This is Todd Turner. He runs a college search firm that places high level athletic personnel, including Athletic Directors. He was also the Athletic Director at Vanderbilt when Brad Bates was there. If you read between the lines, it appears he's helping out his former protege again.
This summer when Turner ran the Athletic Director search for Missouri, he presented Bates as a candidate. Now Blauds is reporting that Bates is in the mix for the San Diego State opening. Guess who is running their search? Yep, it is Todd Turner. (The fact that San Diego State only has an opening because Turner landed their old AD at Mizzou is an entirely different topic altogether.