Article regarding the Boosters opinion....

[2004USFChic]

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/11/110500/sp-boosters-keeping-a-close-watch/

TAMPA - USF Bull Club member Richard Lane recalls discussing the tiny details long before the first game was played, such as what color helmets the team should wear.

"I can truly say I helped start the football program at USF," Lane said Sunday.

That's why the past few days have seemed surreal for Lane as University of South Florida athletic director Doug Woolard opened a national search to find a replacement for Jim Leavitt, who until he was fired Friday, was the only head coach in the program's 13-year history. The job is attracting significant attention in coaching circles as hundreds of head coaches and assistants began to assemble Sunday in Orlando for the American Football Coaches Association annual convention.

Former Tennessee coach Phil Fulmer and former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden have been mentioned as possible candidates and several current head coaches - East Carolina's Skip Holtz, Southern Mississippi's Larry Fedora and Houston's Kevin Sumlin - are highly regarded and are expected to draw interest.

All the talk about USF being viewed as a plum opportunity has Lane excited about the program's future.

"I can remember people telling me that I better stop pushing football," said Lane, a member of the Bull Club since 1981 when a football program was just a distant dream. "It's actually so cool to be able to talk about our program being in this position. It's going to be interesting to see if we get a top-notch guy, or settle for a second-level guy. That is going to set an image for us."

Prior to Friday's news conference announcing Leavitt's dismissal, Woolard spoke briefly to approximately 25 Bull Club board members about the decision and plans to start the search for the Bulls' next coach.

USF has hired NCAA search specialist Chuck Neinas to help in the search, but ultimately, the final call will be Woolard's as he leads USF's three-person search committee that also includes executive associate athletic director Bill McGillis and former USF athletic director Lee Roy Selmon.

Unlike when Leavitt was hired, the USF position is now considered a prime job in coaching circles. The Bulls are in a BCS conference, they play home games in an NFL stadium, recruit mostly in Florida, and if that's not enough, you get to live in the Sunshine State year-round. Oh, and USF now has the money to pay a head coach in the $1.5 million to $2 million range per year.

While Woolard is sharing few details about the search - not even with some of the school's most prominent boosters - those boosters are paying closer attention than ever to off-the-field developments.

"It's one of the best jobs out there," said Brian Keenan, another Bull Club board member and president of Tampa's Fifth Third Bank. "This is just a bump in the road. It was a tough way for Coach Leavitt to go out, but I think the school did a great job with the investigation."

Woolard is expected in Orlando this week to talk to potential candidates. Woolard, unavailable for comment Sunday, said Saturday that USF will conduct the search "as quickly as possible and as thorough as necessary," refusing to put a number on how many interviews he expects to hold.

A pair of NFL assistants, Bucs special teams coach Rich Bisaccia and Titans quarterbacks coach Calvin Johnson, have expressed interest. Former Bucs linebacker Derrick Brooks campaigned for Bisaccia on Sunday on his Twitter feed. Doug Williams, a teammate of Selmon's with the Bucs, is another local candidate mentioned.

Former USF assistant and current University of Michigan offensive coordinator Calvin Magee hopes to get an interview. Other top assistants considered ready for a head coaching job include Alabama defensive coordinator Kirby Smart, who received an offer to join Georgia's staff Sunday; and Texas defensive coordinator Will Muschamp, coach-in-waiting at Texas behind Mack Brown. USF interim coach Carl Franks and offensive coordinator Mike Canales are in the mix.

Former Florida State coach Bobby Bowden said Sunday that USF should have no problem finding a quality coach, and that whoever gets the job, is set up to succeed considering the foundation Leavitt built.

"I think (the job) has tremendous possibilities, I really do," said Bowden, who lost to USF in his final season at FSU. "I would think that if their administration is willing to do what it takes, they are definitely in a position to succeed.

"(Leavitt) practically built that program on Florida boys. It just goes to show you the potential a program in the state of Florida has."

Lane and other boosters prefer experience over youth, a proven recruiter and a long-term commitment like Leavitt provided to start the program.

"What I don't want is somebody who is going to come here inexperienced, or someone who is going to come in here and look at this as a steppingstone," Lane said. "This is going to be (Woolard's) job measurement as far as boosters are concerned. He is going to earn his pay.

"If he picks the right guy, we can be a great team. If Woolard picks the wrong guy, boy, is there going to be some disappointment."

[2004USFChic]

I like how this article says that USF is capable of paying 1.5 to 2 million per year to the next HC. THat is more than I think some of us expected. The article also talks about how someone hired who is inexperienced and using the job as a "stepping stone" could be a huge dissappointed - it basically re-states a lot of what has already been said by many members of this board.