UNLV search focuses on three

Steve Guiremand

Tuesday, Nov. 30, 2004 | 9:49 a.m.

Two Rebels football players were named first-team All-Mountain West Conference on Monday -- senior running back Dominique Dorsey, left, the conference's leading rusher, and senior safety Jamaal Brimmer, right, who became a three-time recipient of first-team honors.

Barring any last-minute surprises, it appears the search for John Robinson's successor as UNLV head football coach is a three-man race.

Utah offensive coordinator Mike Sanford, Purdue offensive coordinator Jim Chaney and Arizona Cardinals running backs coach Kirby Wilson have emerged as the top candidates to replace Robinson, according to sources familiar with search.

UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick on Monday continued his stance of not commenting on potential candidates who have been contacted or have interviewed for the position. A replacement for Robinson will likely be named early next week.

Sanford, considered the early front-runner for the position, interviewed with Hamrick last week in Salt Lake City. He is expected to fly to Las Vegas again this week for a second interview with Hamrick and to tour the facilities.

According to Purdue officials, Chaney has been vacationing with his family since before Thanksgiving and isn't expected to be back in the office until later this week. Like Sanford, Chaney did not return phone messages left on his office phone.

Wilson, the only black candidate of the three, also didn't return phone messages to his office on Monday where he was involved in a team meeting. He could be back on campus today to meet with UNLV officials as most NFL teams give their players Tuesdays off during the season.

All three candidates would seem to meet Hamrick's criteria of having California recruiting ties and as well as extensive offensive coaching backgrounds.

Sanford, 49, has long been regarded as one of the top recruiters on the West Coast during his coaching days at Long Beach State, USC, Notre Dame and Stanford. He recruited and coached three No. 1 picks in eight years at Troy, including a brash junior college transfer named Keyshawn Johnson, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the 1996 NFL draft.

Chaney, 42, has been the offensive coordinator for Joe Tiller at Purdue the past eight seasons and helped develop standout quarterbacks Drew Brees and Kyle Orton. The Boilermakers finished in the top 10 nationally in passing in 1998, 1999 and 2000.

Chaney also served two coaching stints for the now-defunct Cal State Fullerton football program in 1984-87 and 1988-1992, coaching everything from quarterbacks to both lines and serving as recruiting coordinator as well.

Wilson, 43, starred in football and track at Dorsey High School in Los Angeles and went on to play two years at the University of Illinois (1980-81) before playing two years in the Canadian Football League.

Wilson's background is primarily as a running backs coach in the National Football League including 2002 with the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Since 1997 he has coached just one year of college football, in 2001 as a wide receivers coach for Pete Carroll at USC on a Trojans team that finished 6-6 and lost to Utah in the Las Vegas Bowl.

Coincidentally, Wilson's main task this week will be to prepare former Rebels star Larry Croom for his first NFL start against the Detroit Lions.