Boston College Football Coaching Search: Pete Carmichael Jr. On BC's Radar

Updates from the Boston College football coaching search, where A.D. Bates has already spoken with commissioners, ADs, head coaches and NFL contacts:

Taking advantage of all available resources in coaching search; having conversations with commissioners, ADs, head coaches, NFL contacts.

— Brad Bates (@BCBradBates) November 27, 2012

-- New Orleans Saints offensive coordinator and Boston College alum Pete Carmichael Jr. is on Bates' radar, according to ESPN's Adam Schefter.

Saints OC Pete Carmichael Jr., a BC graduate, is on radar of BC athletic dept. as a potential HC, per source.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 27, 2012

Prior to his stint as the Saints OC, Carmichael worked as an assistant WR coach for the San Diego Chargers (2002-05), an offensive assistant for the Washington Redskins (2001) and a TE / offensive assistant coach for the Cleveland Browns (2000). He also served as Louisiana Tech's QB coach from 1995-99 and an assistant OL coach for New Hampshire in 1994.

It's unclear if the interest is mutual.

-- The Globe's Christopher Glasper names Carmichael Jr., Harvard's Tim Murphy and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen as possible candidates for the BC job. Though he does go on to say that Northwestern's Pat Fitzgerald "would be a dream candidate for BC" when there is roughly a zero percent chance BC could lure Fitz away from his ALMA MATER.

-- CBS Sports' Bruce Feldman lists Narduzzi, San Francisco 49ers OC Greg Roman and Arizona Cardinals assistant John McNulty as possible candidates for the position.

-- Blaudschun reports that Bates has been authorized to pay as much as $2 million a year to the next head coach, a significant upgrade from Spaziani's annual $1.1 million salary. That might be just enough money to entice Miami's Al Golden or Mississippi State's Dan Mullen to make a intra-BCS AQ move.

-- A Jersey Guy also (once again) floats both Mark Whipple and Harvard's Tim Murphy as possible candidates though I highly doubt either one gets a serious look.

-- Penn State coach Bill O'Brien reconfirmed his commitment to returning to Penn State in 2013, though his agent Joe Linta specifically mentioned Boston College in a quote to ESPN.

"There are 10 kids left each year that won't get scholarships now," Linta said. "It's not like the NCAA gave an extra 10 scholarships to Boston College."

Freudian slip? There was a time when BC could have easily landed BOB as the program's next football coach. Unfortunately that was at the end of last season; not now.

-- Meanwhile, back in #MACtion, it sounds like Northern Illinois' Dave Doeren is no longer a candidate for Purdue's vacant head coaching position.

According to a source close to Northern Illinois coach Dave Doeren, he is no longer a candidate for #Purdue job.

— GoldandBlack.com (@GoldandBlackcom) November 27, 2012

Thought it looks like Ball State's Pete Lembo IS a finalist for the Boilermakers top job.

-- Yahoo! Sports' Pat Forde ranks the current job openings based on desirability, placing the vacant Boston College job 7th of 9th, ahead of only Kentucky and Colorado. I suppose that's fair, though I'd argue BC is a better job than Purdue and closer to N.C. State than Forde suggests.

-- ESPN's Andrea Adelson weighs in on what both Boston College and N.C. State can realistically expect from their football program's head coaching searches. I don't think that Bates is naive enough to narrow the search to candidates that treat BC as a "destination-type" job. I disagree that Bates shouldn't strive to shoot for the moon and knock this hire out of the park, but I do agree that the right candidate can win at BC, despite tougher academic standards.

-- In a Herald letter to the editor, a reader claims Boston College needs Doug Flutie as its next head coach. Going further, the reader claims that "the stupid move away from the Big East is what decimated Boston College's program." To be clear, the move out of the Big East has zero to do with the current state of the football program and everything to do with DeFilippo's decision to hire Spaziani. Besides, there's no going back to the Big East circa 2003. The conference looks more like Conference USA than it ever has become with the distinct possibility that at least one more defection is imminent.

-- Louisiana Tech head coach Sonny Dykes will interview for the vacant N.C. State job on Wednesday. For whatever reason, I feel better about the prospects of the Air Raid in Raleigh; especially if Boston College ends up with a defensive-minded coach like Notre Dame's Bob Diaco or Michigan State's Pat Narduzzi.

-- In non-news regarding N.C. State's search to replace Tom O'Brien, Clemson OC Chad Morris hasn't spoken to N.C. State.

-- Arkansas is throwing gobs and gobs of $$$ at LSU's Les Miles in an attempt to woo a fellow SEC West coach. Five years, $27.5 million dollars is a LOT of cheddar. Will be interesting to see what the Hat does here. Miles' current contract at LSU pays $3.75 million annually with various incentive clauses.

-- Vanderbilt's A.D. David Williams uses the S word, claiming that the Commodores football program is not a stepping stone position for James Franklin.

"James understands if we do things that we can do to be a class program, he can win here just as he can win somewhere else, so you don't have a need to go somewhere else to win," Williams said.

"We went from 2-10, 2-10 to 6-6 and a bowl loss to 8-4 and a bowl trip, so yes you can win. You can win at Vanderbilt, and when you think of it we haven't done all the things that we need to, and can do, to make the experience more attractive. I think he understands this is a place he can win if we're committed, and we are committed, and he can create a legacy here absolutely."

N.C. State athletic director Debbie Yow also confirms that Franklin, while a "good friend," is not a candidate for the Wolfpack job.

Remember when Franklin was in line to take the reigns at Maryland? Glad that didn't happen. Let's hope Franklin steers clear of the ACC.

-- One vacancy has been filled, with Kentucky hiring Florida State D.C. Mark Stoops. Not sure what this says about the Boston College search, but if UK is settling on a college coordinator / assistant coach as next head coach, what does that say, if anything, about the type of candidate that Boston College can land?