Seven weeks into USC's search and AD Mike Bohn continues to gather information on potential candidates, doing background due diligence and having plenty of conversations with power brokers. FootballScoop continues to hear of Bohn's intrigue with both James Franklin and Chris Petersen.
Franklin has addressed USC's interest and did not shoot it down. Petersen, of course, is a future College Football Hall of Famer and in his second season out of coaching. Still only 57, Petersen has considered; but ultimately turned down overtures from USC before.
Earlier today, 2002 Heisman Trophy winner Carson Palmer appeared on Dan Patrick's radio show and said he has been involved in the search. "I'm as involved as they'll let me be," was how he put it.
Palmer mentioned Franklin, Matt Campbell, Luke Fickell and Mike Tomlin among a gaggle of front-runners.
"You've got Penn State, Iowa State, Cincinnati, you've got a wild card like a Mike Tomlin. At the end of the day, there is not a direct 'that's the guy' everybody's pointing their fingers at. There's a lot of great options."
Another coach that sources have said could be of interest to USC AD Mike Bohn is Raheem Morris.
Morris is in his first season working across town as the Rams' defensive coordinator. Still only 45, he spent three season as the Tampa Bay Bucs head coach and five as the assistant head coach to Dan Quinn with the Falcons.
Plenty of agents are still making the case to Bohn for their man. This one still has a ways to go. We expect this search to narrow significantly over the coming weeks.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.