They aren't like the neon-buzzing lights found outside cheap motels off the interstate, but there are vacancy signs hanging in Alumni Arena.
UB's search for a new football coach is in full swing and will soon go national. The athletics department has already received 18 applications for the head-coaching job, and all the assistant coach positions will also be filled in the coming weeks.
Following the Nov. 8 firing of Jim Hofher, who guided the Bulls to an 8-49 record in five years, UB is now in a two-week internal positing period for the vacancies.
The job posting itself says the school is looking for a coach with a bachelor's degree to "provide leadership and strategy development" for the team and "help promote the football program to the public," among other duties. Division I experience is a must, according to the posting, just as Athletics Director Warde Manuel said on the day of Hofher's dismissal.
"We will conduct a national search and focus on finding a person with extensive Division I-A experience," Manuel said in the press conference. "The goal is to hire someone that will develop a competitive, successful program in the (Mid-American Conference). This can and will be done."
According to The Buffalo News, possible candidates for the position include Florida assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator Charlie Strong, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Rick Minter, Miami (Fla.) defensive coordinator Randy Shannon, Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Vance Bedford, TCU defensive coordinator Dick Bumpas, and Michigan associate head coach Fred Jackson.
Along with the posting for Hofher's old job, there are nine additional positions to be filled, including offensive and defensive coordinators and coaches for quarterbacks, strength and conditioning, and five other offensive and defensive positions.
According to the job postings, salaries for the nine assistant jobs range from $35,788 to $79,861.
The head coach job will be externally posted until Jan. 4, 2006, and applications are already coming in and word has spread about the vacancy.
The salary range line for head coach is not included in the posting, which says the income will be "commensurate with experience." On the day he released Hofher, Manuel was unsure how much the new coach would be paid, but said it should be at least as much as the $149,000 per year Hofher earned.
"It won't be less," Manuel said. "It never is when you make a change. They know the salary of the last coach and it won't be less than that."
"I think level of investment just depends on the experience of the person coming in," Manuel added. "I haven't said (to President Simpson), 'We need X or this amount of dollars.' I've said I'd like to hire a coach and pay him market value for experience and what he brings to the table, and he's willing to do that. We'll see with assistant coaches as we go down the line. The commitment is there to make sure that we have the best staff that we can and the best coaches that we can."
Photo: Courtesy of Matthew Messina, from the RMBERS' Instagram page
