Potential replacements for Milt at Stanford wrote:
Posted this on the thread about Milt taking over at UNC already but I love throwing fuel to the fire so I decided to post it here for the sharks to devour as well.
Here are the best/most realistic candidates for the Stanford job in my mind and why or why not they might be interested.
Andy & Maurice Powell - Stanford Alums. But just got to Washington last year and might not be ready to make that change right now. I would also think they could have gone in 2012 had they wanted to but didn’t show any interest.
Mike Smith - Could he have any more success at NAU than he’s already had? That kind of success is not sustainable so he could head to Stanford to put himself in a position to compete for Championships year after year. However he seems to fit the NAU/Flagstaff culture and is probably tested like a King there. That along with academic standards being much lower at NAU makes recruiting a little easier.
Joe Franklin - Probably wants out of UNM now that his program’s funding is being slashed. But Stanford’s academic model doesn’t fit his strategy of recruiting foreigners.
Ed Eyestone - Has made BYU a consistent distance power and since becoming director has seen an improvement in other event groups. Maybe a fun way to end his career? But most likely a BYU lifer.
Jerry Schumacher- someone else mentioned this and I actually wouldn’t be shocked by it. If he wants to get back into the college game, this is a great opportunity. Timing is bad though with the Olympics just one year away.
Michelle Eisenreich - Was associate head coach at Stanford for a few years before taking the head women’s job at Princeton. Also has director experience at Brown. Obviously knows how to handle the academic rigors for the students. But hasn’t done anything spectacular with the team at Princeton and Stanford can probably attract a more accomplished candidate.
A few others that seem less likely to me but could be possibilities are Jon Gondack at Penn State, Beth Alford Sullivan at Tennessee, Mike McGuire at Michigan, Diljeet Taylor at BYU, Tonja Buford Bailey who has head coach experience at Illinois and Texas, and Martin Smith at Iowa State.
Kevin Costner for Director at Stanford. He did great in that running movie, and you saw how happy he was when his team ran well in the Bay Area.