UND92,96

One could argue Stiegelmeier was kind of a mediocre dII coach. Kill didn't do all that great in dII, either. The point being, it's sometimes hard to tell how somebody might do as a head coach under different circumstances compared to where they were. Does that mean Bubba would come back to UND and quickly turn the ship around? Not necessarily. But neither would I count him out based upon what happened at UMD or SIU. And for the record, I have nothing against DeBoer and would be fine with him, too.

That is disappointing to hear.

Ironically, even Muss is criticizing the length of this ridiculous process via twitter...

If there had been an actual a.d. back then, and if UND had conducted a national search, I firmly believe it would have been either Tibesar or Bubba. Very little chance Muss would have gotten the job under any other circumstances than the perfect storm (for him) that actually took place.

I don't think so. When you think about it, Bubba has kind of overshadowed Muss for a long time. First, Bubba and the defense (deservedly) got much of the credit for UND's success while he was DC. Then after the 2003 season, the two were finalists for the UMD job, which of course Bubba got. Now it appears Bubba may be called upon the clean up the mess left by Muss.

My understanding is that Gustafson is definitely among the top five, although he was way before my time and I never actually saw him play.

I can't help but wonder if Lennon's watching this process unfold, heading into a contract year and presumably under a fair amount of pressure, and asking himself whether he's making a mistake not pursuing the UND job for himself?

I just got done watching the "UND Sports Zone" on the Herald web site, which was posted about an hour ago. They talked as if Cummings was also expected to be a finalist. I wonder if he withdrew? Or maybe they were simply incorrect?

Agreed. There's also somewhat of a sense of frustration in that the rules governing the hiring process at UND are apparently not easily available for viewing, short of a trip to Twamley, which leads to questions as to whether this process could have been streamlined in this particular case. How much, if any leeway does Kelley have to suspend or waive certain requirements?

It appears they responded to a tweet from Jody Norstedt and said they are THE two finalists. No other confirmation as of yet.

Football Scoop is reporting that Bubba and DeBoer are the two finalists.

Hopefully today, since it's the 30th day since Muss was fired. I never would have expected this process to take longer than 30 days.

I do think it bears repeating that while at UMD Bubba was a) transitioning from the then-terrible NSIC to the NCC; b) was playing a very difficult schedule that Nielson never had to play against in the regular season (UND, UNO, USD, CWU); c) was probably operating at a scholarship disadvantage (not sure about this one); and d) did manage to get UMD to the playoffs in just his second year playing in the NCC. I can understand people's skepticism to some extent, but as Stiegelmeier and SDSU have shown, modest success in the NCC doesn't necessarily translate into FCS mediocrity. Stig never made the playoffs as a dII coach.

Apparently Kotelnicki is a finalist for the UMary head coaching job.

I believe this would be the first time a UND player has transferred to an FBS school since Rob Bodine went to Clemson back in the 80's.

Buning.

Idalski was a Buning hire.

I checked out the SIU board, and only found one post mentioning that Bubba had applied here, and none saying that DeBoer had. But if you want to read page after page about how Lennon should be fired, you'll be in luck.

Chappell won the 100, 200 and both hurdles at state in 2005. It was the last state meet in Grand Forks and one of the best performances I've ever witnessed.

I would have a hard time counting DeBoer out in a hypothetical two-horse race. First, he comes across as somebody who would be very polished in an interview. Second, Faison was in attendance when DeBoer got his signature win as a head coach. Plus, Faison allegedly asked him to apply. I'm not anti-Bubba by any means, but objectively speaking I could easily see Faison choosing DeBoer.

I agree that you can't keep switching back and forth. But I'm not sure transferring is necessarily the answer for whomever doesn't win the job this spring and next fall. The Belmore/Reed Manke years showed how things can drastically change.

Take this for what it's worth, but in the "comments" section of the most recent SFI blog entry, they are saying they believe it will come down to Bubba and DeBoer. And Caruso was apparently never contacted. I can only assume it was due to his lack of division I experience.

Missed that. Sorry.

One player who often gets overlooked due to the fact that he played on some very bad UND teams in the mid-80's is Tracy Martin. He was a very big receiver for the time (6'3", 200), had great speed and was drafted in the 6th round in 1987 by the Jets.