Air Force vice athletic director Brad DeAustin said Sunday the academy received a smattering of inquiries about the vacant men’s basketball coaching job even though Chris Mooney’s departure came late last week, catching everybody by surprise.
DeAustin expects more inquiries early this week, and assistant coaches Larry Mangino and Mike McKee have indicated interest in moving up. DeAustin said the process to replace Mooney would not begin until today, when athletic director Hans Mueh returns from vacation.
“This thing came upon us so suddenly that we really haven’t even started to think about a replacement,” DeAustin said. “We’ll certainly consider both of our assistant coaches. We’ll look at who else might be out there, put all the names in a hat, shake it and see what comes out.”
DeAustin said head coaching experience could be a factor, but he didn’t classify it as a “deal breaker.”
DeAustin said the athletic department and the players are regrouping. The players openly supported the decision to promote Mooney to head coach a year ago when Joe Scott resigned to take the Princeton job. Mooney’s first team finished 18-12. The Falcons were 22-7 in Scott’s last year.
“I’m sure this surprised a lot of the players and they were disappointed,” DeAustin said.
DeAustin said the only deadline would be to have a coach named before players leave for the summer in early June.
Irv Moss can be reached at 303-820-1296 or imoss@denverpost.com.
