The Search

I had my typical spiel on the coaching search planned for today, but then things got weird...or weirder depending on your point of view. There is a ton of information out there, but it's often conflicting and sometimes incredibly inaccurate (Gary Patterson to K-State anyone?).

So, instead I decided tell you what we know for sure (maybe) and what I think. Some enterprising (or lonely and deluded - take your choice) individuals have taken to tracking the Clemson plane around the country. Recent trips have included stops in Detroit and Oklahoma City. Detroit? Read on.

What We Know (for sure, maybe, at least what we've heard)

Terry Don Phillips flew to Detroit last Friday and interviewed Lane Kiffin. We had heard sometime back that Kiffin was out of the picture ("Clemson isn't LA" is what Phillips was quoted as saying) and we believe this is just a due diligence type of interview/meeting.

Terry Don Phillips flew to Oklahoma City this past Tuesday. After some initial confusion, it was sorted out that Phillips was interviewing/meeting with Oklahoma defensive coordinator Brent Venables. Oklahoma has an off week this week. Again, we believe this is a due diligence type of interview/meeting. A fall back guy, if you will.

Bud Foster, defensive coordinator at Virginia Tech has publicly said that he expects to be interviewed as early as this weekend. Virginia Tech played Miami on Thursday night. Once again, I believe this is due diligence on Phillips part, making sure that if his ultimate plan falls through that he has other guys in mind.

It's been pretty quiet on the Will Muschamp front, but that is expected to change next week. Notice a pattern in 1-3 above? Kiffin is unemployed. Venables has an off week. Foster's team played Thursday night. Texas is off next week.

Speculation

Now for the fun - speculation. I've heard that the search had turned towards a "proven head coach" type of search. That would seem to eliminate the guys that have already been talked to (and Foster and Muschamp), which is why I keep mentioning due diligence. My take is that it eliminates them from being the #1 choice (not necessarily public #1, but #1 to TDP). If #1 (we'll get to that in a minute) falls through Phillips needs to quickly move to #2.

I believe that candidate #1 is Tommy Tuberville of Auburn. He of the $6 million buyout and imploding team. Word is that TT wants out and some powerful boosters want him out (déjà vu all over again, except this time TT's team is not undefeated). Some even suggest that negotiations towards the buyout are in progress. There are lots of rumors on this front and I have heard lots of TT to Clemson talk.

Tuberville fits the bill in a couple of ways. His teams are tough and physical. He recruits well. But more importantly (for Terry Don Phillips that is), he fits the "proven head coach" criteria AND he would be available in the time frame Phillips wants to hire the next coach (i.e. NLT December 10).

A lot has to happen for this to become reality for sure. Auburn (or boosters) have to be willing to part with $6 million or some portion thereof, not to mention pay a new coach. Clemson has to come to grips with Tuberville - the admin - not the fans (though some fans aren't on board with this either). Let's just say Tuberville isn't known as a stickler for academic accomplishments.

Which leads us to choice #2. Which I believe is Will Muschamp. If things can't be worked out with Turbeville or if he stays at Auburn, I believe Phillips will turn to Muschamp. The question is if Tuberville leaves Auburn (and doesn't go to Clemson), will Muschamp prefer that job over Clemson? From a purely football perspective, probably. But would Muschamp be interested in dealing with the types of boosters that are rife at Auburn. By SEC standards the "big time" Clemson boosters are relatively tame. Would Muschamp want the headache?

Muschamp, too has a reputation for being tough and his defenses physical. Would he be available by December 10? What if Texas is playing in a BCS game or better yet the BCS title game? What has he agreed to (if anything) with Mack Brown?

Which leads us to the fall back guys listed above. Assuming Turbeville and Muschamp don't work out for whatever reason, Phillips has to have a #3 guy (again, not publicly, but privately). That's why he is interviewing all of these available candidates now.

All of that to say - I believe the list as of this moment looks like this:

1. Tommy Tuberville
2. Will Muschamp
3. Brent Venables
4. Dabo Swinney
5. Bud Foster
6. Lane Kiffin