Marc Trestman expected to get call from University of Minnesota for heach coach job

Saturday’s 28-17 loss at Purdue pretty much made it clear that the University of Minnesota will have a new football coach next year.

One guess at a preliminary list of potential candidates to replace Tim Brewster would seem to include Houston’s Kevin Sumlin, a popular former Gophers assistant whose University of Houston team scores lots of points.

Sumlin, 46, is a former Purdue linebacker who worked for Jim Wacker and Glen Mason at Minnesota.

Texas Christian coach Gary Patterson, 50, was among top candidates sought when Brewster was hired, but it’s highly unlikely he would leave a program that is 6-0 this season. But with a new stadium and a Big Ten Network that gets you on TV every week, he’s certainly worth a call.

Former Gophers quarterback Marc Trestman, 54, raised in St. Louis Park, is expected to get serious consideration. Trestman has coached the Montreal Alouettes to a Canadian Football League Grey Cup championship and runner-up finish his first two seasons and has Montreal leading the CFL’s East Division at 10-4 this season.

Trestman, who also was considered before Brewster was hired, has lots of local support and would be considered an early front-runner if he were interested. But he’s said to have a strong loyalty to his ownership in Montreal.

Arizona’s Mike Stoops, 48, a defensive wizard, would seem a worthwhile prospect.

Mike Bellotti, who built the Oregon program, would seem
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a peripheral prospect. But Bellotti is 59 years old and ultimately was bought out as the Ducks’ athletics director, a job he accepted after coaching the school to 12 bowls in 14 seasons and a 116-55 record. He’s an ESPN college football analyst.

UConn’s Randy Edsall, 57, is a proven winner but an East Coast guy. Northwestern’s Pat Fitzgerald, 35, probably does more with the talent he has than any college coach in America. But he’s a Northwestern grad and may be reluctant to leave.

Former Gophers QB Tony Dungy, who coached the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl championship, will be the first person Minnesota AD Joel Maturi calls. Dungy, an NBC-TV NFL analyst, isn’t interested in coaching the Gophers but is expected to be asked to advise on the coaching search.

It will be interesting whether the university hires Chuck Neinas’ consulting service when it seeks a new Gophers football coach.

Neinas, former Big Eight Conference commissioner and a University of Wisconsin grad, operates a highly respected college coaching search business that was instrumental in Florida hiring Urban Meyer, Texas hiring Mack Brown, Oklahoma hiring Bob Stoops, Miami hiring Randy Shannon and Michigan State hiring Mark Dantonio, among others.

It wouldn’t be surprising if Brewster ends up with assistant-coaching offers from pals Mike Shanahan of the Washngton Redskins or Brown of Texas, where Brewster’s son Nolan is a defensive back.

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