The list

“Stop telling us who it won’t be.” I’ll take the hit on that. It’s typically much easier to rule people out than say they’re a viable candidate. When you make calls people are generally more willing to talk and say a certain coach isn’t interested, or will be back at their current school next year.  People who are legitimately interested usually stay a little more tight-lipped.  So here is my list. These name generally come from talking to sources on the coaches’ end, not A&M’s end.  Instead of going through the front door and getting info from A&M, I’m kind of having to go through the back door and talk to coaches/sources to see if A&M is showing some interest.  These are not in any particular order:

1. Tommy Tuberville – I’ve basically ruled him out in prior posts, but I have to leave him on the list simply because of the interest he has in the job and the interest A&M has in him. I ruled him out because of financial considerations. If his buyout was $500K, and A&M would only have to pay $2.5 to 2.7, I’d put all my money on him. But that’s simply not the case, and the numbers are so far off, it’s hard to imagine them ever coming together.

2. Mike Sherman – Some already think this is done. I told you earlier that Guy Morriss (prior to his official dismissal report) had initiated contact with the Texans because he believes Sherman will go to A&M and that will create some openings on the offensive side of the ball.  Word is Sherman wants the job pretty badly. From talking to some folks, it’s isn’t coming across that A&M wants him as badly as he wants them.
3. Jeff Tedford – I think there’s going to be a strong push for Tedford. Despite some struggles this season, have you really looked at what Tedford has done? That Cal team won a total of 12 games the 5 seasons prior to Tedford. In ‘99 and 2001 the won 0 and 1 game, respectively. They hadn’t had a winning season since ‘93, andin the 8 seasons in between they won a total of 25 games, or about 4/year.  Comparable to Baylor? Absolutely. Maybe worse, because you could go back much further and outside a couple of decent seasons, you’d have to get back to the late 40’s/early 50’s Pappy Waldorf era to see any sustained success.  Just bad.  So despite some struggles this year, you snap this guy up immediately if you can.

4. Rich Rodriguez – I’ll put him on the list for some of you, but he’ll be the coach at WVU next year.

5. Butch Davis – Along with Tedford, sounds like he’ll be the other “big name” A&M might push for. You can review my earlier post “The Butch Davis Wars,” for more information. If the situation is right, A&M could land him. Still, he has concerns about leaving UNC so quickly.

6. Charlie Strong – an interesting choice, but probably one that’s down the list a little ways.

7. Art Briles – no real interest on A&M’s end. Will be a top candidate for Texas Tech if Mike Leach leaves.

8. Brian Kelly – it doesn’t sound like the interest in him has really ramped up. However, if some top guys fall through, I think Kelly is one of the first to take over the top candidate position.

Some surprise names that you might hear, but won’t likely get the job:

Frank Solich – has used his prior relationship with Byrne to express interest. I get the feeling Bill Byrne isn’t interested in hiring a coach who a Big 12 team has fired, whether Byrne thinks it was justified or not. Although, I do think Byrne would enjoy beating Nebraska with Solich as A&M’s coach.

Craig Bohl – you always have to be aware of Bill Byrne’s prior connections when he’s making a hire, though I think sometimes too much is made of that. But Bohl has put together some nice squads at NDSU. Still, I think Byrne realizes that if you’re going to hire someone with no Texas ties at all, it needs to be someone who can initially recruit off their name alone (like Tedford).