Appalachian State AD Charlie Cobb has realized that his search is dragging on. After being turned down by Buzz Peterson, denied permission to talk to The Citadel’s Ed Conroy, and reportedly making another run at Peterson, Coles has attempted to quiet the critics. He issued the following statement:

http://www.goasu.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=104528&SPID=…

Basically, he is saying that they are in no rush to get this done. He claims that their recruiting is not being impacted because they already have 14 returning players, and wouldn’t be able to sign anyone late anyway. I’m not sure that I agree here. A new coach could make changes and still have time to bring a guy or two in – if he were to be hired SOON. Also, ASU is definitely losing ground on next years class. Now is the time to make inroads with the rising seniors. They are definitely falling behind here.

Cobbs also said that the salary is nowhere near what has been reported. Buzz Peterson was reportedly offered a package in the $250,000 range. Cobb is apparently denying this, saying that they have some financial constraints, but will try to put together a competitive package.

Not sure when this will get done, but I would assume if they can’t pay $250K, Peterson is definitely out. Conroy would probably not be interested either if it is not a significant pay raise. As I’ve said all along, I think it will come down to Missouri assistant Melvin Watkins, and former Alabama assistant James Holland. For the Mountaineers sake, I hope this gets done soon. Cobb says there are still qualified candidates out there (which there are), but the longer it goes, the further they get set back with recruiting.