The search for Minnesota’s next football coach is soon coming to an end, according to a source close to the team.
“Standby for this weekend or early next week,” the source said via text message.
Zach Johnson of Rivals.com also tweeted, “If sources are correct Minnesota should release name of their new coach within 30 hours. Sounds like press conference will wait til Monday.” The tweet came around 1:30 p.m. today.
The lengthy search process has lasted since Oct. 17 after Tim Brewster was fired.
Earlier reports had the administration saying to expect a decision by the December holidays (Hanukkah is in full swing), but athletics director Joel Maturi was hoping to find someone sooner instead of later. The NCAA recruiting period that allows face-to-face recruiting began last Sunday, so the Gophers are already lagging behind.
Names still topping the list of speculation include Brady Hoke (San Diego State), Randy Edsall (Connecticutt), Ken Niumatalolo (Navy), Kevin Sumlin (Houston) and Randy Shannon (fired by Miami last week).
Navy and San Diego State will actually play each other in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 23, but both teams are idle this week. UConn plays South Florida tonight with a chance to win the Big East title. Houston’s season is already over, and the Cougars will not play in a bowl for the first time in Sumlin’s three seasons.
Check back at mndaily.com regularly for updates related to the Minnesota coaching search.
