It has been nearly a month since Southern embarked on a search to find the football program’s next head coach.
Southern Athletic Director Roman Banks has been steadfast in that he wants to hire the finest possible candidate.
And that means examining which candidates truly want to job for the right reasons and for the best interest of the football program and university.
Banks described to The Advocate how the search process is going and the challenges of it.
One of them, he said, was identifying candidates who understood that the payscale at Southern is not that of an FBS program.
“Some are eager, some guys are interested but want to be paid like you’re a Power Five program (and) then they change their tune,” Banks told the newspaper. “The better candidates are interested in the job for the job, not just the pay. Even though our pay is low, they still want to be the coach at Southern. People who are really interested recruit you the most. We want someone who will work the job like it’s the best on planet Earth.
Eric Dooley, who was fired by Southern after two seasons into a four-year contract, reportedly earned $310,000 per year.
The Advocate reported that, for now, Southern has had rumored interest in Saints assistant Curtis Johnson and Bethune-Cookman assistant DJ McCarthy.
“You also want someone who understands historically what it means to be the coach at Southern and is familiar with our program, and understands the expectations,” he said. “You search high and low for the right person.”
Banks told The Advocate that he hopes to name a coach by next week.
