Copy of story from Minot Daily News (link)

Big decision looms at MSU

About a week ago, I teased Minot State University athletic director Rick Hedberg about having nothing to do. Of course, this was meant to be playful as everyone who follows MSU athletics knows just how busy Hedberg was — and still is for that matter.

Barring any unforseen circumstances, the university will decide by the first week of January who will take over as the new head coach of MSU football. The job has been open since former head coach Mike Sivertson resigned in November.

This isn't going to be an easy task for Hedberg.

There probably isn't an “easy” coaching hire at the collegiate level, but this decision is important for the school in many ways.

First, whether you are a fan of football or not, the sport is still the premiere game at the university. They don't build Alerus Centers or Fargodomes or even Community Bowls for the other sports and they certainly don't build them for concerts and monster truck rallies. Those events simply help pay the bills while the football team isn't on the field. If you don't think so, ask the North Dakota High School Activities Association why the state has had to change the times for the Dakota Bowl the last two seasons. Answer — conflicts with the college teams in both towns.

Second, the university is seriously contemplating moving to NCAA Division II and the main push behind those types of moves is football. The football team will be the flagship for the university and the head coach will have to be able to sell his product to both players and fans.

And last, winning is always important to any program. “Winning cures all ills” was mentioned more than once during the interview process this past week. To help sell a new stadium and to convince everyone that Minot State can compete in Division II, the program will need to win. And, maybe even more importantly, it will need to win early.

Herein lies the problem, there is very little that separates the four finalists: Tony Biesiot, Robert Barnhill, Paul Rudolph and Joseph Austin. They all seem very capable of handling the program and all were very good to deal with in the interview process with the media. All four said the right things and answered the questions very well. I guess they are finalists for a reason.

That brings me to the inevitable prediction. In true Vegas style, the Michael “Danny Sheridan” Linnell odds are as follows: Rudolph, 2-1; Biesiot, 5-1; Barnhill, 10-1; Austin, 30-1.

It certainly wouldn't surprise me, however, if Biesiot is the guy. He is going to be a head coach someday and all he needs is a little more experience. I would completely throw my hat in the ring for Biesiot if he had one year as a coordinator.

Rudolph is the odds on favorite in most people's eyes because of his ties to the university and because he was a finalist for the position when Sivertson was hired, but his experience is what should be taken in account. It is what separates him from the other four. Rudolph is the only candidate with head coaching experience, he has been a successful assistant at a very good Division II team, he has NCAA compliance experience which could come in handy AND he has ties to the university. It is a good fit.

I believe Rudolph is the best bet for MSU. My only hope is that if one of the other three candidates gets the job, they don't read this.

(Michael Linnell is the sports editor for The Minot Daily News. He can be reached by e-mail at mlinnell@minotdailynews.com )