Rumors are starting to fly around fast and furious tonight. The first one is that Notre Dame Offensive Coordinator Michael Haywood is in town for the day interviewing for the head coaching job. This rumor originated in South Bend and has some serious legs because of Haywood's friendship with Emmert and Woodward from his days at LSU.
Haywood was not at practice today in South Bend. He was also relieved of his play calling duties after the shut out loss to Boston College. I think you can count on this one being true. No matter who the coach is Haywood could end up being part of the new staff. He has a pretty impressive resume. He has shown interest in Washington in the past. Here is Haywood's bio.
We are still hearing a lot of things about Jim Mora so that isn't officially dead yet. I have two pretty good sources on this one that completely contradict each other. So that is unusual in itself. without going into to details which I have been asked not to post yet one says he is still thinking of coming and the other says he isn't. I think in the end the only people who truly know what is going on are Emmert and Woodward.
There is also a rumor floating around that they have interviewed an SEC coach for the position. Not sure exactly who that is but Les Miles of LSU interviewed the last time the job was open. Tommy Tuberville is in hot water at Auburn and he may be looking for a soft landing somewhere else.
One thing is for sure and that is Washington is looking to make a big splash with this hire and Jim Mora is there number one target. If they fail to land Mora chances are they are also looking at some other big names that will surface in coming weeks. I think Haywood would be pretty far down the list because hiring an assistant from Notre Dame isn't exactly making a big splash.
Update
This is an interesting story from The Kitsap Sun and it seems to be the same story one of my sources is telling me. Since it is now public here goes.
This morning I logged on to my computer, checked my e-mail and there was a simple message from a friend: "Jim Mora Jr. will be the next head coach at UW."
I have another source who is probably a lot more accurate who chips in with this.
I can honestly tell you that he says this is very unlikely and can virtually guarantee it is a rumor. He said that there are a lot of wild ones out there right now, and he also said he knows they are talking to a lot of people. But the whole thing is so tight-lipped that his words were that "the only two people who know who the next coach really is are Emmert and Woodward, and anything else you hear until it is announced has to be taken with a boulder of salt."
From my own personal experience I have seen a number of UW coaching searches over the years and only once have they landed their top target and that was Rick Neuheisel. Let's hope that if it is a surprise they get the due dilligence done ahead of time.