We are expecting this “search” to be pretty quick and pretty painless.
It now looks as thought things are evolving as it has appeared they would – if Bill Cowher says no then Paul Johnson is the man. We expect that NC State will receive an answer from Bill Cowher by the end of the week (likely Thursday or Friday).
* After our comments yesterday, you really should read this entry focused on Bill Cowher from Dave Glenn’s blog. It is excellent and succinct and should paint the picture that you need regarding Cowher perfectly.
* Adam Gold at 850TheBuzz is reporting that Cowher is not going to accept the job in this blog entry. You should know that Coach Cowher has a pre-scheduled weekly press conference every Tuesday at noon. What Gold is speculating is that Cowher will be asked of the NC State in the press conference and will address the issue at that time where he will tell the public that he is not coming to NC State .
* SFN has no confirmation of Gold’s report.
* Coach Johnson still has the Army/Navy game to coach this weekend, so we would not expect any announcement prior to the conclusion of that game. The timing of this game probably allows NC State to wait a bit longer on Bill Cowher to make a decision.
* Jim Donnan has been lobbying behind the scenes for the job but does not seem to be picking up much traction with Wolfpackers. Seven years ago Donnan was offered the job after Cowher turned it down but chose to remain at Georgia. NC State then hired Chuck Amato.
* Assistant coaches Curt Cignetti and Dick Portee have been retained by NC State to help maintain continuity during the transition period.
