BRIAN CURTIS
Curtis is CSTV.com's Senior Writer and CSTV's football and basketball insider. E-mail
As the business of college football has grown, so too have the pressures of finding and hiring football coaches. CSTV.com examines this trend by looking at the new "kingmakers" in college football, in an exclusive seven part series, from agents to donors to administrators to search consultants to the media; they all play a role in determining who the next man ruling the sidelines on Saturday will be.
By early November 2007, it was clear that change was coming to the Nebraska football program. Weeks earlier, athletic director Steve Pederson, the man responsible for hiring embattled coach Bill Callahan, had been let go by university chancellor Harvey Perlman. In his place stepped Cornhusker legend Tom Osborne to serve as interim athletic director. Fans and media alike knew it was only a matter of time before Callahan got the axe.
When Callahan was originally hired in 2004, Nebraska formed a search committee and Pederson narrowed down the candidates. The finalists flew into Lincoln and interviewed with Perlman. This time, things would be different.
"Because of the need for speed and secrecy this time around," concedes Perlman, "Tom suggested that I travel with him. My role was the same in both searches. I am not an Xs and Os guy and I certainly won't question Tom when it comes to football. I do need assurances that the values of the coach are the same as our institution."
So the two-man search committee headed out to speak with potential candidates. There was no need to bring anyone to Lincoln. On December 2, LSU defensive coordinator and former Nebraska assistant Bo Pelini was introduced as the school's 28th head football coach.
University of Washington President Mark Emmert also takes to the air to find coaches. As chancellor at LSU, he traveled with athletic director Joe Dean and met with then-Michigan State head coach Nick Saban.
"Mark Emmert gets it," says Jimmy Sexton, Saban's agent. "He really does. When he was at LSU, he came to my house in Memphis during the search. He looked me in the eye and said, 'Jimmy, I have only been the Chancellor here for less than a year, but I know I need a powerful football program here because it so important to the fabric of the university.'"
After moving on to Washington in 2004, Emmert traveled with athletic director Todd Turner to secure Tyrone Willingham.
"I wanted to help persuade coaches in both those cases. We were in a selling and buying mode," Emmert adds. "I like getting on a plane with the AD and looking these guys in the eye."
All interested parties note the increasing role of university presidents, chancellors and, on occasion, a board of trustees in the decision-making process, though few campus executives ever get involved to the degree of Perlman or Emmert.
Still, because so much seems to be at stake when a high-profile coach is fired or hired, campus executives are taking a more active role in the process itself. Why? The simple answer, as Perlman says, is that, "We [chancellors] recognize we are likely to be held accountable."
"At Arizona State, and in a similar perception at USC," ASU Athletic Director Lisa Love says, "the president is kept well informed every step of the way and the final decision rests with his approval. He is not involved in the grind of a search. I have never had an experience where a president came up with a list of candidates."
Love says she would update school president Michael Crow "every few days" and answer any questions or concerns he might have along the way.
Many athletic directors have had similar experiences, updating their superiors during the search and then presenting a finalist, or finalists, to the executive for approval. And, like an athletic director, when a search is underway, the executive suddenly has all kinds of advisors. Donors, agents and even candidates themselves lobby the presidents or chancellors.
Mike Garrison at West Virginia is either the paradigm of what should happen, or a cautionary tale of what can take place. Too much involvement by campus executives can hijack the hiring process, or they can streamline it. Too many phone calls by a chancellor can diminish the power of his athletic administrators, or simply reassure that the right choice is made. Ultimately, the decisions reflect on presidents and chancellors and that's why their involvement is here to stay.
"I think it is a good thing that presidents and chancellors are more involved," says NCAA President Myles Brand. "Ultimately, in a high profile position, the president does have responsibility. I have the confidence that presidents' control will grow."
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