Harvey Hyde

Harvey Leslie Hyde (born July 13, 1939) is an American sports journalist and former football coach. He served as the head football coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) from 1982 to 1985. Hyde also had two stints as head football coach at Pasadena City College in Pasadena, California, from 1968 to 1969, in a shared role with Myron Tarkanian, and 1979 to 1981.

Early life and playing career Hyde was born in Pasadena, California. He graduated from Pasadena High School and Pasadena City College, where he played football as a tackle and earned all-conference honors. Hyde received a bachelor's and master's degree from the University of Redlands.

Coaching career Hyde began his coaching career at Redlands in 1962 as coach of the freshman football team. In 1963 and 1964, he served as defensive coordinator at Norte Vista High School in Riverside, California. Hyde returned to Pasadena City College in 1965 as an assistant football coach and faculty member. After spending 1967 as an assistant coach at the University of Hawaiʻi, Hyde returned once again to Pasadena City, where was co-head coach with Myron Tarkanian in 1968 and 1969. He remained at Pasadena City as an assistant from 1970 to 1978 before being elevated to head coach in 1979. Hyde was at one point a candidate for the vacant head coaching position at Arizona State.

However, it was later discovered the Rebels had used ineligible players and the Pacific Coast Athletic Association (now Big West Conference) had the Rebels forfeit all the wins from the 1983 and 1984 seasons, though the wins were not stricken from NCAA and UNLV records. Although none of the ineligible players were used in the bowl game, the California Bowl was among the games forfeited. Among his coaching staff was future Fresno State head coach Pat Hill.

Things became more difficult for the embattled coach, as nine of his players got involved in various scrapes with the law ranging from theft to assault. Finally, on April 23, 1986, Hyde was fired by Maxon with three years left on his $62,500-a-year contract, which the university said it would honor. One of his assistant coaches, Wayne Nunnely, was named interim head coach through the 1986 season, before being chosen as his permanent successor. His firing marked a period of decline for the Rebels that lasted for over three decades. Their tenure would only last one season as Allen died just after the end of the regular season, in part due to weak health after his players drenched him with ice water to celebrate a season-ending victory over UNLV. In interviewing to be the permanent head coach of Long Beach State, a program which was under financial duress, Hyde offered radical ideas of having the team play only road games, recruit only junior college players and use only one set of uniforms; he was not selected and the program only lasted one more season before finally shutting down.

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