March 3, 2000

LAS VEGAS - Linebackers coach Joe Barry has resigned to take a job with the San Francisco 49ers, UNLV head coach John Robinson announced Friday.

Barry, who was preparing to enter his second season with the Rebels, will instead join the NFL club as a defensive quality control coach.

"Leaving a great place like UNLV is hard, but leaving John Robinson is even harder," Barry said. "He is a great man and a great coach and I owe everything I am professionally to him."

Taking over for Barry will be Steve Johns, who spent last year as a graduate assistant coach for the Rebel defense.

"We hate to lose Joe because he is one of the great young coaches in the profession," Robinson said. "Fortunately, so is Steve Johns. He will take over Joe's duties beginning Monday morning and I am confident the linebackers in this program will not miss a beat."

Johns joined the Rebels after two years at the University of LaVerne (Calif.), the last of which he spent as co-defensive coordinator as well as overseeing the Leopards' special teams.

In 1996, Johns was the defensive line coach and special teams coordinator at the University of San Diego.

After one year attending the U.S. Air Force Academy, Johns was a three-year starter at Occidental College in Los Angeles as an offensive lineman. A 1991 graduate of the school, he also earned his master's degree from Occidental while serving as an assistant coach there for three seasons.

A native of the northwest, his father, Edward Johns, served as an assistant on the same coaching staff as John Robinson at the University of Oregon.