Looking back at the other football coaching candidates

Remmber when Rich Brooks was hired? It was Dec. 29, 2004. Guy Morris resigned on Dec. 9.

That’s a long time for a coaching search to wrap up. The reason? Athletic director Mitch Barnhart was turned down by just about every football coach on the North American continent before finally hiring Brooks, an old friend from Oregon.

After such a muddled coaching search, Barnhart came under a lot of fire. When so many coaches publicly announce they don’t want to take the job at your school, it looks bad. But now, looking back, did Barnhart luck out? Would any of those coaches have done a better job than Brooks?

I looked through some old Associated Press stories and tried to find all the names I could who were tied to the UK job. Then, I tracked them down since then. Here’s what I got.

Norm Chow: Considered to be a top candidate, and by most accounts, he was offered the job. He was the architect of USC’s high-flying offense and coached players like Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart, and Reggie Bush in his time with the Trojans. He turned UK down on Dec. 28 and eventually became offensive coordinator for the Tennessee Titans, which didn’t work out so well. He coached there from 2005-07, after which he was fired. He’s now the offensive coordinator at UCLA, and finding it’s considerably harder to win without a Heisman Trophy candidate in your back pocket.

Bill Parcells: Barnhart courted the football legend for over a week, but he couldn’t beat out Jerry Jones for The Big Tuna. Parcells retired from coaching after the 2007 season, and works in the front office for the Miami Dolphins now. Before you think about how great Parcells might have been as UK coach, consider that he only spent one year as a college head coach (1978 at the Air Force Academy), and much of his success in the NFL was built on his ability to evaluate talent. Maybe that would have translated to college, but evaluating 17-year-olds is a lot different than scouting NFLers.

David Cutcliffe: He was fired as Ole Miss head coach after the 2004 season, and was best known for coaching Eli Manning there. 2004 was his only losing season at Ole Miss and he was considered a bright offensive mind, but he has struggled since leaving the Rebels. He posted 4 and 5 wins, respectively, in 2008 and 2009 as Duke head coach. Interestingly, his stop between Ole Miss and Duke (Tennessee) was so successful that he forced Vol Randy Sanders out, and he eventually landed at UK. Cutcliffe was offered and turned the job down on Dec. 21.

Mike Kruczek: Who? He posted a 36-30 record at Central Florida from 1998-2003. He turned the Cats down on Dec. 23. He’s now an offensive coordinator on a USFL team, and the year after he left UCF, the team went winless.

Jim Donnan: Former Georgia head coach who went 40-19 coaching the Bulldogs from 1996-2000. He was canned in Athens because he couldn’t get past 8 wins in a season, clashed with the university president and had trouble beating Georgia Tech. He turned Barnhart down on 23. When he was fired, Mark Richt took over. Richt is now the longest-tenured active coach in the SEC, and Brooks is third (Vanderbilt’s Bobby Johnson is second). Donnan has been an ESPN analyst since his time with the Bulldogs ended.

Doug Williams: Williams, now in the personnel department for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, is most famous for being the first African American quarterback to win the Super Bowl. At the time, he had just led Grambling State to its third straight conference title and an 11-2 record (Grambling was also his alma mater). Williams wanted to coach at UK and was disappointed he wasn’t offered the job before Brooks. If he had been hired, he would have been the first ever African American coach in the SEC. As it is, Joker Phillips will likely become the second African American coach in the league.

I found a few other names after poking around for a little bit (QB guru Jeff Tedford and current Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez were also names I saw), but these guys were the most likely candidates, it appears. Do you remember anyone else? Would any of these guys have done a better job than Brooks, who was probably the fifth or sixth choice for Barnhart?

Also, just to be fair, Guy Morris is now the offensive line coach at Kentucky State. He interviewed to become head coach at Boyle County High School before taking that job. UK’s linebackers coach, Chuck Smith, won 5 state titles at Boyle before ending up at UK.

Funny how the world works, isn’t it?