Iowa contacted Bruce Pearl and he quickly told them no. Northwestern State's coach was a candidate, I remember that was a bit of irony. Barta said that there were 2 finalists. Most people believed Altman was the other finalist, especially because he took the Arkansas job (and then backed out to return to Creighton) the day Lick took Iowa's.
Speaking of runners-up for jobs, ISU called Michigan to talk with assistant coach Bill Frieder about their job and Johnny Orr intercepted the call, found that he could make more money at a school that had no football program to speak of, and became a legitimate candidate. Those involved in the search had their favorites, but the Army head coach was the favorite of most. When a Big Ten head coach became involved, they changed their minds, so the Army coach came in second and ended up at Duke.
