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BUCKHANNON, W.Va. — Rumors about Dana Holgorsen’s future continued to swirl Monday, with several schools reportedly interested in trying to entice the WVU head coach to leave Morgantown.
Texas Tech was the first school reported to express interest in Holgorsen; the Red Raiders fired Kliff Kingsbury Sunday after six seasons. Louisville and Colorado are also thought to be in the mix.
Holgorsen was an assistant at Texas Tech from 2000-2007, where he led a high-flying offense under Mike Leach.
Texas sports columnist Kirk Bohls, however, said on Twitter Monday that Tech is trying to distance itself from both those former coaches.
“A high-ranking Texas Tech official tells me ‘absolutely under no circumstances’ will the school even consider rehiring Mike Leach. ‘Dana Holgorsen is not on the list either,’” Bohls tweeted.
Holgorsen is 61-40 as the head coach of the Mountaineers and 33-30 in Big 12 play, including Friday night’s loss in a down-to-the-wire shootout with No. 5 Oklahoma. He’s beaten Texas Tech the last five years.
In late 2016, Holgorsen signed a contract extension that would keep him in the Mountain State through 2021. He made $3.6 million this year.
Per Holgorsen’s contract, he would owe WVU $2.5 million if he leaves this year and $1 million if he leaves after Dec. 31.
Although some WVU fans have expressed dissatisfaction with Holgorsen after back-to-back losses knocked the Mountaineers out of Big 12 title contention, the coach and his explosive offensive tendencies have attracted plenty of attention from other schools around the country.
His hiring would likely be well received in Lubbock.
“If Texas Tech can get @Holgorsendana away from WVU, that’d be a home run for Red Raiders,” Bohls wrote on Twitter. “We were talking about this in the press box at Kansas. WVU has never truly embraced @Holgorsendana, it seems. Would be an awesome fit in Lubbock.”
In other college coaching news, former Texas coach Mack Brown is reportedly close to signing a deal that would bring him to the University of North Carolina.
Brown, a hall of fame and national champion coach, would replace Larry Fedora, who went 45-43 in his seven seasons at UNC.
Although the 67-year-old Brown has been out of coaching for the last five years, a return to Chapel Hill would bring the coach back to a familiar locale: he was 69-46-1 at North Carolina during his first stint in the 1990s, finishing in the top 10 twice.
