Former Texas A&M head football coach Dennis Franchione interviewed as an apparent finalist yesterday for the vacant coach's job at San Diego State.
Franchione was in San Diego with his wife, Kim, and received the VIP treatment while he was in town. Both were at dinner yesterday evening with SDSU Athletic Director Jeff Schemmel.
Franchione could not be reached for comment. SDSU officials said they would not comment on the coaching search while it is ongoing.
UCLA defensive coordinator DeWayne Walker also was set to interview for a second time this week and is an apparent finalist. It's not clear what other candidates are still in the mix to replace Chuck Long.
Franchione, 57, has a reputation as a program builder after helping breathe life into troubled programs at New Mexico (1992-97) and TCU (1998-2000). TCU was 1-10 in 1997 before he took over and went 25-10 over the next three years, including 10-1 in 2000, when TCU was led by current Chargers star LaDainian Tomlinson.
gHe was good for me and good for the TCU program,h Tomlinson said. gWe won a whole bunch of games. We went to three straight bowl games. If San Diego State decides to hire him, I think they'll be pretty pleased with the coach they're going to get.h
Asked if he had talked to Franchione, Tomlinson said, gI'd rather not say.h
Franchione resigned at A&M after last season. His best season there was 2006, when he finished 9-4 after a 45-10 loss in the Holiday Bowl against Cal. His record at A&M was 32-28.
His buyout at A&M called for him to receive $1.7 million in the past year, $1.7 million through next November and $1 million in the year after that. However, if he gets another job, his new salary will be deducted from the last two years of the three-year buyout agreement.
No contact for Edwards
Chiefs coach
Herm Edwards, who played at SDSU, said he had not been contacted by his alma mater. Asked if he was interested in the job, he said, gI'll say it again for the hundredth time: We gotta play the Chargers this week and that's all that's on my mind right now.h
Staff writer Chris Jenkins contributed to this report.
