CHAMPAIGN, ILL. • As Illinois athletics director Mike Thomas launches his search for a football coach, he carries with him a record of plucking up-and-coming candidates from the mid-major ranks.
During his tenure at Cincinnati, he hired two football coaches — Brian Kelly and Butch Jones — who enjoyed success at Central Michigan of the Mid-American Conference. Basketball coach Mick Cronin was hired from Murray State. Women's soccer coach Michelle Salmon arrived from Ball State.
It's not known yet whether he will continue that trend and target one of many hot prospects at non-BCS schools. But his past performance points out what seems to be a preference for candidates with head coaching experience over successful assistants at a higher level.
"My history leans toward head coaches, but I would tell you this is an open process and that I wouldn't be exclusive to just head coaches,'' he said. "I'm a fan of hiring someone who believes in a holistic approach.
"It's not just what happens on the field, although we're here to win championships. (I look at) their philosophy regarding academics, kids in the community and being first-rate ambassadors. Someone with a clean record that deals with integrity."
The country is teeming with coaches who have made a splash outside of the six major conferences, Kevin Sumlin at Houston, Dave Doeren at Northern Illinois, Tim Beckman at Toledo and Larry Fedora at Southern Mississippi among them.
Fedora is an interesting prospect, and not only because of his success as a head coach. He was offensive coordinator at Florida under Ron Zook, who then hired him as offensive coordinator for Illinois in 2005. A month later, he accepted the offensive coordinator job at Oklahoma State.
Thomas said he plans to have someone hired by the time the Illini play in a bowl game. He will rely on a search committee but not employ a search firm at this time. And he said his style is to keep the process quiet until a decision is made.
"My hope is that this concludes as soon as possible,'' Thomas said. "I plan to move quickly with the search. I won't get into naming names. Once this process starts, the next time you'll hear from me as it relates to the search is when I'm sitting here announcing a new football coach."
Players and recruits will be watching closely. Thomas said he would reach out to the high school players who have committed to the Illini already and honor the offers that have been extended.
Meanwhile, many current players took news of Zook's firing hard. Speaking for his teammates, senior Trulon Henry noted the close relationship between Zook and much of the team. He said finding the right match is important.
"You lose your leader and a lot of emotions get stirred up,'' Henry said. "Now we have to look for a new leader, and I feel for the young guys who have to meet a new coach. They have to believe in that coach. There's a lot that goes into it. You have to love your coach. You've got to want to go out and play for your coach."
Thomas had success with his previous coaching choices. Kelly was 34-6 at Cincinnati in three seasons, and the Bearcats rose to No. 3 in the BCS standings in 2009 before playing in the Sugar Bowl. After Kelly departed for Notre Dame, Cincinnati finished 4-8 in Jones' first season but is 8-3 in 2011.
With the many coaches being fired in the last few days, Thomas could find himself competing with other schools. But after three months on the job, he has yet to find any reasons that Illinois can't be a consistent winner in football, he said.
"If I'm going to get into a competition with others looking for a head coach,'' he said, "I'd put our 'tale of the tape' against anybody's."
