ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 7, 1997 TAG: 9701070074
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DANIEL UTHMAN STAFF WRITER
BOBBY ROSS APPEARS TO BE out of the picture after rejecting a weekend offer from VMI's superintendent, Josiah Bunting.
Nearly a month ago, when VMI officials began looking for a new football coach, they said they didn't expect their search to last more than a couple of weeks. They couldn't have expected it to include Bobby Ross, either.
But a lot can happen in a month. And a lot has happened in VMI's search to replace Bill Stewart, who resigned Dec.12 amid allegations he used a racial slur when speaking to a player. The latest developments involved Ross, a 1959 VMI graduate who resigned Friday as head coach of the NFL's San Diego Chargers, citing philosophical differences with management.
Josiah Bunting III, VMI's superintendent, reportedly offered Ross the VMI head coach's job Sunday, and Bunting said at the time he thought there was a ``50-50'' chance Ross would accept. But according to a source close to the program, Bobby Ross told Bunting late Sunday night that he would not be the Keydets' next coach because he had too many NFL offers to return to Lexington at this time.
``It's not going to happen,'' a source close to the VMI program told The Roanoke Times.
Bunting checked out of his San Diego hotel Monday morning and headed to San Francisco, where he was to visit his oldest son, Josiah IV.
Ross is expected to meet today with officials from the NFL's Detroit Lions to discuss their head coaching vacancy.
VMI instead will look to the rest of its list of candidates, including two members of Stewart's staff, assistant head coach Donnie Ross and defensive coordinator Chip Garber. Donnie Ross is the younger brother of Bobby Ross.
Also on the list are North Carolina State offensive coordinator Ted Cain, Miami (Ohio) offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson and Navy offensive coordinator Gene McKeehan.
Ross and Garber were the first two candidates to interview, and although they technically still are in the running, it doesn't bode well that VMI's search has continued following their interviews.
Cain, 44, has been N.C. State's offensive coordinator since 1993, and has ties to the military and to the Southern Conference. A tight end at Furman from 1971-73, he graduated and was a first lieutenant and platoon leader in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers at Fort Benning, Ga., for two years. He coached offense and defense at Furman before joining the N.C. State staff in 1986.
Wilson, a North Carolina native, is a 1984 graduate of North Carolina and was an offensive lineman for the Tar Heels. He also has coached at Winston Salem State and North Carolina A&T.
McKeehan, 51, has been in collegiate coaching for 23 years, including a stint at Virginia in 1979-80 and 14 seasons at Utah State, where he coached 22 All-Big West offensive linemen. He is a native of Compton, Calif.
VMI's search committee contacted a number of other candidates who were not interested.
It called Northwestern University quarterbacks coach Craig Johnson, a former VMI assistant under coach Jim Shuck, but Johnson said he was more interested in staying at the NCAA Division I-A level. Johnson is joining the staff of new Maryland coach Ron Vanderlinden, Northwestern's former defensive coordinator.
Army assistant Greg Gregory also was contacted, but neither he nor anyone else on the Army staff was interested.
VMI athletic director Davis Babb contacted Virginia Tech coach Frank Beamer wanting to know if Jim Cavanaugh, who coaches Tech's strong safeties and outside linebackers, might be interested. Beamer told Cavanaugh of the call and Cavanaugh said he was not interested. Cavanaugh did not speak to Babb.
Former VMI coach Bob Thalman gave Cavanaugh his first full-time college coaching job in 1974. In 1984, when Thalman was fired, Cavanaugh was an assistant to Bobby Ross at Maryland. Ross asked Cavanaugh if he wanted the VMI job, but Cavanaugh declined to become involved. The Keydets hired Eddie Williamson.
Although VMI alumni were elated with the possibility of Bobby Ross returning to his alma mater, Donnie Ross recently said Bobby has some business arrangements that would make a cross-country move unlikely. The NFL's Atlanta Falcons also reportedly have contacted him about their coaching opening, and he met with St.Louis Rams president John Shaw on Saturday.
Ross' agent, Jack Reale, told the San Diego Union-Tribune for Monday's editions that Ross never has considered a return to college football, and that ``all that stuff about college football was circulated by people with an agenda.''
In five seasons with the Chargers, Ross compiled a 47-33 record and guided the team to three playoff berths and its only Super Bowl appearance.
Although going from the NFL to VMI would have been an unusual move, there were reasons to believe it could happen.
Ross' settlement with the Chargers is believed to pay him nearly $1 million per year for the remaining three years of his contract, a sum that likely would be jeopardized if he took another NFL job. The Chargers are paying Ross until he takes another job, and will pay the difference if his next job pays a salary that is less than his settlement with San Diego.
Ross also has expressed his intention to eventually return to Lexington, at least in retirement. According to some people in the town, Donnie was house-hunting for him last year. There also had been speculation Bobby Ross would coach the Keydets for three years or so, then hand the reins to his brother, Donnie, a 1974 VMI graduate.
VMI officials said Monday a new coach will be in place by the end of this week. The Keydets never have had an alumnus as head football coach.
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