12-08-2006, 03:13 PM
Although it's unconfirmed. Three of the four finalists are confirmed by this article out of Cookeville:
Buddy Pearson Wrote:COOKEVILLE -- The process of hiring the next head football coach at Tennessee Tech appears to be coming to a close. TTU athletics director Mark Wilson and the hiring committee went through the interviewing process on Thursday in Nashville.
"We narrowed our pool of applicants down to four finalists that we have visited with," Wilson told the Herald-Citizen this morning. "We are making a decision from there. We look forward to sharing this announcement with the fans once everything is negotiated and approved."
Wilson would not comment on who the four finalists are and who the leading candidate is.
"We have been very pleased with the interest in the head football coaching position. The interest certainly shows the quality of the institution and the program that we have and where people think our program can go," Wilson stated. "This is an exciting time for Tennessee Tech and our program. We look forward to making an announcement as to who our football coach will be in the very near future."
One potential candidate is UAB head coach Watson Brown. Wilson would not confirm or deny that Brown is a finalist for the job. Brown was out of the office on Thursday and was unable to be reached by phone this morning.
The Birmingham News has repeatedly reported that Brown will be fired as the Blazers head coach after a 3-9 season and that the Cookeville native is a candidate at Tennessee Tech. Brown told the Herald-Citizen earlier this week that he had spoken informally with Wilson about the position.
A former Cookeville High standout, Brown has been a head coach at Austin Peay, Cincinnati, Rice and Vanderbilt before spending the last 12 years at UAB.
Doug Malone, who spent the 2006 season as the Golden Eagles' acting head coach, is one of the four finalists. Malone said he was interviewed on Thursday but that he did not know who the other finalists were. Malone helped guide TTU to a 4-7 overall record, including a 4-4 mark in the Ohio Valley Conference, after taking over for Mike Hennigan prior to the start of the 2006 season.
The Herald-Citizen has learned from a source close to the program that former University of Tennessee quarterback Daryl Dickey is also a finalist. Dickey, who played quarterback at Tennessee, just wrapped up his fifth season as the quarterbacks coach at Florida State.
The 44-year-old Dickey ventured to FSU after spending four seasons as the head coach of Presbyterian College in South Carolina. As the mentor of the Blue Hose, Dickey compiled a 28-15 overall record while competing in the South Atlantic Conference.
A UT graduate, Dickey quarterbacked the Vols to a 9-1-2 finish during his senior season in the fall of 1985. He led the Southeastern Conference in passing efficiency that year and the Vols were unbeaten in the seven games that he started. He was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1986 Sugar Bowl when he led the Vols to a 35-7 win over Miami.
Another former University of Tennessee quarterback is a finalist for the TTU job. Former UT offensive coordinator Randy Sanders, who is currently the quarterbacks coach at the University of Kentucky, officially applied for Tech's head coaching position.