University of Minnesota President Eric Kaler last week announced a 1,748-member internal search committee to help choose his next athletic director.
Don't worry if you weren't asked to be on it. The invitation is probably still in the mail.
Kaler gave an interesting response to a question about whether the next athletic director should honor existing coaching contracts.
"I think the AD wants to come in eyes wide open," he said. "… It would be highly unlikely that we'd make a high-level [coaching] change in the short term, given where we are now, but again that would be a conversation with the AD."
Kaler hopes to hire an AD by July 1, but the school can't wait that long before making some decision on Don Lucia, the men's hockey coach who is coming off a disappointing season and has only one season left on his contract.
The long-term future of that position is not a decision for an interim athletic director. If Beth Goetz has the interim label removed at the end of the search process, then it should be her call.
My two-cent suggestion: Add another year to Lucia's contract, maybe two, with minimal buyout money and similar salary, which would give the incoming athletic director time to determine how he or she wants to proceed.
A college coach operating in the final year of his contract presents real issues, especially in a highly visible sport. It complicates recruiting, hurts morale and basically invites a constant distraction.