Sorry that we are late on this. We are only bothering to put it up so that we can say that it is up there. Bill Cowher said no to the Wolfpack in public today. However, after the public comments Chris Mortenson commented on Erik Kuselias’ radio show (ESPN) that Cowher to State is still a possibility – not a certain ‘no’ yet.
Honestly, we have no clue if there is anything more to Mortenson’s comments regarding the chance that Cowher could still end up at State; Cowher’s comments certainly didn’t sound like they left much room for interpretation. So, we don’t want to try to talk ourselves into a situation where we try to convince ourselves that Cowher’s press conference was a tactic to get out of the spotlight.
You can take a look at the video of Cowher’s comments by clicking here. Additionally, the reliable Dave Glenn says
There is confirmation today, from both Cowher and university sources, that he is not a candidate for the N.C . State job. As reflected below, this result is the one NCSU officials expected.
If Cowher’s comments were 100% legitimate and the ride with him is over, then we’re pretty perplexed about the way that this has played out from a public relations pespective. It certainly wasn’t the smoothest of moves. One of our friends emailed this afternoon and was fuming. The text of the email went like this:
F’ing Fowler could have done this. Isn’t the whole point of Neinas to KEEP THIS EXACT THING from happening? What does he do? I’ve wanted PJ all along, so that he turned us down is not a big deal to me, but this PR disaster is exactly what we did not need. Now it is a circus and everyone can (and will) point at us and laugh. Why would BC do this to us? How can Neinas let it happen? I never would have guessed that BC would publically “Calipari” us. I love these guys who spend years talking about how they would take our job, only to publically humiliate us when it is offered to them.
We are sure that the search has been simultaneously running different parallel tracks in private, but now the public scrutiny will turn to Navy’s Paul Johnson. Earlier in the week Johnson was widely speculated by many to be a strong #2 after Coach Cowher. Did he remain the lead horse as NC State has analyzed other candidates? We don’t know. But we definitely hope that those close to the search have kept their eyes wide open and given all candidates legitimate consideration. We voiced our thoughts in this entry.
Earlier today we highlighted some comments by Steve Logan regarding Paul Johnson that some readers viewed as concerning. If we had to voice one other major concern then it would definitely be the composition of Johnson’s unimpressive staff. Take a look at these guys and you will understand our point.
Coach Johnson still has the Army/Navy game to coach this weekend, so we would not expect much to get done with him prior to the conclusion of that game therefore giving Lee Fowler and the search committee time to contemplate alternative options. Many people out there are speculating on some of these options and we just don’t have enough concrete information to do anything other than speculate as well.
The following are some random comments related to the search:
* Like Cowher, Norm Chow and David Cutcliffe both commented publicly today that they have not been contacted by NC State. Of course they haven’t. Nobody is going to be contacted by NC State until a deal is on its way to being struck. This is one of the primary purposes of hiring a consultant/search firm to help navigate the process.
* LSU’s Jimbo Fisher may have much more upside than Paul Johnson, but he could also have more downside. Fisher could easily be the next Mark Richt or Bobby Petrino; then again, he could end up being David Cutcliffe at Ole Miss.
* Where there is the greatest risk comes the greatest opportunity for big rewards. This is why Athletics Directors are paid the big bucks to make these types decisions. One can only hope that their AD has been diligent in making connections and studying coaches through the years prior to being thrown into such a position. Rumor is that it is hard to stay on top of your job eating at Jimmy V’s Steakhouse every night, coming into the office at 10am every day, or hanging out on Lake Gaston on the weekends.
* If you are an ESPN INsider then you will see some nice comments about many of the names mentioned as potential candidates for the State job in this entry highlighting the country’s Top 10 hottest assistant coaches. We will wet your whistle with the comments that they shared about the #1 assistant, Jimbo Fisher:
His name was circulated for the FSU offensive coordinator vacancy, but word is he is poised to get his own program to run. Fisher has coached under both Terry Bowden and Nick Saban. Players love him, and he’s regarded within the coaching community as a great play-caller. Has had the tag as the hot assistant for a while after consistently putting up big numbers with the Tigers’ offense. If Cincy wants an offensive guy, Fisher might be it.
* Someone made a good comment to us today – “If you be supportive of hiring Jim Grobe, then why wouldn’t support Paul Johnson”.
* Evidently, Dr. Jerry Punch has made supportive comments of former Miami coach Larry Coker in public and private. Any time that a Miami-related coach is mentioned then you can bet that Steve Logan’s name will not be far away. Logan has very strong ties with many of Miami’s coaches over the last 20 years.
