BU Coaching Rumor Roundup: A New Frontrunner, and a Lot of New Names

I'll be the first to admit I've been a little negligent over the past week, as the BU coaching search has been heating up nationally. Lots of updates to get to.

Tony Jones
Is there a new front-runner? Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe thinks so, and it's Tennessee assistant coach Tony Jones. Jones is by all accounts a great assistant and has a great resume, having spent four years at Tennessee since following Bruce Pearl there after four years at Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He also spent a few years at Toledo and Buffalo. But Jeff Goodman is confused by the focus on Jones: he has zero ties to the New England/New York City region. He's a midwest guy through and through.

I'm interested to see where it goes. Can a guy come in and be successful without any access to BU's historical recruiting grounds

Steve Donahue
Blaudschun spent a whole article talking about Cornell coach Steve Donahue, only to find out the next day that Donahue isn't interested.

Fran McCaffery
Oy. The coaching search firm screwed up on this one. Blaudschun says they "emailed" Siena coach Fran McCaffery about coming to talk in Boston. Yes, the same guy who just won an NCAA game for the second straight year and is being talked about for Big East and ACC jobs. Not only that, but when McCaffery told them they needed permission from the Siena AD to talk to him, "they didn't seem willing to do that," according to McCaffrey!

The idea of McCaffery coming to BU is laughable, and the Times Union's Mark Singelais agrees. He even calls it "silly." Dear Parker Executive Search, please don't turn our program into a laughingstock anymore.

Jay Lawson
Apparently the search firm talked to D-2 Bentley's coach Jay Lawson for "a two-minute conversation." Lawson seems to be a good coach, but this one gets slammed by Jeff Goodman, who questions the need for a search firm to find a guy who lives 2 minutes down the road.

Rob Burke and Pat Chambers
Finally, Blaudschun casually drops the fact that two more guys have been interviewed: Georgetown associate coach Rob Burke and Villanova assistant Pat Chambers. I can't even keep up with all these guys.

It may be easier to keep up with who is NOT getting interviewed:

Pittsburgh assistant Tom Herrion: "No one has contacted me yet."
Louisville assistant Richard Pitino: "I haven't heard a thing."
Ex-Providence coach Tim Welsh: "No one has called me."

Is Parker calling all the people who don't make any sense, and refusing to call the people seem to make the most sense? Or was Mark Blaudschun basically wrong on all of his initial guesses?