In case you missed tonight's show, these were the highlights:
Jeff said the coaching hire is not a "done deal," but "it's very close." He said he wanted to finish it "in a week to 10 days."
He said he wants a coach with Division I (that includes FCS, remember) head coaching experience.
He said when he met with the players on Sunday, he promised everyone who had a scholarship that they would be given a scholarship next year, whether they are injured or not. He said the entire academic support group from the athletic department was in the meeting and he made it clear they are there to help the players succeed and that they WANT them all to stay in the program.
He said he is waiting on the final gift to finish fundraising for the new turf. Even if this person turns him down, he is confident he will get the final amount necessary to have the turf installed by next season. Cost: $1 million.
He said he will look at reallocating funding within the football operations budget, which he said is in the upper one-third of the Big Sky Conference, to see if he can find the ability to send the football team on charter flights again, rather than commercial or bus.
He said he has addressed ISU's APR situation with the coaching candidates and made it clear that handling the situation will be critically important.
He said Bill Byrne, an ISU alum who is now the AD at Texas A&M and was the AD at Oregon and Nebraska before that, gave him good advice when he was first hired as ISU's AD: "He told me to always be looking for my next coach." Jeff said he and Dr. Vailas consulted on the situation, then began contacting athletic directors and coaches throughout the West to get input on potential coaching candidates.
He said the new coach is ging to have to play a big role in fundraising and increasing interest in the program.
Finally, Jeff said there is no consensus among Big Sky ADs on the best way to schedule the new, 13-footbal team, 11-basketball team conference. He said the best solution would be to add a 12th team in all sports (14th in football) and break into divisions.