Mason Goes to Georgia; Schnellenberger Quits

Glen Mason is out, but then he was never in. Gary Barnett has never been in, but he might not yet be out.

And Howard Schnellenberger isn’t about to get in.

In other words, despite a day of movement and speculation in college football, nothing has changed at UCLA, where Bruin Athletic Director Peter Dalis continues his search for a successor to Terry Donahue, who is leaving as football coach after the Aloha Bowl on Christmas Day.

It was announced Monday that Mason will be leaving Kansas, where he has been head coach for eight years, to become coach of the Georgia football team.

And Schnellenberger announced that, after one year, he is resigning as Oklahoma’s coach after the Sooners finished the season 5-5-1 after starting it with high expectations.

Mason, whose final game as the leader of the Jayhawks will be against the Bruins in the Aloha Bowl, has been the subject of rumors that he might be headed for Westwood. Donahue even kidded Mason about it in a conference call last week.

But there was no substance to the rumors. Mason was never under consideration.

Barnett, on the other hand, is a coach Dalis would be very interested in. So is his current employer. Northwestern officials have talked to Barnett about a new contract that might stretch over 12 years.

But Barnett hasn’t signed anything yet. And since he is in Los Angeles for the Rose Bowl, he might be tempted to see what the Bruins would offer.

Schnellenberger is said to be looking for either a pro coaching position or a broadcasting job.

So for UCLA, the same five candidates remain on Dalis’ list--Barnett, Kansas State’s Bill Snyder, Denver Bronco defensive coordinator Greg Robinson, and UCLA assistants Bob Toledo and Bob Field.

None of the five have yet talked with Dalis.

With the Bruins leaving today for Honolulu to prepare for the Aloha Bowl, a decision on a new coach probably won’t be made until next week, at the earliest.

Kansas, 42-47-1 in eight years under Mason, had lost 15 consecutive Big Eight games before his arrival in 1988. The Jayhawks were 1-10 in his first year, but by 1992 they beat BYU in the Aloha Bowl for the school’s first bowl victory since 1961.

Goff was fired by Georgia with one game remaining, and he will coach the Bulldogs one last time, on Dec. 30, when they play Virginia in the Peach Bowl.

Schnellenberger made his unexpected announcement in a statement issued through Oklahoma’s sports information office. No news conference was held.

“I felt we made significant progress on many fronts, both on and off the field, that will serve this program for many years to come,” said Schnellenberger, 61.

“But in recent months a climate has developed toward the program, understandably in some cases and perhaps unfairly in others, that has changed my outlook on the situation. A change could help improve that climate.”

University president David Boren said Schnellenberger’s decision was voluntary, and that neither he, Athletic Director Donnie Duncan nor the school regents had made an issue of the poor season.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.