Three Schools Still Searching

UCLA, SMU and West Virginia still looking for new head coach

Dec. 26, 2007

By Brian Curtis

CSTV Senior Editor

	BRIAN CURTIS Brian Curtis is a CSTV football and basketball analyst and a regular CSTV.com writer. E-mail here!

        ---   Column Archive   --- FOOTBALL 1/20: The Three C's 1/14: Assistants In The Spotlight 1/9: Tomey On Hawai'i Wish List 1/8: LSU Impresses Like Never Before 1/3: Source: Caravantes Loses Ruling 1/3: The Right Man For The Job 12/29: The Coordinator Carousel 12/29: Bruins Get Much Needed Bravado 12/28: No Formal Interview For Locksley 12/26: Three Schools Still Searching 12/19: Football News & Notes 12/14: Updating The Carousel 12/8: Heisman Voters Got It Right 12/8: Michigan Coaching Search A Mess 12/4: Sizing Up The BCS 12/1: Summing Up The Searches 11/24: Black Saturday 11/19: Out With Carr, In With Miles? 11/18: Falling Down, Rising Up 11/11: When An Upset's Not An Upset 11/4: Where's The Outrage? 10/27: Coach Speak 10/21: What You're Not Hearing 10/14: Assume Nothing 10/7: Down On The Bayou 9/30: A Quick Read On Wild Week 5 9/23: The Heroes and Zeros of the Zeros 9/19: Crystal Ball Blitz 9/16: Sunday Morning Thoughts 9/9: Still No Answers 9/1: Some Things You Just Can't Explain 8/24: USC's Plethora of RBs Dwindling 8/14: Maryland, Illinois May Surprise Some 8/08: College Football News And Notes 7/30: Remembering Bill Walsh 07/15: Sooners, Carr and More 01/09: The Day After 01/03: Unbelievable 11/26: They Get It Right 11/3: An Unexpected Reaction 10/30: A Legacy Like No Other 9/30: Quick Replay 9/24: Will We Have Any Unbeatens? 9/10: The Rest of the Story 9/4: Lessons Learned From Week 1 8/28: The Insider 8/13: College Football Kicks Off 1/6: A Rose By Any Other Game 1/3: Home Game Feel For USC 1/3: Point/Counterpoint - Round 14 1/2: The Rose Bowl Blitz 1/1: The Making of Pete Carroll M. BASKETBALL
1/20: Dropping Like Flies 7/26: Prosser Respected By All 6/29: Odds & Ends 6/1: Donovan - Good For Him 4/25: Wednesday Thoughts 4/13: Afflalo's Journey Continues 4/6: Gillispie Good Fit For Kentucky 4/4: Final Final Four Thoughts 3/24: Intermission: Act III 3/22: Smith's Move To Big Ten, Surprising 3/17: Intermission 3/10: T-Minus 36 Hours 2/24: Bigger Isn't Better 2/17: The Commonwealth 2/2: Howland Liking His Bruins 1/28: What I'm Thinking 7/07: The ABCs of ABCD: Day Two 7/07: The ABCs of ABCD: Day Two 7/06: The ABCs of ABCD: Day One 4/26: And the Seatch Continues... 4/5: And So the Season Is Done 3/28: What You Need to Know... 3/27: Enough About the Parity 3/26: One of the Shockers of My Lifetime 3/24: Atlanta: The Day After 3/20: Tuesday Morning QB (Point Guard) 3/16: Nine Thoughts From Day One 3/13: Selection Afterthoughts 3/09: Thursday Nine-Point Shot 3/08: Wednesday Three-Point Shot 3/04: What I Am Hearing 2/28: The Tuesday Eight 2/21: Trials and Tribulations 2/15: In The Nation's Capitol 2/08: Holy War: On the Wildcat Trail 1/20: Hoops Blitz: Rocky Top Rivalry 1/14: The Jury Is Still Out BASEBALL 6/4: Time's Ticking For Porcello KINGMAKERS 1/29: West Virginia Saga 1/30: The Agents 1/30: The Donors

After a brief hiatus from coaching news over the Christmas holiday, here's a brief update on the three remaining searches:

UCLA

Interim head coach DeWayne Walker interviewed with UCLA Chancellor Gene Block while Temple coach Al Golden pulled his name out of consideration (i.e., he wasn't going to get the job.) Rick Neuheisel sits and wait. He has the big money guys pulling for him while Walker has many of the current and past players.  This still doesn't mean that AD Dan Guererro is done talking to coaches.

A report from Dallas noted that SMU was interested in Hawai'i's June Jones. Jones is quoted as saying he is not interested. It would be a curious move, despite a bump in pay, from the WAC to Conference USA. Larry Coker and Dennis Franchione are still in the running. One source says that SMU is considering Neuheisel, despite his history, and that the school is no longer on edge about potential NCAA issues. The Mustangs are waiting to see if Neuheisel goes to UCLA.

West Virginia

A crazy series of events last week prevented Jimbo Fisher from moving to Morgantown. A deal was in place, then the terms changed, and Florida State stepped up, so Fisher is still in Tallahassee. If West Virginia really wanted Terry Bowden or Doc Holliday, they probably would have hired one of them by now. Central Michigan coach Butch Jones is also set for another interview.