Las Vegas Sun

March 19, 2024

High School Football:

Silverado High hires NFL great Randall Cunningham

Randall Cunningham

Sam Morris / Sun File Photo

Former UNLV quarterback and NFL star Randall Cunningham talks to young fans before the start of UNLV’s game against Utah on Oct. 17, 2009, at Sam Boyd Stadium. Cunnigham recently joined the Silverado High football coaching staff as offensive coordinator.

Randall Cunningham, the UNLV and NFL quarterback great, has been offered numerous college and professional coaching jobs over the years.

He’s listened but never seriously considered coaching full-time. Well, until two weeks ago.

That’s when officials at Silverado High School reached out to gauge his interest in the Skyhawks’ coaching position.

Cunningham’s post-football life has been dedicated to his church and coaching his children in football and track. He’s the pastor at Remnant Ministries at Henderson.

“I’ve just never had the time to take this on,” he said.

But Silverado is minutes from his church and his oldest son, Randall II, is a freshman on the USC track team. His daughter, Vashti, is a All-American in track at Bishop Gorman.

As he started thinking about the Silverado job, he quickly realized it was a perfect match. He lives in the Silverado school zone and already knows some of the players from his church. And he’s passionate about developing talents of young people — in sports or whatever their interests.

Monday, Cunningham was offered and accepted the position. He’ll do his church work in the mornings and on Sundays, and spend the rest of his time building the Silverado program.

“I’m a believer in helping out where you came from,” he said. “High school and youth sports, it’s not a job for the kids. It’s fun for the kids and that’s fun for me. It’s where we all started. Where we all came from.”

Cunningham replaces Andy Ostolaza, who led the program the past eight seasons and led it to the Sunrise Regional quarterfinals last season.

Cunningham will be faced some of the same difficulties as Ostolaza. Silverado struggles with numbers and had less than 30 players on its roster in 2014. Next year, they’ll have about 12 seniors, Cunningham said.

“At Silverado, we need some help. It’s going to take time to build the program,” he said.

Cunningham, who spent 16 seasons in the NFL and helped change the quarterback position with his running ability, spent one season on the Silverado staff in 2010 as its offensive coordinator. But he stepped down prior to the 2011 season and his son transferred to Gorman, eventually quarterbacking Gorman to the 2013 state championship.

But Cunningham never lost interest in Silverado. It’s his community school and he knows the value a good high school football team has in bringing the area together.

“I’m back, man. And I’m so happy,” Cunningham said. “I’ve always loved Silverado. That’s why I’m back here. The people at Silverado are awesome. They want to win and I want to win. They want to bring the community together and that’s what we’ll do.”

Cunningham was an All-American at UNLV, leading the Rebels to the best season in school history in 1984 when they won the California Bowl to cap an 11-win season.

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21

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