Top Coaching Job Is Open for Mr. X

NORTHRIDGE â€”  He will coach the most important sports team at Cal State Northridge, guiding a talent-rich squad into its critical, prove-it-wasn’t-a-fluke second season in the Big Sky Conference.

All of which makes this football coach certain to be one of the region’s most influential sports figures in 1997.

Problem is, we don’t know who he is.

Since Dave Baldwin left Northridge for San Jose State on Dec. 6, dozens of resumes and phone calls have poured into the athletic offices from coaches eager to take over the Matadors.

The only certainty about the new coach, expected to be named in the first 10 days of the year, is he likely will use an offense similar to the one that Baldwin installed.

Northridge’s ball-control, passing offense was so effective that the Matadors finished with the second-best passing statistics in Division I-AA. And virtually all of the players who made that scheme work will be back.

“I’m not interested in someone who’s going to run the wishbone,� Athletic Director Paul Bubb said.

The current offense is not only effective, but entertaining. And Bubb realizes that it’s critical for Northridge to attract the number of fans it needs to justify building a new stadium, a requirement of the Big Sky.

Beyond his offensive requirement, Bubb is not tipping his hand as to what he’s looking for in a new coach.

“There’s such a wide variety of people out there right now that [listing certain qualities] might really limit me,� Bubb said.

In Bubb’s last two significant hirings--basketball Coach Bobby Braswell and baseball Coach Mike Batesole--he went for young, ambitious coaches who were obviously eager to make a name for themselves. But Bubb said he isn’t necessarily going the same way this time.

“I couldn’t tell you if a veteran coach would be [better] than an up-and-comer or vice versa,� Bubb said. “Each one brings different things to the table.�

Regardless of who gets the job, expectations will be high. Northridge finished 7-4 last season and has key players returning at almost every position. If the new coach can plug four or five holes in the lineup after he is hired, Northridge should challenge for the conference title in 1997 and a berth in the I-AA playoffs.

Anything less and there will be a lot of second-guessing.