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To expand some on what is out there publicly on our hot board.
As you can see from the board, we've added
Troy Calhoun to the mix. I would caution folks to not misconstrue that addition. He's on the board and in the mix but just because he's "new" doesn't mean he's surging to the top or anything. He's listed where he among the other candidates is based on what we've heard.
The guy we think the search focuses on now is WKU's
Jeff Brohm. And that's probably not much of a surprise given everything that had been out there prior to yesterday. Don't be surprised if the next few days are a bit quiet (if not very). I expect things will pick up thereafter, though, once UVa can talk to Brohm.
Just to add a bit more color on things, you'll notice that
Mike Sanford is now listed last on the list. Part of that is just a lack of actual momentum among those I have talked to over the past few days but part of it is about other candidates, which I'll explain in a moment. I caution, though, that it can change on a dime. My feel is that the part of this search where it moved along with "steady" speed is probably over. We hear that, in the wake of the Richt news, there may be a bit of a reshuffling of the board just as a matter of principle. So while I still believe Brohm to be the most likely to get a long look, anything is possible. It's less likely right now that Sanford is significantly in play because of his lack of experience. If that changes, I'll pass that along as soon as possible.
Now, I mentioned above that part of Sanford's dip on our board was tied to other candidates. And realistically, it's the theme of experience and how important that will be. Two "former" head coaches that may get more of a look because of that, as well as Richt being off the board, are
Mack Brown and
Greg Schiano. I'm still not hearing enough about the latter to have him on our board (I've been selective about making sure we focus on the candidates sources say UVa is actually focused on and not just discussing), but Brown is a more viable option now. The problem, as I've said, is that there's more to him being the HC than just making a hire. There would be as-important other hires involved there. Brown hasn't made any secret about wanting the job and at this point, I'm willing to say UVa is listening a bit more. But he's still a ways down the list.
One more "new" name in the mix that we'll be closely watching: Cal's
Sonny Dykes. Though UVa sources have been pretty quiet on him since earlier in the process, a source in the midwest reached out today to say that there's some momentum out there that Dykes could be someone that UVa looks at soon.
And lastly, just a personal note.... I know yesterday was rough. Same here. Only thing I can do is what I'm going to do: Just keep doing the job and keep reporting what I hear. You guys know me by now. I don't run noise just to run it. And I'm not going to change that, either.
With that, I'll open the floor...
