WSU Football | AD out of state for interviews

Athletic director Jim Sterk and close aides are believed to be out of state interviewing candidates for the vacant Washington State head football coaching position.

Sterk was out of his office Thursday and Friday.

He is believed to have interviewed John L. Smith on Thursday. Smith, 59, who has been head coach at Idaho, Utah State, Louisville and Michigan State, told The Times that any information would have to come from WSU.

Smith was defensive coordinator at WSU in 1987 and 1988 under Dennis Erickson.

On Friday, Sterk interviewed Kevin Sumlin, Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator, according to the Spokane Spokesman-Review. Sumlin, 43, was a graduate assistant at WSU under Dennis Erickson and Mike Price from 1988 to 1990. Sumlin has coached at Wyoming, Minnesota, Purdue and Texas A&M.

Known out-of-state candidates are: Mike Price, the former Cougars coach who just completed his fourth year at Texas-El Paso; Bob Gregory, ex-Cougars player who is defensive coordinator at California; Brady Hoke, head coach at Ball State, and Dave Christensen, offensive coordinator at Missouri.

The No. 1 in-state candidate is Eastern Washington University coach Paul Wulff.

There is no word on when WSU expects to hire a coach.

Cougars recruiting is at a standstill. The current coaching staff is staying in touch with possible recruits but isn't making scholarship offers. Potential recruits obviously don't want to make a decision without knowing who the coach will be.

Mid-year junior-college transfers can sign letters of intent beginning Dec. 19. Last year, WSU signed Vaughn Lesuma, who started at left tackle this past season, in the early period. Another early signee was tight end Devin Frischknecht, who caught two touchdown passes in the Apple Cup.

The signing date for high-school seniors is Feb. 6.

The Cougars had commitments from only three high-school athletes before it was announced Nov. 26 that Bill Doba would not return as head coach.

Craig Smith: 206-464-8279 or csmith@seattletimes.com