National Football League

Randall Cunningham named coach of high school team in Las Vegas

Published Dec. 31, 2014 10:50 a.m. ET

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Former NFL great Randall Cunningham was named this week as the head football coach at Silverado High School in Las Vegas.

Cunningham played 16 seasons in the NFL for the Philadelphia Eagles, Minnesota Vikings, Baltimore Ravens and Dallas Cowboys.

"You want to make sure that you're getting somebody that's going to be great, not only for the football program, but a positive role model for the kids," Silverado principal Bob Mars told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I think that's what we're getting in Coach Cunningham."

Cunningham played college football at UNLV. He led the Rebels to an 11-2 record as a senior in 1984. Additionally, he was a two-time All-American selection as a punter.

"There's many strengths he brings to the program," Mars said. "He's a member of our community, so he's familiar with that. He is extremely knowledgeable about the game and the sport, and he's certainly got name recognition, which is going to help as well. He's a real positive role model. We're always looking for those positive adult male role models for the students at our school."

Cunningham was a member of the Silverado coaching staff in 2010 when he served as the team's offensive coordinator. He resigned prior to the 2011 season.

The school's student body is lacking in numbers, enabling those from outside its boundaries to attend.

"I've got to call Ray Lewis, who's a friend of a mine," Cunningham told Mynews3.com. "Jonathan Ogden, come on brother you live here in town. Larry Wade you're an ex-Olympian, a hurdler. You're coaching at UNLV. You're going to come over and teach these kids in a clinic how to run and how to use their arms, so they could be better on the field.

However, Cunningham wants to make it clear -- he will not recruit.

"When I first started coaching, there were a lot of people who said, 'He recruits,'" he said. "I don't recruit, but if there are parents who know me, and we've gone to dinner in the past, or they've been on my track team that I coach, and they enjoy me as a father figure, that's normally the kind of kids who end up and come and follow me wherever I go, and so that's not recruiting. That's just a person who's being influential."

Cunningham, who is also a pastor, said he would like to build a study hall for his football players.

"We need kids to graduate," he said. "We need kids with A's and B's."

His son, Randall Cunningham II, attended Silverado before transferring to Bishop Gorman High School, where he played quarterback and was a star track athlete.

Cunningham II has verbally committed to Southern Cal in 2015. He plans on being on the Trojans track team and will attempt to walk-on to the football team.