Y. might not go far for AD

PROVO — If you're betting the odds, Peter Pilling and Tom Holmoe, both senior athletic administrators at BYU, are favorites to be hired as BYU's new athletic director when a decision is announced in the next two weeks.

So it was at the start, so it may end at the finish line.

The most qualified candidate on the board, Florida Atlantic University athletic director Craig Angelos, withdrew from consideration for BYU's job search on Friday.

"After meeting with university officials, it became apparent that it was not the right fit for either party at this time nor was the timing right," said Angelos on Friday in a news release.

"I support BYU and wish them nothing but success in their athletic endeavors. They truly are a first-class university," he added.

Angelos is a native of Utah and attended BYU while playing baseball there. He has been involved in intercollegiate athletics at the NCAA level for 15 years, including stops at the NCAA, University of Miami and Indiana University. He has been athletic director at FAU since the summer of 2003.

BYU vice president Fred Skousen asked Angelos to apply for the job in January. Similar requests were extended to former NFL players Gifford Nielsen and Vai Sikahema, now TV sports personalities in big markets. Both declined to go after the job, although Sikahema interviewed by phone a week ago to "experience the process."

On Thursday, BYU basketball coach Steve Cleveland squelched rumors surrounding his status and interest in the athletic director job when he told reporters after practice he had no interest in any employment other than basketball coach.

Other candidates who may have their names in the final mix include former hospital administrator Jeff Bills, from Reno, Nev., who played baseball for the Cougars in the 1970s, and former Cougar football player Bart Oats, now an attorney living on the East Coast. BYU did ask several faculty members to interview for the job, including Dr. Craig Poole, the successful women's track and field head coach.

In September 2004, Pilling and Holmoe joined associate athletic directors Brian Santiago and Janie Penfield in running the day-to-day administration of BYU's athletic department under the direction of Skousen, advancement vice president.

This ad hoc administration has overseen consolidation of the men's and women's athletic department since the dismissal of athletic directors Val Hale and Elaine Michaelis. Decisions have also included dismissal of eight employees, including head football coach Gary Crowton and volleyball coach Karen Lamb, and the hiring of their replacements.

"There is so much on the table right now," said one BYU athletic department employee, who has met regularly with the committee. "It is so deep and the breadth is wide. I don't know how it will get done by an outsider, who'd take more than a year to understand it all."

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E-mail: dharmon@desnews.com