Dec. 8, 2004
LAS VEGAS - New UNLV football head coach Mike Sanford officially announced three members of his staff Wednesday.
Joining the Rebels is Kurt Barber, who will coach either the linebackers or defensive line, and Gary Bernardi, who will act as recruiting coordinator and oversee the tight ends and tackles.
Sanford also announced that Kris Cinkovich, who just finished his first year at UNLV overseeing the wide receivers, will be retained and coach an undetermined position.
Barber, 35, just finished his second year at the University of Utah. He oversaw the Ute linebackers this season after coaching the defensive line in 2003, including producing first team All-Mountain West Conference end Josh Savage. Utah is currently ranked fifth in the nation and won its second straight MWC championship with an 11-0 record. Barber moved to Salt Lake City after two years coaching the defensive line at Kent State. Previous to that, he served two years in the same position at Tennessee-Martin after beginning his coaching career at UC Riverside in 1998.
A 1992 graduate of USC, Barber was a four-year letterwinner (1988-91) for the Trojans, starting at outside linebacker as a junior and senior. He was taken in the second round of the 1992 NFL Draft (42nd pick overall) and went on to a five-year career with the New York Jets.
"I have been impressed with Kurt Barber from the time he was a player and I was coaching at USC," Sanford said. "He is bright, enthusiastic, energetic and a proven recruiter of the Southern California area so we are excited he has joined us."
A longtime coach in the Pac-10 Conference, Bernardi has coached in 12 bowl games, including four Rose Bowls. He spent this past season as offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Northern Arizona University. Previous to joining the Lumberjacks, he spent 10 seasons coaching at UCLA and helped put together multiple nationally ranked recruiting classes with the Bruins. He began his coaching career at the University of Arizona in 1980 and worked for the Wildcats until following head coach Larry Smith to USC in 1987, where he would eventually serve on the same Troy staff as Sanford. Bernardi, a 1976 graduate of Cal State Northridge, has tutored seven NFL-bound tight ends and worked with future pro offensive linemen such as Jonathan Ogden, Kris Farris and Tony Boselli.
"I have known Gary Bernardi for a long time, which included coaching alongside him at USC," Sanford said. "He is an extremely hard-working coach who has proven to be a great recruiter at places like USC and UCLA. He will do an outstanding job overseeing our recruiting efforts here at UNLV."
Cinkovich, 44, who built Las Vegas High School into one of the state's top programs, left the Wildcats a year ago to join the Rebels.
"We are excited that Kris Cinkovich will continue to be a part of this staff," Sanford said. "I hear nothing but good things about his relationships with coaches in the Las Vegas area, which is a key to UNLV being successful."
