UNLV coach Jerry Tarkanian is ready to fight again.
Challenging a school administration he has sparred with for months, Tarkanian said Sunday he is rescinding the resignation he submitted last June.Tarkanian said he was withdrawing the resignation because administration leaks about problems in his program had left a cloud over himself, his family, his players and his program.
UNLV president Robert Maxson responded that the resignation is binding, and it's a dead issue.
With Tarkanian scheduled to coach his final UNLV game March 3, the question remained whether he could legally rescind the resignation.
Attorneys for the coach sent a letter to UNLV legal counsel Brad Booke Friday saying an agreement between Tarkanian and the administration had been breached, giving Tarkanian the legal option of rescinding the resignation. The attorneys claim there was a clause that neither side would "bad mouth" the other, and that administration leaks of problems in the UNLV program had violated that provision.
Maxson disputed the contention Sunday night.
"Jerry Tarkanian submitted a legally binding resignation, the university accepted the resignation, and the matter is closed," Maxson said. "There is no need for any additional discussion."
Tarkanian's announcement came at the end of a 21/2-hour hand-clapping, hymn- singing rally at a church on the city's predominantly black west side. Most of this year's players and assistant coaches were in the audience.
"We got torn up from the inside," Tarkanian said, referring to rumors of a conspiracy by Maxson's administration to oust the coach. "We got dismantled from the inside. It's totally unbelievable."