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Don’t expect the Arizona Wildcats to hire a new head football coach soon — because technically they can’t.
A rule set by the Arizona Board of Regents requires all public positions to be posted for 10 days before a hire can be made.
The University of Arizona has not posted the football head coaching job as of Wednesday, so the earliest the UA could name its new head coach is Jan. 14 (assuming the job is posted Thursday).
There was some talk that Arizona might be able to get that rule waived, but Michael Lev of the Arizona Daily Star squashed that Wednesday, saying Arizona will have to abide by the standard 10-day rule.
(Which is a little odd because ASU did not have to wait that long before introducing Herm Edwards.)
I'm told that Arizona would have to abide by the 10-day job-posting window standard to all positions in regard to the head-coach opening. The job has not been posted yet. If it goes up tomorrow, the earliest Arizona could name a coach would be Jan. 13.
— Michael Lev (@MichaelJLev) January 4, 2018
In the meantime, Arizona will set up interviews with prospective coaches and could theoretically come to a verbal agreement with one of them — which may or may not get leaked — however the official announcement will have to wait for at least a week and a half.
Rumored candidates have included former LSU coach Les Miles and former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin.
Rich Rodriguez was fired by Arizona on Tuesday due to claims of sexual harassment and the creation of a hostile workplace.
Follow Ryan Kelapire on Twitter at @RKelapire