Cougars check their list
Washington State has a list of seven main candidates to replace departed football coach Bill Doba and is in the process of contacting them to gauge interest.
The list includes some well-circulated names, including Mike Price, John L. Smith, Paul Wulff, Bob Gregory and Dave Christensen, but two others as well, sources within the WSU athletic department have told The Spokesman-Review.
Ball State head coach Brady Hoke, a former Oregon State assistant and University of Michigan associate head coach, and Dallas Cowboys receivers coach Ray Sherman are also said to be on the Cougars’ wish list.
Hoke did not return multiple calls seeking comment. Ball State spokesman Joe Hernandez said no one connected with WSU’s coaching search had contacted BSU athletic director Tom Collins for permission to speak with Hoke. Permission isn’t required under NCAA rules but is a courtesy usually afforded among colleges.
“We will make no public statement regarding the hiring process or the candidates we are considering,” said WSU athletics director Jim Sterk in a prepared statement. “We are currently screening and researching potential candidates and are hopeful to have a new head coach in place by the first of the year.”
Hoke was a defensive lineman at Ball State in the late 1970s and began his coaching career in the Midwest. He moved to Oregon State in 1989 and stayed until 1995, when he took over as defensive line coach at Michigan. He stayed in that role until 2002 when he was named associate head coach under Lloyd Carr. During his Michigan tenure, he was in charge of the Wolverines’ West Coast recruiting.
He took over the Ball State program in 2003 and has posted a 22-36 record.
That includes a 7-5 mark this season, which still might be good enough to get Ball State into one of the MAC’s three bowl games, more than likely the International Bowl (a decision will be made this weekend). This season’s record includes road losses to bowl-bound Illinois (28-17) and Indiana (38-20) and Nebraska (41-40) along with a 34-31 overtime defeat of Navy in Annapolis.
Though Sherman could not be reached Friday, a WSU source confirmed he had expressed interest in the position.
Sherman played his college football at Fresno State under Daryl Rogers and J.R. Boone, then began a 14-year college coaching career.
Sherman moved to the NFL in 1988 with Jerry Glanville’s Houston Oilers. He’s had stints in San Francisco, Atlanta, the New York Jets, Pittsburgh, Minnesota, Green Bay and Tennessee before joining the Cowboys this season.
He was the offensive coordinator for Pete Carroll’s Jets in 1994 and in Pittsburgh (1998) and Minnesota (1999).
Price, the former WSU coach now serving as head coach at UTEP, told the El Paso Times that he has talked with WSU consultant Bill Moos, but refused to acknowledge his interest in the WSU position.
“We didn’t get that far,” Price said. “I work for UTEP. I’m going to California Saturday to scout a junior college game.”
He said he hasn’t talked with Sterk, but “the phone has been ringing off the hook with former players.”
Smith was 53-21 as the University of Idaho coach from 1989-94. He left Idaho for head coaching stops at Utah State, Louisville and Michigan State.
Smith’s teams at Idaho won two Big Sky Conference titles. He owns property in Sandpoint, where he plans on retiring. He has moved back to Louisville and is working as an advance scout for the St. Louis Rams.
“I’m trying to get my foot in the door. I’ve talked to Bill (Moos) and I’m getting everything out to them that I can,” Smith told The Spokesman-Review. “I don’t know Jim Sterk. He’s maybe the one guy on the entire campus I don’t know, but hopefully I can get my foot in the door and get an interview.”
Smith said he’s had one fairly long conversation with Moos and one fairly short conversation. He said he doesn’t have an interview scheduled, but he joked that he was going to “keep bugging Bill.”
He’s eager to return to coaching after a one-year absence. “I really am. If I don’t, my wife is going to kill me.”
What does he miss about coaching?
“I missed the kids, the one-on-one, the daily camaraderie, the relationships, the kicking them in the tail and the hugs. Getting back to work with the kids on the field, that’s what it’s all about.”