The rumor mill begins.
Now that AD Danny White is officially on the job (somewhat) and the end of the season just days away, UCF's football coaching search is beginning to ramp up.
On Friday, White and UCF VP Grant Heston traveled to Atlanta to meet with representatives at Parker Search. I'm told a small UCF committee with the help of Parker have developed an initial list of coaching candidates, around eight to 10 names. White will give his input as he is now free to suggest any other names that could have been overlooked.
Who's on the list? I wish I knew for a certainty.
But there are always rumors.
The coaching community loves to gossip about potential openings. In addition to head coaches looking to make a move, assistant coaches want to stay on top of the game as well.
I've been gathering bits and pieces of info since Friday. It's really hard to vouch for the authenticity. It's really more of a "I heard this" or "I heard that."
What we know: UCF wants a recruiter. Even before White was hired, it's been said by those in the know that UCF covets a coaching candidate that can tap into the Florida talent pool that people believe GOL ignored.
Whether this is the be-all and end-all of criteria remains to be seen. Just to throw out some hypothetical names, would be a Geoff Collins (Florida DC) or D.J. Durkin (Michigan DC) be valued more than a Matt Campbell (Toledo head coach) because the first two have Florida recruiting ties and Campbell doesn't?
But in an ideal scenario, it appears a strong recruiting track record with ties to Florida would be preferred.
Danny White in his introductory interviews on Thursday indicated the importance of recruiting.
So maybe it's not a surprise that these names were repeated by a variety of sources over the weekend:
-Greg Schiano (former Rutgers HC)
-Mario Cristobal (former FIU HC, Alabama OL)
-Randy Shannon (former Miami HC, UF co-DC)
-Geoff Collins (Florida DC)
-Gene Chizik (North Carolina DC)
A couple people have indicated Collins is definitely on the initial list. It's believed Chizik is as well.
The other names have conflicted each other at times.
I'm told Cristobal is definitely interested in the openings at UCF and Miami, and Rutgers if it opens. I'm sure he would be. I've heard he's reached out to some to learn more about UCF. But does that mean the interest is reciprocal? One coaching source believed he's definitely in UCF's mix, but another UCF source was skeptical. But we're not talking about high-level sources here and I would certainly expect there would be misinformation at times to throw off the trail.
On the press conference day, Danny White indicated his weekends and nights may soon start to get busy with interviews. But according to a Buffalo source, White was in attendance for UB's Saturday road game at Akron over the weekend. Something could have taken place on Sunday in regards to interviews, but I do believe we're still early in the process.
Several of the possible names, such as Chizik and Collins, will be coaching through championship weekend.
Obviously, time is of the essence when it comes to recruiting. With the talent being what it is as well as a lack of current commitments, the new staff will have a lot of work to do. A new coach has to be hired and form an initial staff to hit the road recruiting almost immediately and there won't be much time in December to do that with a dead period that will last for a full 30 days from Dec. 14 through Jan. 13.
The dead period means no in-person evaluations or school/home/campus visits. Recruiting isn't necessarily totally "dead" though - coaches can still write and talk on the phone to prospective athletes.
We shall see what this week brings in terms and (hopefully better sourced) rumors. If it's a non-championship weekend candidate, there's a chance UCF could have a new coach by next weekend.
Now that AD Danny White is officially on the job (somewhat) and the end of the season just days away, UCF's football coaching search is beginning to ramp up.
On Friday, White and UCF VP Grant Heston traveled to Atlanta to meet with representatives at Parker Search. I'm told a small UCF committee with the help of Parker have developed an initial list of coaching candidates, around eight to 10 names. White will give his input as he is now free to suggest any other names that could have been overlooked.
Who's on the list? I wish I knew for a certainty.
But there are always rumors.
The coaching community loves to gossip about potential openings. In addition to head coaches looking to make a move, assistant coaches want to stay on top of the game as well.
I've been gathering bits and pieces of info since Friday. It's really hard to vouch for the authenticity. It's really more of a "I heard this" or "I heard that."
What we know: UCF wants a recruiter. Even before White was hired, it's been said by those in the know that UCF covets a coaching candidate that can tap into the Florida talent pool that people believe GOL ignored.
Whether this is the be-all and end-all of criteria remains to be seen. Just to throw out some hypothetical names, would be a Geoff Collins (Florida DC) or D.J. Durkin (Michigan DC) be valued more than a Matt Campbell (Toledo head coach) because the first two have Florida recruiting ties and Campbell doesn't?
But in an ideal scenario, it appears a strong recruiting track record with ties to Florida would be preferred.
Danny White in his introductory interviews on Thursday indicated the importance of recruiting.
So maybe it's not a surprise that these names were repeated by a variety of sources over the weekend:
-Greg Schiano (former Rutgers HC)
-Mario Cristobal (former FIU HC, Alabama OL)
-Randy Shannon (former Miami HC, UF co-DC)
-Geoff Collins (Florida DC)
-Gene Chizik (North Carolina DC)
A couple people have indicated Collins is definitely on the initial list. It's believed Chizik is as well.
The other names have conflicted each other at times.
I'm told Cristobal is definitely interested in the openings at UCF and Miami, and Rutgers if it opens. I'm sure he would be. I've heard he's reached out to some to learn more about UCF. But does that mean the interest is reciprocal? One coaching source believed he's definitely in UCF's mix, but another UCF source was skeptical. But we're not talking about high-level sources here and I would certainly expect there would be misinformation at times to throw off the trail.
On the press conference day, Danny White indicated his weekends and nights may soon start to get busy with interviews. But according to a Buffalo source, White was in attendance for UB's Saturday road game at Akron over the weekend. Something could have taken place on Sunday in regards to interviews, but I do believe we're still early in the process.
Several of the possible names, such as Chizik and Collins, will be coaching through championship weekend.
Obviously, time is of the essence when it comes to recruiting. With the talent being what it is as well as a lack of current commitments, the new staff will have a lot of work to do. A new coach has to be hired and form an initial staff to hit the road recruiting almost immediately and there won't be much time in December to do that with a dead period that will last for a full 30 days from Dec. 14 through Jan. 13.
The dead period means no in-person evaluations or school/home/campus visits. Recruiting isn't necessarily totally "dead" though - coaches can still write and talk on the phone to prospective athletes.
We shall see what this week brings in terms and (hopefully better sourced) rumors. If it's a non-championship weekend candidate, there's a chance UCF could have a new coach by next weekend.
