San Diego State athletic director John David Wicker spoke to the media on Tuesday, a day after the announcement that SDSU football coach Brady Hoke would not be returning next season.
Wicker said the Aztecs already are “off and running” on the new hire.
So let’s go.
Coaching search
Wicker said a search firm will be used to assist with the hiring process.
Asked if he already has a preliminary list of candidates: Wicker said, “It’s something where every year you’re paying attention to who’s doing well because you never know what’s going to happen. I definitely had some people that we would be interested in talking with. We’re certainly moving forward with things right now.
“I’m not going to talk about candidates and I’m not going to talk about timing, other than that our goal is to be done in mid-December. But we’re certainly off and running.”
Timing of announcement
Why make the move now, rather than wait two weeks when the season is over?
“A big part of it is something I don’t necessarily like about where the industry has gone at this point,” Wicker said.
His reference was to the NCAA transfer portal, which opens Dec. 4, and the early signing period, which runs from Dec. 20-22. Both have accelerated the timeline for roster construction.
“Right after the season ends, hopefully, you can have someone in place and they have a chance to talk to the current student-athletes and also the recruits,” Wicker said, “and if there’s anybody else that’s out there that they could possibly bring in with the early signing period. …”
“We’d like to go as quick as possible, but I’m not going to put a date on it at this point.”
Talking to the team
Wicker spoke to the Aztecs players on Monday morning after Hoke announced he would not be returning next season.
The AD also met with the team’s leadership council Monday evening “to hear what they wanted, what’s great about our program, what they want to see in another head coach.”
“What we’ve preached to them,” Wicker said, “is there’s a period of time the transfer portal is open. Give us an opportunity to hire that coach and bring him in and have the opportunity to meet them.
“That’s something that we’ll certainly push for the coach that’s coming in is … meet the players that we have and understand who they are and what they mean as you sit there and start talking about what the future of Aztecs football is.
“It’s not going to be a situation where somebody walks in and says, ‘All of you get in the transfer portal.’ That won’t happen here.”
Attractive opportunity
Wicker believes the position should be one of the sport’s more coveted openings.
“I can promise you this, this is a very desirable job within college football,” he said. “If you look at Group of Five level, we’re right there at the top. You can certainly look at the lower half of certain Power Five conferences and say, ‘San Diego State’s going to be a better job than that one because I’ve got a chance to win. I can go there and I can win conference championships. I can access the College Football Playoff. They’ve got a fantastic new stadium. The facilities are good enough.’ ”
The ideal candidate
So what exactly is Wicker looking for in a head coach?
To begin with, Wicker wants one who understands the culture within both the SDSU football program and athletic department.
“It’s not just a football job,” Wicker said. “Your job is to take 18- to 22-year-old men, coach them up really well, so that if they can get into the NFL, they have that opportunity, but you also have to take an interest in their academic side, you also have to take an interest in the life skills side, because that’s who we are and that’s what we do.”
While SDSU fans young and old are eager to see an offensive explosion, Wicker said an offensive background is not a requirement in the hire.
“I’m not leaning on someone that is offensive side of the ball, defensive side of the ball, head coach, coordinator,” Wicker said. “One thing that will be important, we’ve won championships with defense here, but we’ve also needed to be better offensively.
“I’m going to be interested in, if it is a defensive-minded head coach, what’s your plan (offensively)? Who are you going to hire? What type of offense do you want to run?
“Because we want to generate some excitement.”
Let’s talk money
Hoke’s $1.3 million salary ranks eighth in the Mountain West, but the new hire could be competitive with Wyoming’s Craig Bohl and San Jose State’s Brent Brennan, who are the conference’s top two earners at approximately $2.3 million a year.
“At this point,” Wicker said, “now that the stadium’s up and running, and what we’re doing, do we have the opportunity to be at the top of the league from a salary standpoint? Yeah, that’s probably where we’ll end up being.”
SDSU’s assistant coach salary pool was the highest in the Mountain West last year at $2.5 million, and it will remain at or near the top.
