Pac-10 Notebook | Next Pac-10 commissioner faces challenges

Tom Hansen, the Pac-10 commissioner, just returned from a three-week European cruise, planned before he knew he'd still be the league's honcho until next June.

Imagine, in a pre-Internet era, the Commish getting back to Walnut Creek, Calif., still in vacation mode, calling an underling and inquiring about what's happened in his league the first few weeks:

"We're 0-5 against the Mountain West? ... Wait, you putting the losses first? ... Not against those chumps? ... Fifty-nine to what?

"We couldn't beat UNLV? Jeez, I must have a bad connection.

"Well, how we doing against Conference USA and the Sun Belt?"

No doubt, though, Hansen was getting the Pac-10's sorry story in dribs and drabs, perhaps consoling himself with this reminder: As of mid-2009, it's somebody else's problem.

The question: Whose problem?

The winning candidate is going to bubble up through this process. A Pac-10 subcommittee of four is due to name a search firm within a few weeks (you know, one of those head hunters that schools have been shelling out 75 grand for just to tell them, "Naw, there's nobody else out there you haven't already interviewed.").

A 10-member Pac-10 advisory committee will then team with the search firm to forward a couple of names to Stanford president John Hennessy, whose Pac-10 colleagues will then select Hansen's successor, probably early in 2009.

Early speculation has the fingerprints of former Stanford athletic director Ted Leland all over this job.

Leland presided over Cardinal athletics from 1991-2005, during which time Stanford established itself as the unquestioned best all-around program in the nation, winning 11 straight Director's Cup titles for across-the-board excellence.

Leland then went on to his alma mater, University of Pacific, to become vice president for university advancement.

He has Pac-10-wide respect as high as the presidential level. He worked for Hennessy and was commissioned by Oregon president Dave Frohnmayer to do a 2006 report on the state of the UO athletic department.

And of course, he was associated with Stanford, which seems to knock a lot of people's socks off.

Here's where it gets interesting — the date of June 30, 2009. That's not only the day Hansen leaves the Pac-10 office, but also the retirement date for Pacific president Don DeRosa.

The buzz around the Pac-10 is that Leland has coveted the Pacific presidency. And in fact, he may value both that and the commissioner's post. So it could boil down to which entity acts fastest.

Hansen's successor will face a familiar list of challenges — making the Pac-10 relevant when the pulse-beat of the nation is in the Eastern time zone, improving TV and bowl contracts and continuing Hansen's strong voice in BCS matters.

Bulldog mentality

Fresno State is coming to UCLA on Saturday, and you know what that means: Lots of red-clad central Californians, and more us-against-the-world shtick from FSU coach Pat Hill.

"They're hungry," says Bruins coach Rick Neuheisel. "One thing Pat Hill's teams always are is hungry."

Not only for a victory, but for one of the traditional L.A. powers to come to Fresno, which neither has done. Both have played the Bulldogs in a bowl game.

"It's just hard enough getting to their place," Hill complained Monday on the WAC conference call. "I don't know why we can't have 'em, but until that time comes ... "

Asked Tuesday about a trip to Fresno State, USC coach Pete Carroll noted how difficult scheduling is and said, "It's not that easy, [just] because somebody challenges you."

Meanwhile, Hill will play a familiar card with his Bulldogs, who are 1-6 all-time against UCLA, their lone victory in the 2003 Silicon Valley Classic. That bowl is now defunct, as is the tenure of Karl Dorrell as UCLA coach.

"We've got 102 kids, and not one of them got recruited by UCLA," said Hill. "And there's not a guy on their roster that would even take a trip to Fresno."

And that precedent will surely be followed by the L.A. schools. The Trojans, by the way, are 1-1 against FSU, and the loss, in the 1992 Freedom Bowl in Anaheim, was the final straw in getting coach Larry Smith fired.

And what's more...

• In part of its carefully crafted early schedule, USC plays at Oregon State on Thursday night. The Trojans (2-0), who then host Oregon on Oct. 4, will have had extra time to prepare for their first four games.

• The recipe for improvement is clear for at least a couple of Pac-10 teams: Hard work. Cal's Jeff Tedford said the Bears spent some "very physical" time during a bye week, and ASU coach Dennis Erickson, whose team rushed for 4 yards against Georgia, said his offensive line "has to get better. We have that bye this week, and we're going to use it like spring football."

Bud Withers: 206-464-8281 or bwithers@seattletimes.com