Tim Chambers resigns as UNLV baseball coach after troubled leave

The end that most believed was inevitable for Tim Chambers became official Friday.

UNLV's head baseball coach resigned his position more than two months following his arrest in connection with driving under the influence and being put on administrative leave by the university.Stan Stolte, who has led the program in Chambers' absence, will serve as acting head coach for the 2016 season.

"At this time, the best thing for the players and myself is to resign as head coach," Chambers said in a statement released by the school. "I would like to thank the administration at UNLV for their support during this challenging time. The last two years have been difficult for me and it's important that at this time I focus on my health and family before making decisions about the future.

"It's also equally important, if not more so, for UNLV baseball and its talented student-athletes to move forward and continue its great traditions without further uncertainty."

It is, in many ways, an epic fall for a coach who for years was championed by local baseball fans and boosters as the one who could lead UNLV's program into national prominence.

Many pushed for Chambers to land the UNLV job, which he he did prior to the 2011 season after 11 years at College of Southern Nevada. At CSN, he coached the recently named National League Most Valuable Player in Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals.

Chambers compiled a 157-132 record at UNLV, where he became the fastest baseball coach to reach 100 wins. He was named Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2014, when the Rebels captured the league's regular-season title and advanced to the NCAA Regionals.

But he has suffered back pain for years and in July took an indefinite medical leave of absence from the team after missing most of last season following surgery.

Since then, and even before according to many within the program, Stolte and top assistant Kevin Higgins have run day-to-day operations, including all recruiting efforts. It got to the point where a freshman player once saw Chambers at the baseball facility and asked, "Who is that?"

It was also no secret that Chambers' relationship with athletic director Tina Kunzer-Murphy had long ago soured — "It was toxic," is how one person close to the program described it Friday — which is why most foresaw this ending when the coach was arrested Oct. 6.

The following account is according to the arrest report:

Nevada Highway Patrol troopers were dispatched just before 9 a.m. to the scene of a collision on the 215 Beltway near the McCarran International Airport connector tunnel. A woman told the arriving trooper that her car had been struck by a white Toyota Tundra, and a witness said the truck swerved into the adjacent lane and hit the car before veering into the left dirt shoulder and striking multiple sand-filled crash barrels.

The trooper had to help the man driving the Tundra, identified as Chambers, out of the truck because he said he had problems moving due to multiple back surgeries. He told the trooper the truck was a work vehicle and could not find the paperwork. Chambers then told the trooper he was having a hard time balancing because of his surgeries, but the trooper smelled a faint alcohol odor.Chambers said he had not had anything to drink and was on his way home from work. He said he had not taken any Oxycodone painkillers for his back for a week but had a Z Pack, an antibiotic, the night before.

He failed a field sobriety to test eye movements, as well as a preliminary breath test.

Chambers was then taken to the Clark County Detention Center, where he told the trooper that he had a few beers the previous night, but didn't think it would still be affecting him. The trooper said the odor of alcohol coming from Chambers had grown much stronger, and Chambers consented to have blood drawn for screening.Chambers is scheduled to appear in court May 5 for a status check on the filing of criminal charges.

Chambers sought help recently for his issues at an Arizona-based facility.

"We want to thank Tim for his service to UNLV baseball over the last half-decade," Kunzer-Murphy said via the statement. "He is a baseball legend in Southern Nevada and has enjoyed success at every level of the game. Obviously, the most important thing right now is Tim getting fully healthy and we wish him all the best."

It was in May when Chambers fought back tears while standing among faculty and players and boosters and friends at a groundbreaking for the $2.75 million Anthony and Lyndy Marnell III Baseball Clubhouse. The soon-to-be 10,000-square foot jewel of UNLV's program will include a new lounge and locker room, academic area, weight room, batting cage and patio overlooking the field.

The building was a longtime dream of Chambers and the missing piece, he believed, that could lift UNLV to a national level of consistently challenging for NCAA berths and ultimately the school's first appearance in a College World Series.

"I will continue to support UNLV baseball and I wish them all the best of luck in the upcoming season and will miss each and every one of them," Chambers said via the statement. "I am grateful for the opportunity I've had over the past five years to coach at UNLV and all the wonderful student-athletes who are a part of the baseball program. It's been one of the greatest coaching joys of my life and it was a dream come true for me."

Chambers saw 14 players under his watch at UNLV drafted by Major League teams. That list includes pitcher Erick Fedde, who became the third first-round draft pick in school history when he was selected No. 18 overall in the 2014 draft by Washington.

Chambers built CSN into a perennial junior-college power, leading the Coyotes to the 2003 national title and back to nationals in 2012, where the team featuring Harper advanced to the semifinals. Before his time at CSN, Chambers coached Bishop Gorman High from 1991-99, when he won six consecutive Sunset Division championships and was state runner-up in 1997.

Las Vegas Review-Journal reporter Wesley Juhl contributed to this report. Ed Graney can be reached at egraney@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4618. He can be a heard on "Seat and Ed" on Fox Sports 1340 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday. On Twitter: @edgraney