Multiple sources (under condition of anonymity) with knowledge of a Thursday meeting between the Michigan Wolverines football team and interim Athletic Director Jim Hackett indicated to GoBlueWolverine (Scout.com) that the athletic department has narrowed its search for former head coach Brady Hoke's replacement to four potential candidates.
However, per the GoBlueWolverine report, "when reached for comment Thursday evening and again Friday morning, Michigan Associate Athletic Director in charge of Media and Public Relations Dave Ablauf indicated those accounts were an overstatement. While four candidates have moved to the top of the list, Michigan hasn’t yet narrowed its list exclusively to those four."
Ablauf expanded on his comments in a later statement.
“Our process is moving along,” Ablauf said. “We have received inquiries and identified many candidates. The search firm Korn Ferry is screening possible candidates as we begin to narrow the search.
“As Jim Hackett stated during his (Friday) press conference, we don’t believe that it’s appropriate to comment on any potential candidates or the institutions or organizations they currently may be employed by during this search,” said Ablauf. “We hope that you understand that we can’t compromise the integrity of our search process by commenting prematurely.”
Korn Ferry will reportedly be paid between $80,000 and $250,000 for their work.
Based on reported contact earlier this week, it still appears that San Francisco 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is at the top of Michigan's wishlist, with LSU head coach Les Miles also a desired option.
Other names that have been generating buzz include Boston College's Steve Addazio, UCLA's Jim Mora, and New Orleans Saints head coach Sean Payton.
As of this writing, that has been no formal acknowledgment of contact between the university and any of the above targets, except for a confirmed conversation with Les Miles' agent.
Stay tuned.
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