Clemson is one of the top jobs on the coaching market this year and there is no wonder that there is a lot of speculation about who will take over for Tommy Bowden.
That speculation hit Norman, Okla., today when it was found out that Clemson athletic director Terry Don Phillips had boarded a private plane that was headed for Oklahoma City.
Phillips, who was the athletic director at Oklahoma State from 1994-2002, has plenty of ties in the “Sooner State” and he could be meeting with a wide array of coaching candidates, but when OU offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson did not show up to his normal Tuesday afternoon meeting with the press the rumor mill started churning in a serious way.
Kevin Wilson
|
|
“There is nothing to admit,” Coach Wilson began. “I do not have an agent, so they have not contacted my people. No one has contacted me. Even coach (Stoops) came up and said ‘Hey now I got these guys calling me. You would have told me?’
“I wish there was something to say.”
While he would be honored to be considered as a head coach candidate by a school like Clemson he is happy to be exactly where he is at right now.
“Realistically, in my opinion this is a really good job,” Wilson stated. “There has been some slight interest in the past, but in some ways being an assistant here is better. You got to be smart. There are some jobs that I don’t think that I don’t know if they are better than working for Bob and staying here.”
“At the same time when you are not a head guy you are not going to get these power jobs. That is just not going to happen. Nowadays they are paying so much that the AD is putting his head in the noose with you. If you throw a bunch of bucks at a guy that is unproven and that guy goes in and steps on it and doesn’t do well then that guy's job goes down the drain too.”
Extra Point: If the rumor mill started when Coach Wilson did not show up for his normal press meeting this afternoon then it did not slow down any when defensive coordinator Brent Venables did not show for his normal meeting with the press after practice on Tuesday evening, however OU media relations did say that he went straight home after practice… It is now strongly believed that it is indeed Venables who is meeting with Phillips at this very moment.