Here are some names that I’ve heard surrounding the search at Austin Peay. Obviously it’s early here, with Dave Loos just announcing his retirement yesterday, but the administration is already getting rolling with the search. It sounds like there is a lot of sentiment to keep the job “in the family,” but we’ll see how that plays out. The names that I’ve heard so far are:
- Bryan Ayers – Associate Head Coach Belmont. Has been at Belmont for the past nineteen seasons. A native of Clarksville, TN (where APSU is located), he also worked on the Governors staff in the mid-1990’s.
- Murray Bartow – Interim Head Coach South Florida. Long-time head coach at East Tennessee State (224-165 in 12-seasons). Took over at USF midway through this season when Orlando Antigua was fired.
- Jay Bowen – Assistant Head Coach Austin Peay. In his second stint on Loos’ staff. Was also an assistant at APSU in 2001-02, and has been an assistant at Chattanooga, Tennessee Martin, and Georgia State.
- Bret Campbell – Head Coach Chipola College. Former head coach at Tennessee Martin (1999-2009). Served as an assistant at Austin Peay from 2009-14.
- Scott Combs – Head Coach Martin Methodist. Former player at Austin Peay who also spent twelve seasons as an assistant to Loos. Has had a ton of success at Martin Methodist, and is currently 22-9 this season.
- Corey Gibson – Associate Head Coach Missouri State. 2004 Austin Peay graduate who served as an assistant there three seasons. Was also the associate head coach at UNC Greensboro.
- Bubba Wells– Assistant Coach SIU Edwardsville. All-time leading scorer at APSU (2,267 points). The Hall of Famer also spent ten seasons on Loos’ staff before becoming an assistant at SIUE in 2015.
