[Sly Fox]

Mills down at CSU isn't the only coach from the Big South applying for the job in Nacogdoches. None otherThe coach from our staff with the most recent Texas ties also has thrown his name into the hat:

Franchione, Bicknell apply for SFA job

By KEVIN GORE
The Daily Sentinel

Saturday, December 16, 2006

The search for a new SFA Lumberjack football coach could be expanding with the addition of more candidates.

Brad Franchione, whose Blinn Junior College team won the national junior college championship last week, has applied for the position.

Franchione, the son of Texas A&M head coach Dennis Franchione, is 19-3 in two seasons at Blinn, including 12-0 this season.

A former Western Athletic Conference coach also has applied.

Recently fired as head coach at Louisiana Tech, Jack Bicknell has an interest in SFA.

He was 43-52 in eight years at Louisiana Tech. He was the WAC coach of the year in 1999, when his team ranked first in the nation in passing offense and was ranked 25th in the Associated Press' poll.

Franchione and Bicknell are among 10 candidates who have applied since Dec. 9, bringing the total number of candidates to 28.

SFA is searching for former coach Robert McFarland's successor.

McFarland, 9-13 in two seasons, resigned from the head coach job Dec. 1 to accept the offensive coordinator's position at Iowa State.

He was hired at Iowa State by Gene Chizik, a former SFA assistant coach who has served at the Texas Longhorns' defensive coordinator the last two seasons and McFarland's good friend. Chizik was amed head coach at Iowa State on Nov. 27.

Lumberjack athletics director Robert Hill was out of the office Friday.

He said last week that he hoped to present three candidates to the board of regents and school president to be considered for the position, but that there was not a deadline for that process.

Another applicant is John Jenkins, a former Nacogdoches High School assistant who is currently the head coach for the Ottawa Renegades of the Canadian Football League.

Jenkins previously served as head coach at Houston University, where his best team was 10-1, ranked third in the nation and averaged 53.5 points and 639 yards per game.

Two former SFA assistant coaches have joined the mix — James Ferguson and Jay Brown.

Ferguson, who was on staff with the Lumberjacks in the late 1980s and early 1990s, is currently Sam Houston State's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.

Brown is the head coach at Texas College, an NAIA school in Tyler.

The other five candidates who applied since Dec. 9 are Zak Willis, head coach at Newberry College in South Carolina; Scott Wachenheim, offensive coordinator at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.; Bob Connelly, offensive line coach at Alabama; David Bennett, head coach at Coastal Carolina University in Conway, S.C., and Keith Austin, who holds two degrees from SFA and served on coaching staffs at Tenaha, Cushing and Huntington.

LIST OF CANDIDATES

J.C. Harper, SFA defensive coordinator: SFA's defense ranked second in SLC in scoring defense (21.1 points per game). Defense allowed just 28 touchdowns, second fewest in the league.

Kim Dameron, Louisiana-Monroe defensive coordinator: Former SFA coordinator. His defense ranked first in scoring defense in the Sun Belt this season.

Brad Franchione, Blinn JC head coach: 19-3 in two seasons. His 2006 team won the junior college national title.

Jack Bicknell, former Louisiana Tech head coach: Former WAC coach of the year (1999) recently ousted at Louisiana Tech.

David Bennett, Coastal Carolina University (S.C.) head coach: Team was 9-3 last season.

Jay Brown, head coach at Texas College: SFA graduate resurrected Texas College program from heap pile. Went 8-3 in his first season.

Gary DeLoach, UCLA assistant coach: SFA's defensive coordinator from 1983-1989.

Bob Connelly, offensive line coach at Alabama: Also served on staffs at Washington State and San Jose State.

James Ferguson, Sam Houston offensive coordinator: Ex-SFA assistant seeking return to Nacogdoches.

John Jenkins, Ottawa Renegades head coach: Small world. He once served on staff at Nac High.

Scott Wachenheim, Liberty University (Va.) offensive coordinator: Also served on staff at Rice.

Zak Willis, Newberry (S.C.) College head coach: Team was 11-2 in recently completed season.

Scott Maxfield, Henderson State head coach: Team was 8-3 last season.

Richard Cundiff, Texas A&M-Kingsville former head coach: Resigned at A&M-Kingsville after seven seasons.

Don Carthel, West Texas A&M head coach: Lone Star Conference champions the last two seasons.

Mike Hudson, Montana assistant coach: Served as defensive coordinator at Sam Houston and Texas State of Southland.

Darrell Dickey, North Texas University former head coach: Four-time Sun Belt Coach of the Year selection needs a job.

Randy Ball, former Missouri State head coach: 99-83 in 16 seasons. Four playoff stints.

Andy Hobbs, Tennessee Titans advance scout: Former head coach at Middle Tennessee State.

Bill Maskill, Midwestern State head coach: Team was 10-3 last season. Has served on staffs at Vanderbilt, SMU and Wake Forest.

Ramon Flanigan, former offensive coordinator at North Texas: Played QB at SMU.

Jay Mills, Charleston Southern University head coach: Team was 9-2 last season. Coached on staffs at Harvard, Notre Dame and Boise State.

Steven Smith, Rhein Fire offensive line coach: Fire is an NFL Europe team.

Rod Broadway, North Carolina Central head coach: 33-10 record.

George Small, former head coach at North Carolina A&T State University.

Christopher Banks, Maryland assistant volunteer coach.

Daryl Hobbs, currently out of coaching.

Keith Austin, former assistant coach at Tenaha, Cushing and Huntington: Holds two degrees from SFA. Shooting for the stars.

http://www.dailysentinel.com/sports/con ... URDAY.html

[PAmedic]

WOW

CDB (as they call him) considering leaving

gotta head over to the Chant board to see what the reaction to THAT ONE is

[WinthropEagleFan]

Wow..i think everybody in the US has applied for that job..that's a long list right there.

[PAmedic]

asked and answered.

general consensus is that he's merely doing it to leverage more $$$ outta CCU.

risky, IMHO, in that you sorta jolt potential recruits (not to mention current underclassmen) with the reality that you may not be there for the long haul.

[Libertine]

It's not always about the $ -- at least, the $ of the present anyway. Coaches, especially guys w/ head coaching or coordinator experience, often submit applications to schools that might interest them at some point regardless of their present employment. It's not necessarily a sign of trying to leave the job you're in but rather it's about making contacts that may be beneficial to you down the line even if you don't draw interest or really are interested right now.
The guys over at CoastalFans are likening CDB's application at SFA to Spurrier being pursued by Alabama and nothing could be further from the truth b/c their situations are/were completely different.

A guy (Bennett) who applies somewhere else and then tries to leverage it into more $ money at his present institution is risking losing both jobs entirely and will find himself less hireable to his next employer. I'm guessing that Bennett, Mills, Wach and everyone else on the butt end of that list are putting their name out there looking more toward the future than anything else. Spurrier, on the other hand, did not apply to Alabama (that we know of) but was being actively pursued. SC gave him a payraise to make sure he didn't go anywhere. Last I checked, SFA was not 'Bama and Coastal was not SC.

[Sly Fox]

For the record, Bennett & Mills have very slim hopes of even having their resumes scanned over. Wach would have a better shot considering his connections. But I think the guys in Nac are going to let Fran's kid ride his coattails into the position after his Juco title last week.

[bigsmooth]

the price of success. it is something that is going to happen. i hope we do NOT lose wach, but if he got the job, kudos to him.

[givemethemic]

Smoothie I got made love for you but that last sentence makes no sense!!!! I know it's tough to avoid conversion, there is always room on the bandwagon

[bigsmooth]

what the heck are you talking about??...it makes sense to me.

[PAmedic]

the price of success. it is something that is going to happen. i hope we do lose wach, but if he got the job, kudos to him.

DO lose, or DON'T lose Wach?

I believe that was the source of Mr. TheMic's confusion

[givemethemic]

yes that was the confusion.....

[bigsmooth]

look at the post fellas. it says DO NOT

[Libertine]

By the way, it's really unusual for a school to release to the media the entire list of applicants for the head coaching job. They generally like to play things a little more close to the vest. It makes me think that the SFA admin is trying to create some contract leverage with whatever coach becomes the final choice. Not really a classy thing to do.

[PAmedic]

yeah- wondered about that as well, LIB. Don't recall ever seeing that before. usually a lot of denials, then someone signs.

And SMOOTHIE- nice try.

[bigsmooth]

geez medic, i wish i knew what you were talking about???

[Sly Fox]

The SFA head coaching job is a state position. Under the Texas Open Records Act they have to provide the info.

I know he's a long shot, but I wish Coach Wach the best of luck. Obviously he did a terrific job for us this year. But that would be a nice step forward careerwise for him should it materialize.

[Libertine]

The SFA head coaching job is a state position. Under the Texas Open Records Act they have to provide the info.

Hmmm. I don't recall seeing any applicant lists for North Texas before they hired the high school coach earlier this month.

[Sly Fox]

All the Denton newspaper would've had to do was ask. Give credit to the Nac fishwrap for due diligence.