The coaching search continued over the Thanksgiving holiday and we know a few more things then we did a couple of days ago. What we do know is who won't be the next head coach of the Huskies.
Gary Patterson reportedly told Scott Woodward he wasn't interested in leaving TCU. He thought UW wasn't the right fit for him. Todd Graham from Tulsa also was rumored to have turned down the opportunity to interview. Rumors also were floating around that Jeff Tedford turned down the opportunity to interview. We haven't heard anything about Texas Tech's Mike Leach either which means he probably isn't in it.
On the positive side Dennis Franchione said he was interested but UW was not interested in him. Same thing with Phil Fulmer who was recently fired from Tennessee. Fulmer called it one of the elite jobs in all of college football. Looks like Phil isn't interested in retirement. Lane Kiffin is rumored to be very high on the list to replace him as head coach of the Volunteers which makes little sense to me.
What that leaves us with today is Jim Mora, Chris Petersen, Kyle Whittingham, Pat Hill, and possibly Brian Kelly still on the "A" list. Hill and Kelly have the Saban seal of approval. Petersen is also high on the list but most think his eyes are on the Oregon job one of these days and not Washington. Kelly is still in the mix at Tennessee if rumors about Lane Kiffin turn out to be false. I personally think Kelly would be a great hire.
I think most people can get behind a Whittingham, Petersen or Kelly but a persistent rumor going on over the holiday is that Pat Hill is the only one left who has interest if Mora does not take the job.
Hill hasn't had a great season at Fresno St and his team has been playing second fiddle to Boise State for most of the decade. While Hill is a solid coach he won't ignite Husky fever and he may ignite quite a few longtime season ticket cancellations if he is named head man. UW needs to make a splash with this hire and Hill isn't it.
The job is still Jim Mora's if he wants it. In a perfect world he is the first and last choice. Nobody out there can unite the Husky nation like he can. It looks like that decision will be made over the weekend so stay tuned because whoever the new coach is likely to be named no later than December 6th.