MSU football: Coach search narrows to 11 candidates

By TIM DUMAS Chronicle Sports Writer

Montana State athletic director Peter Fields said Tuesday that the search for a new head football coach has been narrowed to 11 candidates.

Peter Fields Initially, 70 applied for the position, although not all were granted interviews.

The search committee will continue conducting phone interviews through Thursday, Fields said.

When that phase is completed, three to five finalists will be brought to MSU for another round of talks.

“We're still on track for doing some on-campus interviewing next week,” Fields said.

From there, the finalists will be introduced to the public in a forum format.

Fields said the phone interviews are lasting anywhere from 45 minutes to an hour and candidates continue to emerge.

“We're still getting a few trickling in and we're evaluating them as they come in,” he said.

Interim head coach Don Bailey said Tuesday he had not been contacted for an interview.

“I haven't heard anything yet,” Bailey said, adding that MSU's assistant coaches continue to recruit for the future. “We're still taking care of business.”

The position became available May 18 when seven-year coach Mike Kramer was fired after another of his former players was arrested on drug charges. Kramer posted a 40-43 record in his second stint at MSU.

From 1983-86, Kramer served as an assistant under Dave Arnold before the entire staff was let go after a 3-8 season.

Carroll College head coach Mike Van Diest acknowledged last week that he is interested in the job, which is expected to be fill by mid-June.

Until then, the search continues.

“We have great candidates that we're excited about,” Fields said, “and the search committee is doing a wonderful job of moving forward and committing time and energy to this.”

Reader Comments