| | ESPN news wire services
LAS VEGAS -- John Robinson today signed a contract
extension to remain the football coach at Nevada-Las Vegas
through the 2002 season.
The one-year extension on Robinson's original three-year
contract includes a 3 percent raise that increases his total
compensation to $365,000 per season.
"I think this extension shows how successful the relationship
between UNLV and John Robinson has been for both sides," UNLV
athletic director Charles Cavagnaro said. "He can coach at UNLV
as long as he wants to be here. From all accounts, he is having
as much fun building this program as anyone and I think he
really enjoys his role at this school as part of the Las Vegas
community."
Robinson's first Rebels team went 3-8 last year and broke a
16-game losing streak and a 26-game road losing skid. Competing
in the new Mountain West Conference, UNLV won a league game for
the first time since 1994.
The 65-year-old Robinson, who won a national championship at
Southern California in 1978 and led the Los Angeles Rams to two
NFC Championship games, is 107-43-4 in 13 seasons as a college
coach. His .708 winning percentage ranks ninth among active
coaches.
Robinson has had two other stints as a college coach -- both at
USC. His first tenure with the Trojans 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 shared the
national championship with Alabama in 1978 and also had a
28-game unbeaten streak from 1978-80.
After an 8-3 season in 1982, Robinson took over the 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 in 1985, when it lost to Chicago, and four years later,
losing to San Francisco.
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.
Robinson 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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