Titans’ Murphy Will Talk to San Jose State About Job

Cal State Fullerton football Coach Gene Murphy said he has arranged to speak to San Jose State Athletic Director Tom Brennan, either in person or by telephone, Sunday to discuss the vacant Spartan coaching job.

Murphy stressed that this wasn’t a formal interview, but he didn’t rule out the possibility of one in the future.

“I won’t have any feelings on it until I talk to (Brennan),” said Murphy, the 12-year Titan coach who was a finalist for the San Jose job in 1990. “I’ll know (after I speak to Brennan) whether or not I’ll go after it. Or if they want to go after me. It’s a two-way street.”

The Spartan job opened Thursday when Terry Shea, who spent two years at San Jose, resigned to become offensive coordinator at Stanford under new Coach Bill Walsh.

Steve Mariucci, an assistant at California under former Golden Bear Coach Bruce Snyder, reportedly was interviewed Thursday by Brennan, and former San Jose State offensive coordinator Rick Rasnick, now an assistant at Utah, is considered a strong candidate for the position.

Brennan said he hoped to pare his list of 10-15 candidates down to three or four finalists by Monday.

The new head coach will not be able to hire any of his own assistants because Brennan has renewed the contracts of seven Spartan assistants for another year. But Murphy said that “wouldn’t be a deterrent” in considering the job.