CAL STATE FULLERTON NOTEBOOK : UNLV Interviews Murphy Today

Football Coach Gene Murphy was supposed to be gone after Cal State Fullerton finished 11-1 in 1984. Five years later, he’s still a Titan. Now the question has come to this: Will he be a Titan this time next week?

Murphy interviews today for the Nevada Las Vegas football coaching job, the last of six finalists to meet with a 17-member committee. The committee will meet again Thursday, and if Athletic Director Brad Rothermel can get such an unwieldy group to reach a consensus, UNLV hopes to name its coach on Friday.

Murphy has been forthright about his interest in the job since it became apparent that Wayne Nunnely would not be back after struggling through four seasons. And Murphy has been open about the appeal of the job: In the resources and facilities at UNLV, he sees a chance to win.

“I’m going to go up there open-minded and just listen,” Murphy said. “It’s like recruiting. It’s a two-way street.”

Murphy is the only Division I head coach among the finalists, down to five after Portland State Coach Pokey Allen withdrew. At 50, Murphy is also the oldest of the five.

Although Houston offensive coordinator John Jenkins has been mentioned prominently throughout the process, a source at UNLV insists there is no front-runner.

Jenkins, the offensive coordinator at Houston, the team led by Andre Ware, the Heisman Trophy winner, appeals to some at UNLV. He offers the Runnin’ Rebels a style of football that he believes complements the Runnin’ Rebel basketball style. He would like to bring a high-scoring, run-and-shoot offense to Las Vegas, a football version of the run-and-gun basketball team.

Murphy has his own appeal. He is a proven head coach in the Big West Conference. He has long been the most popular football coach in the conference and is extremely popular with boosters.

But the fact that he is from the Big West could work against him. Some at UNLV perceive him as the enemy, and would prefer to look elsewhere.

Some are impressed with Murphy’s record in the conference and how much he has accomplished with so little. Others look at his career record, 54-60-1, and recall that even in the Titans’ best two seasons, they lost to UNLV, although the Rebels later forfeited because of ineligible players.

“The bottom line is that by the end of next week, if I’m still here, that’s fine,” Murphy said. “I’ve never said I didn’t want to be here. I’ve never ever said I’m unhappy.”

A closer look at the other finalists:

Artie Gigantino--Gigantino, 38, the Ram special teams coach, has been with the team since 1987. Before that he was an assistant at USC for eight seasons, including five as defensive coordinator. He also has coached at Cal.

Pat Hill--Hill, 38, coaches the offensive line and coordinates recruiting at Fresno State, where he has worked for Coach Jim Sweeney since 1984. But he has a UNLV connection: He coached there for two seasons, including a stint as offensive coordinator under Harvey Hyde in 1982. He spent one year as an offensive coordinator in the Canadian Football League and was an assistant at Utah.

John Jenkins--Jenkins, 37, has been at Houston since 1987. Before that he was the offensive coordinator at Pittsburgh during the 1986 season, and worked as an assistant and offensive coordinator for the Houston Gamblers and the New Jersey Generals of the U.S. Football League.

Jim Strong--Strong, 35, coaches the offensive backfield at Notre Dame. A graduate of Missouri Southern, he has been at Notre Dame since 1987 and was an assistant to N.D. Coach Lou Holtz at Minnesota and Arkansas.

Murphy, who said last week that he believed he was no longer in contention for the Utah job, has been notified that he will not be interviewed. “The rumor was that the boosters said to heck with me since I turned them down five years ago,” Murphy said. “That’s OK, I’d probably feel the way they do too.”

The Titan basketball team has to be puzzling some people. Boosted by a margin of victory in the 20s, the then-undefeated Titans were ranked ninth in the nation by USA Today last week. When Tulsa, a team the Titans beat easily, upset Oklahoma State this week, Fullerton looked even more impressive. And then Monday, the Titans suffered a 29-point loss to Colorado State, a team that has lost to Marshall and Montana.

But Fullerton gets a chance to clear up some of the confusion Saturday, against UCLA at Pauley Pavilion--one game the players have been looking toward.