Al, you were very clear in your carefully-worded statement. You didn't want to coach Syracuse. Now Donnie Webb is telling me that it was all a bunch of hogwash and malarkey and that you are indeed still very much interested in the position???
I know Golden put out a statement about not pursuing the job, but that's a smokescreen. The guy wants the job. This is not to disparage Temple, but that school is located in a tough, tough neighborhood and is a difficult place to attract recruits. What Golden has done there is remarkable and it's why he's a strong candidate. It's likely Golden got wind he was not Syracuse's top candidate and did what all coaches do in these situations - say something publically to save face and protect recruiting. Same thing happened at Washington with Mike Leach and Pat Hill.
Golden is a tremendous candidate and apparently had a terrific interview with Gross. If there's a concern, it's that he's a CEO type and defers to defensive and offensive coordinators.
If there's one thing Greg Robinson was not, it's a CEO-type. So that at least sounds intriguing.
The thoughts were also floated out there that Golden was holding out for the Virginia job or the ever-coveted Penn State job. Since neither look to be available this year, maybe Golden came to his senses.
Dave Rahme even throws Al into the same mix as Skip Holtz and Turner Gill. How the hell did Golden go from not even ranking on the Sexy-O-Meter to being included in the "top three" discussion? (by the way, just in case you'd like a cold bucket of perspective thrown in your face, that's two MAC coaches and a CUSA coach we're fighting over. Gack.)
Good news for Al, he's a sure bet to debut on the Sexy-O-Meter tomorrow. Who knows, it might even lead to the actual job...