the NFL.

Sanford, who was offered the job on Friday night by Hamrick and accepted it on Saturday, has agreed to a multiyear contract that will need to be approved by the state Board of Regents because it exceeds three years in length. Financial terms were undisclosed.

He has been busy trying to put his staff together the past two days and hopes to have several pieces in place by the middle of the week. He said there's a possibility that a couple of Utah assistants could follow him to Las Vegas.

As for whether he would help coach the Utes in their historic Fiesta Bowl appearance against Pittsburgh on Jan. 1, Sanford said he has discussed the matter with Hamrick.

"If it happens, I wouldn't be involved in any practices at all until the (recruiting) dead period," Sanford said. "There would be no interference into our recruiting here or the hiring of my staff. It's full bore, 100-percent UNLV for the next three weeks."

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