Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Steve Guiremand: UNLV coach search stokes the hot stove

Steve Guiremand covers college football for the Sun. He can be reached at [email protected] or (702) 259-2324.

This just in: Reggie Theus says he'd be interested in the UNLV head football coaching job.

Just wanted to see if you were awake, Rebels fans.

But with about two months to go before John Robinson officially hangs them up, you'd better believe there will be countless names of coaches coming out of the woodwork to lobby in the media for the job like ex-Nebraska coach Frank Solich did earlier this week.

More than likely, those are the ones you can scratch off the list.

As UNLV athletic director Mike Hamrick showed while hiring Lon Kruger to replace Charlie Spoonhour as his men's head basketball coach last spring, the real candidates --- or was it candidate? --- were the ones most people never heard much from.

Hamrick has said he is going to spend a couple of weeks compiling names and sending out feelers to potential prospects. He was well aware that Robinson was likely going to retire after this season so he probably already had a short list in mind.

But like the Hot Stove League in baseball, it's more fun to speculate on just who is going to get the job than the actual hiring itself.

Let's go over a few of the potential alleged --- that's the key word here, alleged --- candidates making the rounds on the Internet chat boards and sports radio talk shows.

Solich: Let's see. Hamrick said he wants an energetic person (check) who runs an imaginative offense (nope) with good West Coast recruiting ties (nope). Well, one out of three isn't bad.

Norm Chow, USC offensive coordinator: When asked about possibly replacing Gary Crowton at BYU by a Salt Lake City columnist last week, the quarterback guru said, "I want to go somewhere I can be successful. I've never experienced a losing season in my career. I don't want to start now."

Chow makes as much as UNLV's John Robinson right now without all the head coaching headaches. And unless he brings Reggie Bush, LenDale White and Steve Smith along with him, he'd more than likely need a few years to get things turned around.

Dan Hawkins, Boise State: Word in the coaching profession is that Hawkins is a lot like Gonzaga's Mark Few -- a devoted family man who likes the small-town atmosphere of a Boise and is not crazy about uprooting his family ... even for a Pac-10 job such as Washington. Not exactly the kind of guy who is going to jump at the chance to make a lateral move to Sin City.

Pat Hill, Fresno State: Yes, he is a former UNLV assistant. But he's the man in the San Joaquin Valley now that Jerry Tarkanian has left and his next move will likely be to a BCS conference school such as Washington or North Carolina or Illinois. If the Bulldogs knock off Boise State on Oct. 23, he'll likely be one of the hottest names in the country for major coaching vacancies.

Rick Neuheisel: Two schools. Two NCAA investigations. Two programs in disarray. 'Nuff said.

Steve Spurrier: Get real! Although he has been strongly tied to a likely coaching opening at North Carolina, many feel he may just wait a couple of more years to see what opens up. After all, he's still getting about $5 million a year for another two years by the Redskins to do what he likes to do best ... play golf.

So where does that leave Hamrick?

Well, the same place most mid-major programs are. More than likely he'll need to bring in an hot young offensive coordinator with West Coast ties who can energize the Rebels' struggling offense. Or he can turn to conferences like the MAC, WAC or Conference USA and maybe lure a proven Division I coach. Or bring in an NFL assistant with a solid college background and some star power.

And if UNLV were to suddenly get healthy, start piling up some points, and turn things around on the field, he has one of the most respected coaches in the country in Bruce Snyder already on the payroll.

One thing about Hamrick: He's a football guy who played linebacker at Marshall. (No Bobby Pruett rumors, please). He frequently stops by to watch practice because he loves the sport and wants a winner.

Although he has taken his share of rips for hiring struggling East Carolina coach John Thompson, not many people know he tried to hire another coach before that. But Urban Meyer wisely decided on his other head coaching option, Utah.

Hamrick hit a home run when it came to hiring Kruger as his basketball coach. You can bet he wants to hit another one with this hire.

Once around the MWC

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