The search for a new head football coach has begun, said athletic director Bubba Cunningham in a news conference Tuesday morning. Cunningham said he made phone calls to "connections within the business" beginning Monday morning.
Cunningham said he has not contacted any potential replacements for Bill Lynch, who was notified of his firing Sunday night, but heard there will be a number of coaches interested in the position. There will be no search committee formed until the list is narrowed, Cunningham said.
"We're starting with an incredibly wide network," the first-year athletic director said. "We are going to move quickly, but we are in no hurry."
Cunningham named off more than a dozen attributes that he will be looking for in the new head coach. Among those are history of success, capacity to motivate, leadership potential, coaching and recruiting philosophy, personal integrity and an overall fit with Ball State.
Cunningham implied that the new head coach will not come from within the program when he said that all of the existing staff will have the opportunity to reapply once the new head coach is hired. The assistants are under contract until February of 2003. Cunningham said the staff will follow up on recruiting until their contracts expire.
"We're trying to pull in recruiting we've done so far and keep them informed," Rich Spisak, offensive coordinator, said Monday. "We're not going to make any more visits until the new coach gets hired."
The team has 11 commitments thus far. Cunningham also said the staff will be responsible for keeping tabs on the players who are currently on the team.
While the assistant coaches' contracts expire at the end of January 2003, Lynch is under contract until Jan. 31, 2004. Lynch made $121,500 this past season. Lynch has a clause in his contract that allows for a reassignment within the university.
Cunningham said it was too early to say what position he will offer Lynch. He said Lynch showed no interest for or against being reassigned when the two spoke on Sunday and said questions about the matter should be directed toward Lynch. Phone messages left at the eight-year head coach's office were not returned.
University president Blaine Brownell also addressed the media at the news conference. Brownell thanked Lynch for his years of service at Ball State but said he felt it was time to "seek greater success."
"We hope the decisions during the past few years reflect that winning isn't everything, but it is essential in a Division IA program," Brownell said.
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