Cinkovich leaves LV High to become UNLV assistant

Adam Candee

Wednesday, Jan. 7, 2004 | 10:14 a.m.

After spending most of the past decade building a powerful high school program at Las Vegas, Kris Cinkovich is stepping back into college football without leaving town.

Cinkovich is returning to UNLV as receivers coach beginning Monday, almost 13 years after leaving the Rebels staff to move into the high schools. Longtime Wildcats assistant Chris Faircloth will take over head coaching duties in the Las Vegas program.

Cinkovich pondered an offer from UNLV coach John Robinson for almost three weeks before accepting the job. After an emotional season in which he coached the Wildcats through the on-field death of senior Edward Gomez, Cinkovich needed some distance before making any decisions.

"That's kind of why I took my time," Cinkovich said. "I really wanted to make sure I thought it through. I really tried to step back so that it didn't (affect me). I'd be totally comfortable coaching (at Las Vegas)."

Cinkovich will receive a pay increase at UNLV, though he did not specify what his salary would be. There was not one deciding factor in returning to the college game, Cinkovich said, but he feels the move was not based solely on the step up.

"(There was) not a burning desire (for college football)," Cinkovich said. "There's times, yeah, probably the X's and O's part. I used to like the recruiting part because it kept you in that competitive mode."

Rebels offensive coordinator Rob Boras first approached Cinkovich about the position on Dec. 8, two days after the Wildcats lost to Reno in the 4A State Championship. It was just the third loss in the past three seasons for Las Vegas, a program that Cinkovich transformed from a perennial doormat into the most consistently successful outfit in Southern Nevada.

In his first season at Las Vegas in 1995, Cinkovich led the Wildcats to the playoffs for the first time in 15 years. Through a stringent offseason weightlifting and conditioning program, Cinkovich quickly developed one of the state's strongest and most committed groups. In 2001, Cinkovich completed the Wildcats' rebirth by delivering the program's first state championship since 1959.

Now, he hopes to help the Rebels to such heights in his second stint on the UNLV staff. Cinkovich spent a year as a part-time running backs coach with the Rebels under Jim Strong in 1991 before moving to Green Valley High School as an assistant coach. Cinkovich will have some work to do -- UNLV ranked second-to-last in the Mountain West Conference in both passing offense and passing efficiency in 2003.

"It's a good deal," Cinkovich said. "Coach (Robinson) was really good to me. He gave me a good opportunity, so I look forward to it."

Cinkovich replaces Garrick McGee, who spent just one year as UNLV's receivers coach before leaving to take a similar position at Northwestern. Knowing that Faircloth will run the Las Vegas program with almost all of last year's coaching staff intact made the decision to leave easier for Cinkovich.

For Faircloth, who started at Las Vegas in 1992 and spent all nine of Cinkovich's years on staff, getting his first football head coaching spot is bittersweet.

"I kind of hoped (Cinkovich) would have second thoughts and turn it down," Faircloth said. "I really wasn't in any hurry for this to happen."

Yet when the UNLV opportunity became Cinkovich's choice, he knew that Faircloth, an outstanding defensive coordinator, was the man he wanted as his successor.

"I obviously vigorously pursued that with our administration," Cinkovich said. "I think he'll do a great job."

Las Vegas appears to be in great shape for the 2004 season. The Wildcats return junior running back Eric Jordan -- last year's 4A Offensive Player of the Year in Southern Nevada -- along with junior quarterback Jeremy Craddock and a number of other talented skill position players.

Faircloth said his biggest challenge is maintaining the Las Vegas tradition of strong offensive and defensive linemen. Even so, the cupboard appears far from bare.

"We've had a pretty good run of kids over the last several years and it doesn't look like it's going to slow down anytime soon," Faircloth said. "I'm walking into a pretty good situation."