December 27, 2004
By Glenn Guilbeau
Gannett News Service
BATON ROUGE — Two or three interviews of potential new LSU football coaches are planned for this week with athletic director Skip Bertman, according to Stewart Slack, chairman of the LSU board of supervisors.
"Skip Bertman wanted to be prepared in the event that Nick (Saban) made the decision to go to Miami, and so in the last three or four days he's lined up some things," Slack said Sunday night.
LSU officials are not yet revealing any names of interviewees, but among the possible candidates are former Cleveland Browns coach Butch Davis, Bobby Petrino of Louisville, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, California's Jeff Tedford, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech's Mike Leach, Boise State's Dan Hawkins, Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Nolan, Philadelphia Eagles offensive coordinator Brad Childress and LSU offensive coordinator Jimbo Fisher.
"I think the fans would be surprised at how much work has been done already," said Bertman, who described his working list as "long" and with "huge" names.
Saban announced he was leaving LSU on Saturday to coach the Miami Dolphins of the NFL. LSU began preliminary work for his possible departure days after his first interview with the Dolphins on Dec. 14 and has hired a search firm to assist them. Bertman has also talked to Saban and Saban's agent, Jimmy Sexton, about potential candidates.
Saban, the No. 1 paid college coach in the country, had six years remaining on an $18 million, seven-year contract.
"I have to tell you, I think it's the No. 1 coaching job in college football," Slack said. "I think most other people would certainly put it in the top five. And I give Nick a ton of credit for that. Here's a guy that made this one of the most desirable positions in college football."
Bertman said he'd prefer to have a coach hired by Jan. 2, and at the latest by Jan. 12, which is about three weeks before the Feb. 6 national signing day.
"Obviously, the sooner the better," Slack said. "I personally don't want to go so long that it hurts recruiting."
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