Steve Kragthorpe, mentioned frequently as a candidate for the Carolina football job, told the Tulsa World today that he is not interested in the UNC position.
Kragthorpe, whose Tulsa teams have won 14 of their last 16 games, told the newspaper. “I think the job at North Carolina is a great job. Chapel Hill would be a great place to live, but I’m not interested in being the head coach at the University of North Carolina. I want to be the head coach at Tulsa.”
Now, while that would appear to rule Kragthorpe out, Rich Rodriguez, the head coach at undefeated West Virginia, is making no such statement. As a matter of fact, Rodriguez seems to be welcoming the attention.
On the Big East Conference teleconference today, three days before the undefeated third-ranked Mountaineers meet undefeated Louisville, Rodriguez discussed reports listing him as a possible replacement for John Bunting.
“Anytime any coaches on our staff or myself get mentioned for a job, It’s very flattering,” Rodriguez said. “ It’s not something that I’ve ever viewed as a distraction.”
The coach added, “I’ve always said (West Virginia) is a great place to coach. You take this job as if it’s the last job you’ll ever have, and I think I’ve always taken that approach and I’m taking it now.”
But he added, “I don’t think you ever say never to something, particularly right now.”
Rodriguez said those sort of decisions are not made during the middle of the season. “I’m focused on what we’re doing right now in our season,” he said. “After the season I’m sure I’ll sit down with our people here and discuss, with my family, if anything is interesting at that point.”
Rodriguez, the former offensive coordinator at Clemson, is a West Virginia native and alumnus. He’s 46-22 at West Virginia and in June received a three-year contract extension, at $ 1 million a year. The school is still raising funds to continue work on enhanced facilities for the football program, which has been a big issue for him.
Rodriguez could be using all this as leverage. Coaches, of course, have been known to do that, and it is unusual for a coach such as Rich Rodriguez to talk so openly about a vacant job, especially before his team’s biggest game. But he’s a highly successful coach who certainly appears not to have shut the door on the UNC job. At least publicly.
Today, Bob Holliday sat down with Carolina Athletic Director Dick Baddour to talk about the job. Baddour said that there is no timetable for hiring a new coach. Baddour says the most important part of this search is confidentiality because, at this time in a football season, that improves the chances of getting the candidate they want. In other words, he wants to keep the search quiet.
Now, the departure of Bunting and his entire staff could cost the University as much as $2 million dollars, but Baddour says that won’t be an issue in securing the next head coach. He says Carolina has the financial resources to pay the coach they want.
Baddour’s track record of hiring a football coach has not been good. Neither Carl Torbush nor John Bunting was successful, but Baddour says he’s learned a lot and is confident that Carolina will hire the right man.
We will soon see, won’t we?
