Search Committee Members Revealed

David Glenn must have one hell of a source. In his most recent WRAL blog post, he reported the six members of Duke's search committee—names that Duke AD Joe Alleva has repeatedly refused to divulge. The six are:

1) Univ. Trustee Roy Bostock

2) Athletics council chairman and Pol. Sci. Professor Michael Gillespie

3) Athletic Advisory Board Chair Leo Hart

4) Univ. Trustee C.G. Newsome

5) Psychology Professor Martha Putallaz

6) Univ. Exec. VP Tallman Trask

As the Chronicle reported last week, Trask accompanied Alleva and President Richard Brodhead to the Washington area to visit with Navy HC Paul Johnson, so his presence as a member of the search committee makes sense. Bostock, Hart and Newsome are all former football players, and Newsome is the lone African-American in the group.

Glenn's report also cites sources saying that there is significant internal argument about whether Rick Neuheisel should be included as a candidate, based in large part on his checkered compliance record.

Neuheisel a Possibility?

One name that came up in Georgia Tech's search was that of former Washington and Colorado HC Rick Neuheisel, and our friends over at The Blue Zone are suggesting that he might be a good fit for Duke, and that the University has contacted him on an informal basis already.

I don't know quite what to think about Neuheisel...he's a proven winner at the college level and a current NFL OC with the Baltimore Ravens (although under Brian Billick, I'm not sure he gets the opportunity to make too many decisions). Still, he's got plenty of red flags in terms of past NCAA rules violations, including his decision to participate in an NCAA Tournament betting pool that in part led to his 2003 dismissal from UW. Whether that particular infraction merited his firing is debatable, but the history could scare away Duke.

But in sum, the guy is a proven name who has a Pac-10 title to his name and an overall 61-35 record (which improves to 66-30 if you count the 5 wins his 1997 CU team won before being forced to forfeit all of their games due to an ineligible player). He has to merit significant consideration, and he might be the best available candidate if he is truly interested.

Dorrell Interview Today

Don't expect Vanderbilt HC Bobby Johnson to walk out of Cameron today with a contract offer...this report says that former UCLA HC Karl Dorrell is expected to interview with Duke AD Joe Alleva sometimes early this week.

UPDATE (7:30 pm): Sure enough, this report says that Dorrell was spotted on campus today. Apparently he was spotted in a convertible just outside of Cameron.

More Thoughts on Bobby

With Vandy HC Bobby Johnson interviewing in Joe Alleva's office today, I've given some thought to how good of a hire Johnson would be, and I'm skeptical about such a move for a few reasons.

To be honest, I'm not sure that Bobby Johnson is a significantly better coach than Ted Roof. I don't know if he has an offensive track record or not or what specifically he brings to the table, but I feel that if you're going to fire an incumbent coach (and one that had the fervent support of many of his players), you've got to bring in someone who either is a better coach, or who will bring about a sea change in terms of a program's culture.

I'm not sold that Johnson is that much of a better coach than Roof, even if he is coaching in the strongest conference in the nation. I just don't think you can pass off the hiring of a coach with a 20-50 record as an improvement to fans.

In the attitude area, It had become pretty clear to me by the end of the season that Duke football more or less had developed a losing culture. Wins weren't expected, and I could tell that both what I saw on the field on Saturdays and from what I heard from players after games and at the mid-week press conferences. I'm not alleging that players quit or gave up on the season, and Roof and his coaches certainly didn't, but it became pretty clear that his approach was taking the team nowhere.

That said, I've been a strong proponent of bringing in a coach that will bring an attitude shock to the program. I think the best example, and most relevant considering the circumstances of Duke as an academic institution, is Stanford's hiring of Jim Harbaugh. Before his team even strapped up their helmets for practice, Harbaugh made headlines calling out USC and Pete Carroll at the Pac-10 Media Day, and of course he backed up his rhetoric on the field when the Cardinal knocked off the Trojans 24-23 this season.

For a Duke football program that has been more or less a running national joke for the past decade, the swagger that a fresh attitude change would provide is, in my mind, imperative in a new hire . Honestly, I don't think the saintly, cursing-averse Johnson would provide enough of an attitude shift to merit his hiring.

Just my two cents. Feel free to comment/respond.

Duke Pursuing Johnson...the other one

According to this report in the Tom Dienhart's blog on the Sporting News website, Duke will interview current Vanderbilt HC Bobby Johnson on Monday. Johnson's name came up much earlier in the search process, but I hadn't heard a peep about him as a candidate until now.

A hire of Bobby Johnson would be an interesting move on both ends. Duke would be getting more or less what they want—a HC that's shown that he can be at least competitive in the nation's toughest conference, and in spite of similar academic recruiting restrictions.

However, I find the move to be less clear cut from Johnson's end. A jump to Duke would be a lateral move at best, and potentially a downward move leaving the SEC and leaving a program that has been on the cusp of bowl eligibility in that conference over the past few years. That said, Duke has a dedication to athletics that exceeds Vanderbilt's (remember, they don't even have a formal athletic department), and we probably could offer more money than Vanderbilt is paying him right now (the actual number is undisclosed, but its probably at or slightly above $1mil).

UPDATE (9:25 am): Some morning reads on Johnson in the Herald-Sun and News & Observer. Also, here is one from a Vandy perspective in the Nashville Tennessean.

Sunday Afternoon Update

Sorry for the long delay between posts, but here is the latest that I've heard and read:

1) A comment on this blog mentioned that former Southern Miss HC Jeff Bower is a lock to become the next coach and that an announcement is forthcoming. Although I've heard nothing of the sort that a deal has been reached, I have heard that Bower would be interested in the position if Duke contacted him.

I think that Bower would be a good hire. He's offensively-minded, won 119 games (with only 2 losing seasons) in 17 years at Southern Miss, and his teams were often in the top 10 of D-I graduation rates. He'd be a nice fit.

2) Air Force HC Troy Calhoun is out as an option for the job, according to the Herald-Sun. I was skeptical about Calhoun's interest in the job when I first heard his name, as he's already in a "destination" job at his alma mater.

3) This report in the N&O has updates on Terry Bowden and David Cutcliffe. Despite plenty of speculation about his candidacy for the job, Cutcliffe apparently hasn't been contacted by Duke. Bowden, meanwhile, says that he is "intrigued by the job," but that he hasn't been contacted yet by Duke.

This report from CSTV.com, however, says that Duke has contacted Cutcliffe. Don't quite know who to believe on this one, but I don't think that Cutcliffe is on the front burner for the Blue Devils right now.

4) I got a tip from a reader that said a Richmond TV station has reported that Duke has contacted Spiders HC Dave Clawson to inquire about his interest in the job. Clawson reportedly had no comment. Remember, Clawson's team shut the Blue Devils out in the 2006 season opener in Durham.

Moving on...Karl Dorrell

Now that the loss of Paul Johnson has sunk in a bit, here is some new news and a new name—former UCLA HC Karl Dorrell is now one of Duke's top targets.

This report is in line with what I've been hearing about Duke's next plans, and despite a rocky tenure at UCLA that saw only one great (10-2 last season) season and three mediocre ones, Dorrell by all accounts is a good coach. He has an NFL track record, and is an offensive-minded guy. Again, he has the experience—he just had the misfortune of coaching cross-town from Pete Carroll and USC.

The article also does say that Dorrell may want to get back into the NFL. He's a decendant of the Mike Shanahan coaching tree, so the Broncos or the Texans (with former Broncos OC Gary Kubiak as HC) are his most likely destinations there. Keep in mind that the Texans have just lost their OC (Mike Sherman to Texas A&M), so there may be an opening there for Dorrell.

AJC Report: Johnson to GTech

The Atlanta Journal Constitution is reporting that Johnson has agreed in principle to accept the Yellow Jackets' offer and become their head coach.

The Annapolis Capital just confirmed this report and added that Johnson met with his players this morning to inform them of the decision.


Although Johnson would have been a great fit here at Duke and almost certainly would have brought us some wins immediately, his decision to pass on the Blue Devils is not the end of the world. I did feel that the transition to a triple-option attack might pose some problems in Year One.

For example, if Johnson were to come here, what would come of QB Thad Lewis, who took great strides as a passer this year? Could he run the option, and would the offense utilize his skilled arm or neglect it? Or what about WR Eron Riley, who potentially has NFL-caliber talent as a deep threat? I had heard rumblings that they would move him to RB. So although Johnson probably would find success wherever he coaches, the transition here might have had some hiccups due to personnel incompatibilities with his system.

But looking ahead, I've been assured by sources that Duke will quickly begin considering the next tier of candidates if Johnson didn't accept. Other than Rod Broadway, who is in that tier remains to be seen, but expect a few more interviews over the coming days.

Jackets have other options?

This report from Dennis Dodd at CBSSportsline says that Georgia Tech is also looking at former Auburn HC and current radio broadcaster Terry Bowden for their opening, and had a "great meeting" with them. The timing of Bowden and GT's discussion isint indicated, but this GT fanblog says that he was spotted on campus Tuesday.

Again, this only adds intrigue to the situation, as much of the reports out of Atlanta seemed show a "Paul Johnson or Bust" mentality on the part of Georgia Tech. A decision from Johnson is still expected sometime today.

Duke's Still Alive...

I admit that earlier today I had my doubts about Duke's chances with all of the other options on Paul Johnson's plate. But after speaking to a source this afternoon that said Duke was still very much in the hunt, I started to get my hopes up. And after reading Bill Wagner's most recent blog post, I'm very hopeful that Duke will have a legitimate chance to make the hire.

Wagner even admits to writing Duke off more or less by not mentioning them in some of his previous reports, but he makes some great points—including that the cost of living in the triangle is much lower than in either Dallas or Atlanta, that Johnson could bring his assistants to Duke, and that he has family ties to the area.

The next 24 hours will be very, very interesting...

Afternoon Paul Johnson Report

Bill Wagner in Annapolis has another update—Johnson now has 4 options to choose from. He can choose from standing offers at Georgia Tech, Duke and SMU or he can stay at Navy. From the implications of Wagner's posts, it seems as if Georgia Tech is reluctant to pay big bucks for Johnson. We know that SMU AD Steve Orsini has collected $10mil from big boosters to pay for a new coach, so their offer is expected to be at least $2mil per year.

Wagner is saying that Georgia Tech will probably expect a decision no later than Friday, meaning there should be movement by the end of the week. Looking at the situation in this framework, it seems that Duke stands right in the middle both in respects to the attractiveness of their job (with GT's being more attractive and SMU's situation less) and in terms of compensation (with SMU seeming to offer the biggest pot of gold and GT hesitant to pay much as they're still on the hook for $4mil of Gailey's salary).

Again, the chatter isn't positive for Duke fans at this point, but a quick decision will benefit all parties, whether that means we'll have an introductory presser in Cameron tomorrow or we'll be able to move on to Plan B. Keep your fingers crossed and keep checking back, because I'll post whatever comes across the wire as soon as it comes up.

Grobe Staying at Wake

Apparently, the reports of Grobe's departure in Arkansas papers were premature, as Wake AD Ron Wellman says that his head football coach is staying.

Again, this is great news for Duke fans, as we'll have less competition for Paul Johnson and other overlapping candidates that Wake might have looked at to fill a vacancy.