Brown, Horns try to weather the coaching rumor mill

AUSTIN, Texas — The buzz changes by the hour, with fans chatting on the Internet or calling in radio shows, offering candidates as to who might replace Gene Chizik, the former Texas defensive co-coordinator.

But it's just that: conjecture.

Longhorns coach Mack Brown said Monday he will not contact, interview or hire anyone until after Texas plays Iowa in the Alamo Bowl on Dec. 30.

He issued a statement last week saying he wouldn't "address" the opening until after the bowl. But his wording was stronger Monday.

"I'm not going to move forward" until after the bowl, Brown said. "I don't want to have any distractions at all."

This month is college football's hottest time for spawning rumors, as schools hire and fire head coaches, moves that subsequently dump dozens of assistants on the job market. As of Monday, there had been 14 head coaching jobs come open.

So don't necessarily believe the story that Alabama defensive coordinator Joe Kines was on a private plane bound for Austin at about the same time Chizik was flying to Ames, Iowa, to be introduced as the new Iowa State head coach on Nov. 27.

Kines, the interim head coach with the Crimson Tide, has worked in the past with Longhorns offensive coordinator Greg Davis and offensive line coach Mac McWhorter. So no doubt, Brown will give Kines some thought. The rumors reached such intensity last week that a member of the Alabama sports information staff contacted his counterpart at Texas to ask if there was a Kines press conference planned.

Georgia Southern head coach Brian VanGorder was supposedly spotted in Austin two days after Chizik resigned at UT. VanGorder, the former defensive coordinator at Georgia and linebackers coach with the Jacksonville Jaguars, isn't happy in Statesboro, Ga.

VanGorder went 3-8 in his first year with the former Division I-AA powerhouse. Nobody was pleased with the season, especially considering the team went 8-3 in 2005. VanGorder's base pay is $200,000, so he may have called Brown to inquire about the job that paid Chizik $325,000.

Within hours after VanGorder's name popped up last week, word also circulated that Oklahoma State defensive coordinator Vance Bedford — a former Longhorn player — wanted Chizik's job.

Jerry Gray, one of the best defensive players in Texas history, also is putting out feelers that he could be swayed to leave his assistant's job with the Washington Redskins. Gray also asked about the Texas defensive coordinator's opening in January 2005, the one Chizik eventually accepted. Gray didn't want to take a pay cut then to be a co-coordinator.

There is other speculation about whether more members of Brown's staff may take other jobs.

A Web site designed as a rumor clearinghouse for college coaches speculated that McWhorter or Duane Akina, Chizik's co-coordinator at Texas, may be in line to take over as head coach at Tulane. UT tight ends coach Bruce Chambers had his name informally linked as a candidate to the head coach opening at North Texas, his alma mater.

And Davis supposedly is being considered by Alabama-Birmingham, a school that has yet to fire head coach Watson Brown, Mack Brown's older brother. But Davis' salary of $325,000 isn't that far off from the $371,000 that Watson Brown earned this season.

Davis' son called him over the weekend because he'd heard the chatter, wanting to know if his father was forgetting to tell him something.

Texas' Brown issued this statement Monday through spokesman Bill Little:

"We make it a policy not to comment publicly on job speculation concerning us or any of our assistant coaches," Brown said.

Athletic director DeLoss Dodds could not be reached for comment Monday on whether he's granted permission to any schools to interview Longhorn assistant coaches. He and Brown are in New York for the National Football Foundation's annual Hall of Fame dinner.

Meanwhile, Major Applewhite, the Rice offensive coordinator and former Longhorn quarterback and graduate assistant coach, was said to be in line for a spot on Chizik's new staff at Iowa State. Applewhite, who was out recruiting Monday, issued a denial through the Owls sports information staff.

He has never met Chizik. In the last week, Applewhite's name also has been linked to openings at Florida State, Alabama, Tulane and North Texas.

All were far from the truth.

"Major hasn't even been contacted by anyone," said Steve Weiner, Applewhite's agent.

Suzanne Halliburton writes for the Austin American-Statesman.