Robinson Is New UNLV Coach
John Robinson is ready to undertake his next rebuilding job.
Robinson became the new football coach at Nevada-Las Vegas on Thursday. He is the eighth mentor in school history. But the task is tall for the sixth-winningest coach in Division I-A history, since the Rebels went winless last season.
"I think timing is a big part of anything that happens in our lives," said Robinson.
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"I have been genuinely impressed by Coach Robinson's enthusiasm about the task at hand," said UNLV director of athletics Charles Cavagnaro. "When you hear about his vision of UNLV football, you will join me in being enthusiastic about our future as a program."
Former coach Jeff Horton was reassigned to a position within the athletic department Nov. 17.
The 63-year-old Robinson brings national credibility to a program that has won just four games in the last three seasons and will carry a 16-game losing streak into the 1999 season when it opens play in the new Mountain West Conference.
"The hiring of John Robinson should be proof positive that UNLV is committed to its football program and is serious about its membership in the Mountain West Conference," said UNLV president Carol C. Harter.
Robinson has had two other stints as a college coach -- both at Southern California. His first tenure at USC was from 1976-82, when he went 67-14-2 and won three Rose Bowls, the last in 1979 when he was named National Coach of the Year. The Trojans, who shared the national championship with Alabamin 1978, also had a 28-game unbeaten streak from 1978-80.
His .741 winning percentage is the sixth-best among active Division I-A coaches, minimum five years.
After an 8-3 season in 1982, Robinson took over the Los Angeles Rams, with whom he compiled a 79-74 record (.516) in nine seasons, making the playoffs six times. The Rams reached the NFC Championship Game twice in that span, losing to the Chicago Bears in 1985 and the San Francisco 49ers in 1989.
He left the Rams following a 3-13 season in 1991 and rejoined USC in 1993. His first three seasons in his second stint at the school resulted in bowl wins, including the 1996 Rose Bowl over Northwestern. But after a 6-6 mark in 1997, he was fired and replaced by Paul Hackett.
Overall, Robinson is 104-35-4 in 12 years as a college coach and owns a 7-1 bowl mark, with four Rose Bowl wins in as many tries. He is best associated with a powerful running game, recalling the days of "Student Body Left" and "Student Body Right" behind backs such as Charles White and Marcus Allen, both Heisman Trophy winners.
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