The UA athletic department yesterday contradicted recent reports naming Oklahoma co-defensive coordinator Mike Stoops as the top candidate to permanently fill the football team's head coaching position.
There are no leading candidates, said Rocky LaRose, senior associate director of athletics and head of the search committee seeking coaching candidates.
"We've not ranked the coaches in any way," LaRose said. "We're talking to all the people that are on our list and trying to decipher interests on both sides."
The Tucson Citizen reported last week that an anonymous source within the UA athletic department and close to the football program had disclosed Stoops as the top candidate for the UA job, currently held by interim head coach Mike Hankwitz.
Hankwitz was given the temporary nod after John Mackovic was fired Sept. 28. He was in the midst of his third season in Tucson, and had posted a 10-18 overall record with the Wildcats.
Arizona fell to 2-9 Saturday after losing 45-0 to No. 2 Southern California at Arizona Stadium.
The official list of candidates has now reached 13, but another well-known head coach threw his hat into the ring last week, LaRose said.
"(He is) somebody who's prominent and has had a great career and is pretty successful," she said.
Four candidates on the official list have said they are most likely uninterested in the position, bringing the list of likely candidates to 10, LaRose said.
None of the names on the list could be revealed yet, she added. LaRose would not say if former Alabama and Washington State head coach Mike Price was on the list.
Price has been rumored to be a possible replacement, but President Peter Likins has expressed strong opposition to his hiring because of the controversy surrounding Price's firing from Alabama after a strip club incident.
The department's original goal of naming a replacement by Dec. 1 may not be met, LaRose said.
"That wasn't a hard and fast date," she said.
The athletic department would like to name a new coach as soon as possible, however.
"We would love to have an announcement by the first week in December," LaRose said, adding that athlete recruitment begins at the same time.
"We want him here as soon as possible," she said.
Some coaches have contractual obligations that may preclude them from negotiating with the UA. The athletic department understands coaches have responsibilities and will work with any possible coach's situation, LaRose said.
The UA would want the same courtesy from another university if it ever tried to hire a UA coach away, she added.