Missouri AD says he’s not locked in on Tom Herman

University of Missouri athletic director Mack Rhoades’ undisclosed “A list” surely includes the man he hired just before leaving the University of Houston, Tom Herman.

But Rhoades isn’t going to make following this quite that simple.

“Searches are a journey,” he said. “... I never go into a search locked in on any one particular candidate. You just don’t. Because it can close your mind to that other candidate that’s a better fit.”

Rhoades is seeking a replacement for Gary Pinkel, who announced Friday that he has non-Hodgkin lymphoma and will retire at the end of the season.

Rhoades was asked about presumptive candidates Herman and Justin Fuente of Memphis.

But after saying he was “certainly partial to Tom Herman since I hired him” and calling Fuente “another terrific coach,” he said, “But I want to caution everybody. I’m not locked into any certain candidate whatsoever, because it’s about fit.

“With all due respect to Tom Herman, does he have that same success at another school? He was a great fit at the University of Houston. Justin Fuente? Great fit at Memphis.

“For us here, it’s about fit. I’m not into the hottest names out there, and those are certainly two of them, (but) that doesn’t mean they will automatically come here, be a great fit and win games here.”

The composite picture of his ideal candidate, which he’ll seek to find with the help of two or three unidentified staff members and perhaps a search firm, will look something like this: Resounding “CEO-type” leadership qualities … Somebody who “has a great ability to put together and assemble a staff and (understands) the alignment of a staff.” … “A relentless recruiter. Somebody that loves to recruit. An insatiable appetite for recruiting.” … “And then, somebody that if I had a son, I would want him to play for them.”

He also didn’t rule out continuity from Pinkel’s staff, on which the most likely potential candidate seems to be defensive coordinator Barry Odom.

“All I’m locked in on,” Rhoades said, “is about the right person.”

The right person could command more money than Pinkel, who at just over $4 million a year was the 10th-highest-paid coach in the SEC.

“It’s market-driven,” Rhoades said. “And if it’s the right guy, we’ll need to pay what we need to pay.”

Rhoades declined to put a timeline on the process, which maybe he defined best when asked what he’d learned from the workings of his previous football hire … Herman.

“At the end of the day, you can sit here and call every potential reference, talk to folks that are well-vetted in this industry,” he said. “You can look at analytics, all the past records.

“But at the end of the day … it’s really a gut feel.”

This story was originally published November 19, 2015 at 11:43 AM with the headline "Missouri AD says he’s not locked in on Tom Herman."