Monday, December 03, 2007

Coach Watch Day . . . uh . . .42(?)


I spent most of the weekend putting up Christmas lights and moving furniture.  The weekend was very quiet as far as SMU news and rumors go.  No meeting of the search committee and as far as I know, noone on the search committee was even contacted.

To sumarize this weekend's news:

From the Coaching Carousel:

SMU fans are biting their nails hoping Paul Johnson doesn't say please and thank you. I dont think Paul gets this job.

...

Nothing new on your end other than Duke and Georgia Tech talking to PJ. I think you are safe and Paul will be your man sooner than later. If not its gotta be Chan Gailey or Rick N. I just don;t think Fran is what you want or need. Marty Schottenheimer was talked to by Duke, maybe that is the ace up Orsini's sleeve? I still think its PJ


http://coachingcarousel.blogspot.com/

From the Football Rumor Mill:

JOHNSON DEAL WITH SMU ON SHAKY GROUND

Sources tell Football Rumor Mill that Paul Johnson’s once solid deal with SMU is in real trouble.  Georgia Tech wants to talk with Johnson soon after today’s Army-Navy game.  While Johnson has had an arrangement in place with the Mustangs for several days now, nothing has been signed, which has opened the door for Tech.

01 December 2007

http://www.footballrumormill.com/scoop.php?start=2007-12-01

My best guess is that Paul Johnson's name is officially leaked/announced late this afternoon and there is a meeting with the search committee followed by a press conference tomorrow.  At this point, however, that is just a  somewhat educated guess.  The likely coach is going to come from one of three: Paul Johnson, Chan Gailey or Dennis Franchione.  Now, it could absolutely end up being someone other than these three; in fact, I would put "field" ahead of Dennis Franchione at this point.

Finally, a random Jim Copeland (and Robert Lineburg, as well) sighting at Radford University:

Tuesday was a special day for our athletic staff and me. We were honored to have Jim Copeland spend the day with us. Jim has been the Athletics Director at William & Mary, Utah, University of Virginia, and Southern Methodist University. I had the pleasure of spending 11 years at SMU working under Jim’s leadership. He is a dear friend of mine and I have never made a career decision without speaking with Jim. Jim shared so many great ideas and thoughts about how we can get better as an athletic department at Radford University.
...

Posted by Robert Lineburg at 3:05 PM

http://ruhighlanders.blogspot.com/2007/12/great-week.html

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have a hard time believing that Orsini, who has done a great job so far, would be so dumb as to hire either Chan or Fran. That would not be like shooting yourself in the foot, it would be like shooting a lot higher on your body.

Maybe that black coordinator, Strong, out of Florida is the answer. He is the one guy that year after year gets overwhelming endorsements - but no job offer. I am sure he would be better than Chan or Fran.

Anonymous said...

Why isn't Rick N getting more traction? He would be better than Chan or Fran and triple option flex veer option PJ.

Anonymous said...

Johnson is in Atlanta right now (12/3) meeting with officials from Duke, Georgia Tech and supposedly SMU, separately of course. No scoop has come out of these meetings yet.