Grier contacted by Loyola Marymount

TUCSON, Ariz. – Longtime Gonzaga University assistant Bill Grier confirmed on Wednesday that he has been contacted by West Coast Conference rival Loyola Marymount about the Lions’ head coaching vacancy.

“It piqued my interest,” Grier said of the LMU job, which opened up last week when Steve Aggers was fired. “They have talked to me, but I have mixed feelings about it.”

Grier, who is in his 14th season at GU, said he has no interview scheduled at this time and has not been informed of any timetable LMU officials might have. The Lions finished 11-17 overall and 3-11 and in last place in the WCC this year.

Four coaches – Jay Hillock, John Olive, Charles Bradley and Aggers – have been dismissed in the past 15 years at LMU, a fact that has not gone unnoticed by Grier.

“We thought Steve did a great job there, but injuries just killed him,” Grier explained. “The job sounds good, but you’re still in the same league as Gonzaga, and that’s tough.”

Grier, 41, has a written agreement with GU that he will be promoted to the Bulldogs’ head coaching job should Mark Few ever decide to leave. But he admitted he sometimes wonders how long he can afford to wait for that opportunity.

“It goes through stages,” he said. “I’m fine with it, and then there are days when I think I need to go. Then the next day, it’s like, ‘I’m O.K., I’m O.K.’

“I’m just in such a comfortable situation here. If I was in a bad situation or something, I’d really be trying to get out.”

Grier joined GU’s staff in 1992 as a restricted earnings coach under Dan Fitzgerald. He was promoted to full-time assistant in 1997 after Dan Monson took over for Fitzgerald, and two years later passed on an opportunity to accompany Monson to Minnesota.

Other names that have surfaced in LMU’s coaching search include Arizona assistant Rodney Tention and College of Southern Idaho coach Gib Arnold, a former Pepperdine aide.