Column: Coaching job will be tough sell for Glass, but 3 candidates are intriguing

Imagine (or at least consider) the following:

You are the CEO of an organization, and you are responsible for finding a replacement boss at one of your largest branches.

You know the employees at the branch have the potential to help the company thrive, but the recently fired boss wasn’t able to get the most out of them.

Your job is to find a good replacement, a guy who has had a lot of success running a branch of another organization. The problem is selling that replacement on the job you have to offer. The branch in question, after all, hasn’t had a lot of success in years. In fact, it has become one of your least successful branches.

Seem like a challenge? That’s basically the situation IU Athletics Director Fred Glass is facing in his search for a new football coach.

Glass has to find a guy who can take the Hoosiers’ program — a program that has won three Big Ten games in the last three years — to the next level.

At Glass’ Sunday press conference, he was asked how he sells this job to the coach he wants. Or does he even have to since it is a Big Ten job?

“I think it is a fantastic job. Certainly, properly understood, it will be highly sought after,” Glass said. “You alluded to the Big Ten Conference. I think that is huge. Not only because it is a prestigious conference, but also with the Big Ten Network and all the exposure that provides.”

Glass went on to talk about the great facilities, the school’s academic programs and the money he is willing to pay for the right candidate.

But the fact of the matter is, the Hoosiers’ on-field talent for next year won’t help Glass make this look like a good job.

Ben Chappell is gone, so the team needs a new quarterback. Tyler Replogle is gone, so the team needs a new defensive leader. Terrance Turner is gone, so the team needs a new offensive leader. There’s a good chance Tandon Doss won’t be back next season, so the team will need a new do-it-all receiver.

And Darius Willis is still a giant question mark, so the team may need a starting running back.

So, you want the job?

That is precisely the reason I think it will take Glass quite some time to find Bill Lynch’s replacement. He has to make a home-run hire, and I’m not sure he’s going to be able to do that.

As the names of potential candidates continue to be thrown out on Twitter and elsewhere, I keep trying to figure out what each of those names would do with this program — or branch.

At the time I am writing this column, these are the three most intriguing replacements.

1. Randy Shannon, ex-Miami (Fla.) coach — Shannon is still a young (he’s 44), up-and-coming coach who had some success at Miami. Had his starting quarterback not been injured this season, he would probably still have a job and would have his team in a BCS bowl.

Shannon has been rumored to have interest in the Minnesota job, so I would have to think he would have interest here if Glass asked.

2. Kevin Sumlin, Houston coach — Sumlin is a brilliant offensive mind who has quickly built Houston into a winner. Had the team not lost starting quarterback Case Keenum early in the season, Houston would likely be hovering around the 10-4 mark it posted in 2009.

Sumlin also coached a high-powered offense at Oklahoma, serving the last two of his five years in Norman, Okla. as offensive coordinator.

And he went to Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School in Indianapolis. Done deal, right?
3. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy coach — Now this one is really intriguing.

If Glass hires Niumatalolo (say that five times fast), the Hoosiers will likely change their entire offense to feature the triple option.

Ed Wright-Baker — or even recruit Tre Roberson — and Darius Willis would make a pretty good combination if that were the case. Maybe a wholesale change in offensive philosophy would be good for IU.

E-mail: jmalbers@indiana.edu