Monday, Oct. 25, 2004 | 10:14 a.m.
Ron Kantowski is a Las Vegas Sun sports writer. Reach him at [email protected] or (702) 259-4088.
In the aftermath of John Robinson's decision to step down as UNLV football coach at the end of the season, a source close to athletic director Mike Hamrick said the Rebels would pursue Boise State's Dan Hawkins at all costs -- maybe even literally -- to succeed him.
"We're going to make him tell us no," I was told of Hawkins.
Well, here's a better idea: Why not just make Utah offensive coordinator Mike Sanford say yes?
Nothing against Hawkins, but he comes across as being the big-fish-in-a-small-pond type of guy. He might become college football's version of Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few -- not that there's anything wrong with that.
There are worse things than raising a family in a quiet town, sticking your fishing pole in the water and watching the victories pile up. That's what LaVell Edwards did at Brigham Young. When he was done counting the victories, they named the stadium after him.
Two years ago, Hawkins removed himself from consideration for the head job at Oregon State when he was the leading candidate. If he wasn't interested in a Pac-10 head job, there's no way he would consider rebuilding -- or should I say building for the first time -- a middle-of-the-road program in the Mountain West. That would be a significant step down on the ol' career ladder.
Sanford, meanwhile, is just dying to get his foot on any wrung of that ladder. He's so enthralled with the prospect of becoming a head coach that he won't deny being interested in the UNLV job. Or any other job, for that matter.
Therein lies the problem. Every time the Utes beat somebody seven-to-the-third-power to 14, Sanford moves up the list of every mid-major program that might be in a market for a football coach.
That's why in the long shot that Hamrick's people haven't contacted Sanford's people, which is how job searches are conducted at this juncture of the season, then he'd better get that ball rolling before it's too late.
Hamrick said previous Division I coaching experience is not a prerequisite for Robinson's replacement. The primary qualifications, he said, are somebody who can recruit the West Coast and install an exciting offense that would make the scoreboard at Sam Boyd Stadium glow like the Strip at night.
Sanford is a native of Los Altos, Calif., who was backup quarterback at Southern Cal. His resume includes apprenticeships at Army, VMI, Long Beach State, Purdue, USC (where he coached standout wide receivers such as Keyshawn Johnson, Johnnie Morton and Curtis Conway under John Robinson) Notre Dame, the NFL's San Diego Chargers and Stanford. He recruits San Diego County and Southern California for Utah.
As for the offense that can light up a scoreboard, Utah is coming off a 63-28 pulverization of the Rebels that was preceded by a 46-16 emasculation of North Carolina in which it accumulated 669 yards of offense -- the most ever allowed by the Tar Heels, who play in the same conference as Florida State. The Utes' spread offense is simply the most outrageous thing to hit the Beehive State since Donny Osmond's purple socks.
"They have one of the better offenses I have ever faced," Robinson said after Saturday's game, shortly before pronouncing the Utes and their shifty quarterback Alex Smith as contenders for the national championship and Heisman Trophy, respectively.
Robinson has seen a few of each, so his opinions on those matters are not to be taken lightly.
And neither are those of the Rebels players who had just had their pants played off on a day more suited to duck hunting than football. The Utah offense that Sanford oversees features more receivers than one of those stereo blowout warehouses. And more pitches than the Red Sox bullpen.
Backward pitches, forward pitches, shovel pitches, pitches down the sideline. Barry Switzer, meet Don Coryell. What Utah does when it has the football isn't offense. It's sleight-of-hand wizardry.
"I can't say that Utah is not legitimate," UNLV linebacker Ryan Claridge said. "How could I say that? They just scored 63 points on us."
Added UNLV defensive back Ruschard Dodd-Masters after Utah's offensive clinic: "I kind of felt helpless out there, to tell you the truth. That (Utah's offense) is BCS coaching."
It's coaching that would be welcome here.
The only problems with hiring Sanford is that at 49, perhaps he's not the young up-and-coming assistant that many schools find so appealing. But his 27 years of experience should more than compensate for any youthful experience he may have left on the practice field.
Also, some schools aren't fond of hiring from within their own conference, although there certainly isn't a rule preventing it. Not even an unwritten one, as Bronco Mendenhall showed a couple of years ago, when he left his defensive coordinator post at New Mexico for the same assignment at BYU.
But these are tiny concerns that shouldn't come between UNLV and hiring Sanford, if that indeed is the plan. And if that isn't the plan, after Saturday it ought to be.
Because if Mike Sanford were any more qualified for the Rebels' job, he'd have to send in the plays to Alex Smith wearing a UNLV sweatshirt.
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