Cougs speak to 2
PULLMAN – Washington State University has interviewed at least two candidates for the vacant head football coaching position.
University of Oklahoma assistant coach Kevin Sumlin, a former Cougars graduate assistant under Dennis Erickson and Mike Price, interviewed Friday with athletic director Jim Sterk and other senior administrators, according to sources close to the process.
Also, former University of Idaho coach John L. Smith interviewed with the school on Thursday, according to sources.
Sumlin did not return calls to his cell phone and Smith, when reached Friday about the WSU position, refused to comment, referring questions back to the university.
“We’re not commenting on the process,” said Bill Stevens, WSU’s director of athletic media relations. “We will have an announcement when we have a successful candidate.”
Sumlin played his college football at Purdue, where he was twice named All-Big Ten for his play at linebacker.
He began his college coaching career in Pullman, serving as a graduate assistant from 1988 through 1990.
From there Sumlin was at Wyoming, Minnesota and Purdue, where he worked under Joe Tiller, a WSU assistant while Sumlin was in Pullman.
While at Purdue, Sumlin recruited and coached Yakima’s Taylor Stubblefield, pulling the All-Big 10 receiver away from Washington State, a school Stubblefield had earlier given an oral commitment.
From Purdue, Sumlin moved on to Texas A&M, where he was assistant head coach for R.C. Slocum, and finally to Oklahoma, where he is wide receivers coach and co-offensive coordinator.
“He’d be an excellent head coach,” Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops said during a Friday press conference. “He has a great background. He relates well to players. He’s a bright, sharp guy.”
Sumlin is also a candidate for the vacant position at the University of Houston, where he interviewed Thursday, according to published reports. Houston is looking to replace Art Briles, who left last week for Baylor. Another contender for the Houston position, according to athletic director Dave Maggard, is Missouri offensive coordinator Dave Christensen, also mentioned as a possible candidate for WSU’s opening.
Sumlin, 43, has also been linked with the open offensive coordinator position under Mike Sherman at Texas A&M. Prior to this past season, he interviewed and reportedly was offered the offensive coordinator position at the University of Miami, but turned down the opportunity and returned to Oklahoma.
Smith, 59, has a 132-66 overall record in 18 years as a head coach, a career that began at the University of Idaho in 1989. At UI, Smith was 53-21 in six years, making the Division I-AA playoffs five times. He has more wins than any coach in school history.
He moved on to Utah State where he was 16-18 in three seasons, taking the Aggies to the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl in his third and final season. He took over at Louisville in 1998, leading the previously dormant Cardinals program to three bowl games in five years, building a 41-21 record.
That success earned him the Michigan State job, where he was the Big Ten coach of the year in his first season (2003). But the Spartans never repeated the success of that 8-5 season, and he was dismissed with three games remaining in the 2006 season, though he coached through the end of the year.
Smith, who grew up in Idaho Falls, played at Weber State and began his coaching career there. After stints at Montana and Nevada, Smith hooked up with Dennis Erickson at Idaho in 1982. He also worked with Erickson as defensive coordinator at Wyoming and Washington State.