The Bobcat Nation

Reports are the UW is firing Gilbertson this afternoon.

Start the speculation on the next UW head coach.

U of W has just put out a press release dening that Gilbertson has been fired.

Stayed tune!!

How about Steve Spurrier?

Or a certain former UW assistant, who is now a head coach with a winning record in the Big Sky?

Actually, my top two predictions for UW head coach are Dan Hawkins (Boise State) and Bobby Petrino (Louisville)

Hawkins would be a logical choice, but I am not so sure they could lure him away from Boise right now. He is making a pretty decent chunk of change in Boise, and they would have to basically triple his salary to make it a net raise in pay. Boise is a great place to live, and while I love visiting Seattle, I wouldn't want to live there. When I was in Boise this summer on clinicals, Hawkins was on the radio for my drive home almost every day, and I think he really likes it there. He came in with big goals, and I don't think he has accomplished everything there yet. I'm not saying they couldn't entice him away, but it may be more difficult than it appears to the outside observer.

What about Urban Meyer at Utah??

Anybody want to bet it's not Neuheisel??

Anybody want to bet it's not Hauck??

Ow!! Ok I admit that cheap, slimy .., but oh how good it felt!

I'm actually in Seattle right now, and I just finished listening to the press conference on the radio.

The sports talk radio guys seem to think the top candidates are the coaches from Boise State (Hawkins?), Utah (Meyer), Fresno State (?), and Cal (?). The other names that were mentioned were Mike Price (how funny would that be?), Steve Spurrior, and Helena's own Bobby Petrino.

I think that this coaching change will have an impact on the BSC as EWU, UM and MSU all recruit heavily in the state of Washington, and may be on the minds of kids looking to transfer.

I'm not sure if I've ever believed in firing a coach during the season. How does this effect the players' routine for gametime? Or since UW has a losing record does the actual routine and attitude from the players matter anyway? I hope Urban Meyer does not leave the Utes. He has taken that program to new heights. If I had to think of someone right now that could take over for Washington, it's Hawkinson from Boise State. He has also taken the Broncos to new heights, much to the delight of I-AA, who hasn't produced many good I-A teams lately.

I believe Gilbertson resigned.

Bozone: Hawkins would be getting a seven figure inducement to come to Seattle. Therefore, he wouldn't be living in the same Seattle most of us live in. No disrespect to Boise, I've lived there and loved it, but in terms of college football it's still a stepping stone to the big time.
Everyone is being "mentioned". Erickson is being "mentioned", Smith from Michigan State is being "mentioned", Spurrier has been "mentioned". Since Neuheisel was basically exonarated of any and all misguided activities by the NCAA, the school will probably need to check with him before hiring anyone because he is going to own the athletic department.
My understanding of Gilby "resigning" now is (1) he was told he's toast anyway (2) he made statements regarding position commitments for the balance of the season that are proving short sighted. He is now free to "relax" and try whatever he wants. (3) it gets UW in the hunt early for a replacement.

Speaking of Dan Hawkings of BSU, I just found out that his daughter is a freshman at MSU this fall.

As a UW alum (also an MSU alum), I've been following that pretty closely.

Meyer is a good choice but I believe he will be heading to Florida as their university president Bernie Machen (sp?) brought Meyer aboard at Utah before he left. Spurrier won't come to a climate like Seattle's. He's made it clear he wants a warm, balmier area where he can golf year round. Pat Hill of Fresno State has pretty much been ruled out. Dan Hawkins is another possibility but when you enter a BCS conference, you need a defense to go along with the potent offenses that Hawkins has produced. They kept their win streak alive today in another shootout with SJ State today. My personal choice is Tedford from Cal. If Cal doesn't own up to their promise to completely revamp and completely renovate their sports facility, then he's gone. If that's the case, UW will have a great chance at him. However, with the mess that UW's program is currently experiencing, it will be tough to pull him away, but I will wish for that. Other possibilities would be Petrino and as a Montana native, I think that would be a pretty good choice. However, despite amassing potent offenses at Louisville, defenses are still suspect there too.

Gilbertson did resign but Emmert would have gotten rid of him had he not chosen to resign.

My only hope with them is that Emmert can find another diamond in the rough a la Nick Saban and everything can get back to where it once was at Montlake.