One of the most-mentioned names in the coaching search can be scratched from UW’s list: The Fresno Bee is reporting that Fresno State coach Pat Hill met with a top FSU recruit Wednesday and assured him that he will not be leaving for UW. There had been earlier reports that Hill had set a deadline this week for UW to make an offer or he would take his name out of consideration.

UW may not have been ready to meet that deadline because it is apparently still interested in Texas Tech coach Mike Leach, who is returing for a second interview, according to multiple reports. This would seem to indicate seriousness on both sides.
However, another suitor may have emerged when Auburn fired coach Tommy Tuberville. Some Auburn boosters immediately set their sights on Leach, who is the biggest name thought to still be on the coaching market.
Meanwhile, Texas Tech athletic director Gerald Myers also said that he plans to present Leach with a contract extension offer. However, Leach’s agent, Gary O’Hagan, told ESPN on Wednesday that no renegotiations have begun.

Radio station KJR reported that Jim Mora will coach the Seahawks next season, not the Huskies.

Los Angeles media reported that USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian interviewed for the UW job.

There wasn’t much public buzz around UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker in connection with the UW job, and Walker admitted as much, telling the Orange County Register that UW is “moving in another direction.” Walker is thought to be in the running for the San Diego State job.

Notre Dame clarified that coach Charlie Weis will return next season. And that, of course, means that the Irish will not become a player in the coaching market this season.

Finally, here's a link to Wednesday's KJR round-table discussion of the coaching situation, hosted by Dave "Softy" Mahler along with the Times' Bob Condotta, the P-I's Molly Yanity and me.

UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker topped Tyrone Willingham's list for potential defensive coordinators last season, but his name never seemed to get very high on the UW head coaching list this season.

Apparently, he's reading the situation the same way as he told the Orange County Register that he hasn't been contacted, and added, “I think they’re moving in another direction. I guess I wasn’t what they were looking for.”

Walker is mentioned as a possible candidate for the San Diego State job, although he hasn't had formal talks with them, either. He also had been considered at Utah State but asked that his name be taken out of consideration there.

Sorry for the lack of post today. My computer crashed, which is a bad, bad, bad, bad thing to happen in the middle of a coaching search.

In any case, I have heard -- but not confirmed -- that UW wants to meet with Texas Tech coach Mike Leach again.

However, they'd better do it fast because -- real news, not just rumor -- Tommy Tuberville is out at Auburn. And -- not surprisingly -- boosters there are already talking about making a pitch for Leach.

Also, that Fresno State's Pat Hill may have imposed a deadline for UW to decide before he withdraws his name from consideration and that UW is unlikely to pull the trigger in time. (He did something similar when he was being considered for the Oakland Raiders' job.)

If you heard the KJR radio roundtable today, Hill was sort of portrayed as a safe fall-back guy. However, if the deadline report is true, he may not be available to fall back to.

The Avalance-Journal out of Lubbock, Texas, has this report on Texas Tech coach Mike Leach's vist to UW this week. The report says the job wasn't offered, but that if it is, Leach might be tempted to step up to a program that traditionally ranks as the No. 1 program in its state as opposed to Tech, which generally rates well behind Texas and Texas A&M.

Meanwhile, the Long Beach (Calif.) Press-Telegram reports that USC offensive coordinator Steve Sarkisian interviewed for the job on Thanksgiving.

Sarkisian was mentioned early -- as most USC coordinators inevitably are -- and he expressed interest in stepping up and won an enthusiastic recommendation from USC coach Pete Carroll. However, his name seemed to drift out of the conversation for a while ... until now.