Northridge Set to Begin Screening Coaches

A Cal State Northridge screening committee today will start reviewing applications for the school’s vacant head football coaching position.

Paul Bubb, Northridge athletic director, declined to give the number of applicants but sources said there are about 25. Bubb said interviews of leading candidates won’t start until next week.

“We might get it narrowed down to a group of three or four candidates to bring in [next week],” Bubb said.

The Northridge job opened Jan. 5 when Jim Fenwick resigned to become offensive coordinator at New Mexico.

Fenwick, the former coach at Valley and Pierce colleges, coached the Matadors one season.

These are some of the candidates, listed alphabetically, who have applied to replace Fenwick:

* Gregg Brandon, Northwestern wide receivers coach. With the Wildcats since 1992, Brandon was an assistant also at Utah State and Wyoming. His first six years in coaching were spent as an assistant at Big Sky Conference member Weber State, starting in 1981.

* Rob Hager, West L.A. College head coach since 1990. Hager guided the Oilers to a three-way tie for the Western State Conference Southern Division title in 1997. A former assistant at Eastern Michigan, Western Kentucky and Vanderbilt, Hager applied for the Northridge job that went to Fenwick.

* Jeff Kearin, Northridge running backs and special teams coach. He has been with the Matadors for three seasons, the first two as offensive coordinator under former Coach Dave Baldwin, now at San Jose State.

* Brian McNeely, Idaho State coach from 1992-96. Had only two winning seasons and a 21-34 record with the Bengals. Coached at two junior colleges in Kansas before being hired at Idaho State. He applied for the Northridge job landed by Fenwick.

* Ron Ponciano, San Jose State defensive coordinator. He held the same post at Northridge in 1995-96 and at Valley College in 1989. Ponciano also was an assistant at Azusa Pacific, his alma mater, Missouri Western State College and College of Siskiyous.

* Bill Redell, St. Francis High coach. He’s chief executive officer of Bolton Co., a Pasadena insurance firm. Redell guided Crespi to the Southern Section Division I championship in 1986.

* John Rosenberg, Northridge defensive coordinator. Moved with Fenwick to Northridge from Valley, where he was an assistant. He coached Brown to a 24-30-4 record from 1984-90 and was an assistant at Penn State from 1975-82. Rosenberg coached the Munich Thunder of the Football League of Europe in 1994.

* Robin Ross, Oregon inside linebackers coach. He held the same post and also was the defensive coordinator at Fresno State in 1996. His other stints as an assistant include Western Washington, Iowa State, Cincinnati, Washington State and Long Beach State.

* Scott Squires, Cal Lutheran coach. He has a 9-9 record with the Kingsmen, who won the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference title in 1997. Squires was an assistant at Cal Lutheran and Nevada Las Vegas.

* Bob Wagner, Hawaii coach from 1987-95, had a record of 58-49-3.