The Gophers now have an agreement to work with a search agency to assist in identifying candidates for the football coaching position, according to athletic director Joel Maturi. He said on WCCO Radio’s Sports Huddle yesterday he will work with Parker Executive Search of Atlanta.
A national search firm acts as a middleman between a school and either a coach or his representatives. In the early phases of communications it can be helpful to both sides to have the search firm making contacts.
The Parker agency will help Maturi fill the opening created when football coach Tim Brewster was fired last week. Maturi is expected to make the final choice for the new coach but the input of the search firm could be significant. President Bob Bruininks and others who work for the University of Minnesota are also expected to advise Maturi.
Parker was involved with Tubby Smith becoming the Gophers basketball coach in 2007 and it’s obvious Maturi has confidence in the agency. The firm’s website says Parker specializes in searches for colleges and universities, both on the academic and athletic sides. https://www.parkersearch.com/dan_parker.html
The new Gophers football coach could arrive on campus before Minnesota ends its season on November 27. College football vacancies are usually filled in December. The Gophers might not have someone working in Dinkytown until December but an early arrival date wouldn’t be surprising.
It’s not historic but is unusual for a major college football program to be searching for a coach in October instead of November or December. That gives Maturi a head start in identifying candidates, and names will include unemployed coaches who could be available for work immediately.
Hiring a Gophers head coach within the next few weeks would provide more time to recruit and pull together a solid freshman group for 2011. Minnesota was caught in a bad spot after firing Glen Mason on January 1 of 2007. By the time Brewster was hired a couple weeks later the recruiting window was nearly closed.
The timing of firing Mason was bad, too, because the candidates pool for his successor had really been picked over. This time around the Gophers are at the front of the search line and could decide a former coach is the best hire.
Hiring from among the unemployed may save Maturi from having to deal with current coaches who send mixed messages. A coach at a top 25 school may tell Maturi they want the Gophers job but that Maturi must wait until the regular season or even post season ends. Guess what? Even if the coach is sincere, he may change his mind.
Former head coaches like Phil Fulmer of Tennessee and Mike Bellotti from Oregon have been mentioned as possibilities for the Gophers job. Someone like that would provide timing assurances that a present coach cannot, but the vote from here is that’s not a good enough reason to hire from the unemployed.
The mission is this: set the criteria Ski-U-Mah high and make sure you hire a great coach. Even if you find him under Goldy’s Christmas tree.