Search firm allows Kentucky to search for new coach quietly

ATLANTA -- Maybe the only person who wasn't shocked when Tubby Smith left Kentucky for Minnesota was Dan Parker.

The president of Parker Executive Search helped Minnesota land the longtime Wildcats coach, working behind the scenes for several weeks to help the Golden Gophers in making the kind of buzz-building hire that can bolster a program.

It was a hire that might not have been possible without the use of a group like Parker's. The firm laid out so much of the groundwork for Smith's transition that by the time the story broke Smith was on a plane to Minnesota to start his new job.

"Our dream is we'd love to walk somebody to the podium and have people say 'Wow,"' Parker said. "You can't do that (with coaches) because they have to tell their players. But if we can keep (the speculation) down to the last 12 hours, we're successful."

The manner in which Parker helped orchestrate Smith's departure so quietly is one of the main reasons an increasing number of schools are turning to search firms to assist in the hiring process.

Just ask Kentucky. A few days after Smith's departure, the university contacted Parker's firm to help find Smith's replacement.

While Parker's job this time is more difficult - it's been widely speculated that Florida coach Billy Donovan is a leading candidate - he views the lack of any actual news on the search as proof the process is working.

"We protect the coach, we protect athletic directors," Parker said. "Confidentiality is No. 1."

Kentucky athletic director Mitch Barnhart has declined comment on the search until a new coach is in place. And while Donovan has skirted around questions about whether he's interested in the job, he's probably not the only candidate.

Parker said six to 12 candidates usually make the final list, but he wouldn't speculate on how many candidates Kentucky has contacted, adding the typical search takes about two weeks. Ask him if that means Kentucky's next coach will be hired by April 5 -- two weeks exactly after Smith left -- and he just says: "It'll end soon, I promise."

For the last 25 years, Parker's firm has been assisting colleges in finding new presidents and companies new executives. The phenomenon is new to college athletics.

Parker placed his first coach three years ago and now has helped several dozen coaches find new jobs. And while nearly every university that comes to Parker looking for a coach already has a candidate or two in mind, Parker said 80 percent of the actual hires are a coach not on the school's original list.

"We focus on showing them a diverse field," Parker said. "Often they're not familiar with the coach they hire at first or think they're not interested."