Slow Start

OK, so a quick round-up of the latest rumors (both 4th and 5th hand) on the coaching search. Take each with a gain of salt and the understanding that all of this could end up on it's head in a week or two.

Chris Peterson isn't interested in UCLA. This shouldn't come as a big surprise to anyone who has followed Peterson's career. He is a Northwest guy, his roots and family are there. He was in LA this week for a recruiting trip, but swore up and down that he wasn't coming for an interview. This might be posturing since he still has a bowl game with Boise State playing Virginia. Who knows.

UCLA isn't interested in Mike Leach. Like a lot of bloggers and fans, I'm left scratching my head on this one. I'm not a big fan of Leach but for Guerrero to just flat out turn him down is baffling. He is an innovative offensive coach, he's had nothing but winning seasons in Lubbick (though no conference titles), and money apparently isn't a stumbling block. Leach reportedly would even go under market value to take the job. To me that sounds like a guaranteed interview at the very least. For Geurrero... not so much. I guess Leach's slightly quirky personality isn't a "fit" in Westwood.

Mariucci is interested in UCLA's money. He was quick out the gate as a candidate but the rumors circulating is that the Mooch wants a lot of money (at least by UCLA standards). Somewhere north of $2 million. That might be too high for Dan and the Bruins don't have a history of paying anywhere close to that for a coach.

So, with all of that said, we've moved into a second round of names. Jim Mora Jr, the DB coach for the Seattle Seahawks, has come up a lot. Apparently Florida offensive coordinator Dan Mullen is said to have some interest. Montana coach Bobby Hauck, who was a graduate assistant at UCLA during the early 90's has been seen his named come up in a few conversations. Even former Bruins' offensive coordinator, Tom Cable, who is the OL coach for the Oakland Raiders, has also been mentioned.

Norm Chow is also getting a lot of attention these days. His history as a great offensive mind is definitely attractive after watching the Bruins play into the 96th best offense in country this season. Norm has been rumored to want the job, but then again, his name gets mentioned for a lot of coaching positions. The Bruins might have to wait until after the NFL season to get Chow.

The only person, who for sure is a candidate, is DeWayne Walker. He has an interview scheduled with Guerrero for this week or next. Walker only has two years of defensive coordinator experience and no time as a head coach. Guerrero said that experience was a big plus, but not a necessity for the job, but I think most fans (myself included) would like someone who has been there before. I really hope Walker stays on the staff, even if he isn't given the head coaching gig, because he has done a good job with the defense and his recruiting prowess is phenomenal.

The only other big head scratcher during the week is that Guerrero is just now hiring a firm to help in the search. I assumed that he would have done that months ago, or at least picked out a firm before Dorrell was fired so they could start their search the next day. Apparently, Dan wasn't kidding when he said he was still evaluating Dorrell's performance. As in, he decided to fire Dorrell and then started thinking about a new coach. I guess all of us were already looking for a new guy after the Notre Dame game. It's kind of disheartening to see things take off so slowly. I just hope this isn't indicative of the entire search process.