UT’s Wilcox The Frontrunner For Arizona State?

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Yesterday, it looked like June Jones had the Arizona State job in hand.  Rumors hit the messageboards that Jones would target a top defensive coordinator so he could focus on his offense and the name that got the most play was that of Tennessee’s Justin Wilcox.

A day later, Jones is heading back to SMU with his tail between his legs and Wilcox is reportedly a hot candidate for the head coaching job himself.

John Gambadoro of KTAR-AM in Phoenix tweeted the following this afternoon:


“While its impossible to determine how many cooks are in the ASU kitchen — I am being told that Tenn DC Wilcox is a frontrunner for the job”


Wilcox is a West Coast guy having played at Oregon and coached at California and Boise State.  Derek Dooley — who had coached against Wilcox in the WAC — lured him to Knoxville where in his second year he had Tennessee ranked #28 in the nation in total defense and #35 in scoring defense.  Not bad considering the youth and inexperience on UT’s roster.

Last offseason, Texas made a run at Wilcox before settling on Manny Diaz as defensive coordinator.