Breaking down the finalists

Utah State is going to name a new football coach in a matter of days — athletic director Scott Barnes said Saturday he wanted to wrap it all up three weeks after the firing of Brent Guy — and there are pretty much five names Aggie fans should be paying attention to.

In alphabetical order — hey, I’m not trying to accidentally play favorites on this ist — here are a few of the pros and cons of the unofficial list of finalists.

Gary Andersen: The Utah defensive coordinator is relatively young, has a strong personality and recruiting ties up and down the state. He’ll be able to hit the ground running with the Aggies and has the Utes playing with one of the top defenses in the country. On the other hand, Aggie fans will look at the one-and-done stint as head coach at Southern Utah before running back to the Utes. Plus, there’s no reason to think Andersen would not jump back to Utah again — especially if Kyle Whittingham is lured away. Another negative, if you absolutely must look at it this way, is that USU has not had good luck hiring defensive coordinators as head coaches lately.

Kent Baer: He’s an Aggie to the core. After growing up in Cache Valley and staring for Utah State, Baer has always held his USU roots dear to is heart. He’s coached as a defensive coordinator for nearly 30 years at some of the biggest and best programs in the country. Often, his defenses have had some of the best stats — against some of the best competition — in the NCAA. He might be loyal to a fault. In following Tyrone Willingham from one program to another, his reputation has been tarnished by the overall failures of his boss’ teams. He took the sword a year ago when Willingham was trying to save his own job at Washington. He landed at San Jose State where he is now the linebackers coach — that has many USU fans asking this: Do we want the SJSU linebacker coach to be our head coach?

Michael ‘Chico’ Canales: Like Baer, he is an Aggie and is not shy about discussing his love for Utah State. As USU’s quarterback a couple of decades ago, Canales was ‘the man’ on campus. Since then, he’s had a long and successful career as an assistant coach and applied for the USU job four years ago but withdrew when it either appeared the Aggies were going with another candidate or he figured out Utah State was not in a position to be successful for a few years. After spending a few seasons as offensive coordinator at South Florida when the school started up the program, he moved on to North Carolina State, the New York Jets and Arizona. Also like Baer, he took the fall for a struggling head coach and was let go from Arizona and landed at USF again as passing game coordinator with his old boss. The Aggies could use a bright offensive mind to spark what appears to be a talented team. But is Chico the man?

John L. Smith: He’s been there, done that. The last time USU had back-to-back non-losing seasons, Smith was the coach. He is very popular, yet very much not so after bailing out on the Aggies before the 1997 Humanitarian Bowl where Utah State’s players were unprepared and unfocused in a loss. He’s a winner, despite his mediocre record at Michigan State. Though he still lives in Louisville, he is from the West and has deep, deep roots here. He’s a proven recruiter, a proven winner at times and has had tremendous coaching staffs helping him out. He is an attention grabber and knows how to use and take advantage of the media. But he’s getting a little old and, as Aggie fans have experienced first hand, he’s not afraid to jump to greener pastures once he’s got a a few wins. Word on the street is Smith did not exactly impress USU brass with his interview — expecting his reputation and name to do the talking for him.

DeWayne Walker: He coached at USU for a season about 15 years ago and has moved onward and upward since with stops in the NFL, at USC and now at UCLA. He’s got serious Pac 10 experience and recruiting connections. If Utah State wanted to make a splash not just locally with the hire, but nationally, signing an African-American coach when there are currently only three such coaches at all Division I (FBS) schools. Hiring Walker would create an incredible amount of good will and positive attention for Utah State. But, he’s also likely a short-term hire for the Aggies if they go this direction. If he’s successful, he’s gone in three seasons. If the Aggies struggle again, he’s fired just like Guy. Word on the street, however, told me Walker is making himself wanted in Logan. He’s supposedly soured on the San Diego State job and would not mind getting his first head coach job at a school like USU where expectations are not sky-high and he can build something outside the intense media microscope of Southern California.