UA Football Coaching Search

My thoughts on the UA head coaching search?  Don't expect them to fill the position anytime soon.  Don't expect a lot of names to be leaked, UA AD Greg Bryne appears to want to do this on the DL.  They may interview a big name alum or two but don't expect them to go in that direction.  That being said, I think you should probably concentrate on these names:  

1 - Chris Peterson - Boise St - longshot, but he has ties to UA AD Greg Byrne. He is definitely on top of the wish list.  Don't get your hopes up though Wildcat fans, if he's to leave Boise St he could probably have his pick of schools, at much better programs than UA has to offer too.

2 - Mike Leach - formerly at Texas Tech - Leach is my choice, I think he'd be a fantastic fit.  Outside of his ugly ending at Texas Tech he had a pretty successful run in Lubbock (and is Lubbock really that much different than Tucson???).  He won consistently, he ran a clean program, his players stayed out of trouble and did well academically.  He wants to coach again, he's a big name. It just seems like a no-brainer to me.

3 - Dan Mullen - Mississippi St - another longshot, but he also has ties to UA AD Greg Byrne.  Mullen has done a nice job at Mississippi St, he was also OC for Urban Meyer at Utah & Florida.  One of the bright young coaches in college football.  You have to wonder if he'd want to leave the SEC though. 

4 - Mike Bellotti - formerly Head Coach at Oregon - like Peterson & Mullen he has ties to UA AD Greg Byrne.  He seems interested in getting back into coaching if the right opening were to surface.  He did a great job at Oregon, he's got west coast ties, I think he'd be a good hire.

5 - Kevin Sumlin - Houston - He's doing a fantastic job at Houston, he coaches an exciting brand of offense to watch.  He'll no doubt be one of the hot names to watch for a number of schools looking for a new coach. He's not much of a defensive coach though.

6 - June Jones - SMU - he's done a nice job of resurrecting the SMU program, he did the same at Hawaii, if you like offense Jones is your guy.  He would probably like the chance to run a BCS program too.

7 - Troy Calhoun - Air Force - Calhoun's name always seems to come up everytime there is an opening at a BCS school.  There's a reason for that, he's one of the bright up and coming coaches in college football.  He wins at a school without a lot of resources.

8 - Rich Rodriguez - formerly Head Coach at Michigan/West Virginia - his run at Michigan was not a good one.  It's hard to overlook all of the success he had at West Virginia though.  You have to believe that he would love a chance to redeem himself. His brand of football also may be a better fit out west than it was in the midwest. 

9 - Paul Chryst - OC @ Wisconsin - No head coaching experience but a ton of experience as an Offensive Coordinator, he does have some ties to the west too from his time at Oregon.  I'm guessing he'd take the job if offered but I'm guessing they'd prefer someone with a bit of head coaching experience. 

10 - Brent Venables - DC @ Oklahoma - No head coaching experience, but he along with Chryst, are probably considered the top college coordinators that are ready to take that next step.  

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11 - Ricky Hunley - UA alum - probably a longshot but you'd have to think they'd consider a few UA alums.  Hunley has assistant coaching experience at the NCAA & NFL level (he's currently the LB coach of the Oakland Raiders) but he's never been a head coach on any level. 

11 - Teddy Bruschi - UA alum - an even bigger longshot than Hunley, he is a legend in Tucson though and is highly respected in football circles.  It could make for a terrific story. 

11 - Chuck Cecil - UA alum - another legend in Tucson, no head coaching experience though and he's never coached at the NCAA level.  He does have extensive experience coaching at the NFL level though, including as Defensive Coordinator of the Tennessee Titans.

****SLEEPER PICK****
Paul Rhoads - Iowa St - His overall coaching record may not knock anybody's socks off but he's doing it at Iowa St. where they had only won a combined 5 games the previous 2 seasons.  Previous to his stop at Iowa St. he was defensive coordinator at Pitt and Auburn.  Highly respected in football circles.

****The Tucson Citizen has a list of candidates here too.****