Canzano: MW kicks the tires at North Dakota State
What did football coach Tim Polasek know?
North Dakota State football coach Tim Polasek put on a suit and tie for his job interview with the hiring crew from Oregon State in late November.
Polasek carried a leather briefcase as he slipped into the lobby of a boutique hotel in downtown Fargo. The coach aimed to keep a low profile. He declined to fly to Portland for the meeting, like the other two finalists. OSU Athletic Director Scott Barnes and Glenn Sugiyama of DHR Search instead came to Polasek.
Did the coach know then that the Bison might be in play to join the Mountain West as a football member? Did that drive his decision to back off the job and sit tight in Fargo instead of pursuing the rebuild in Corvallis?
Within 36 hours of his interview with the OSU hiring contingent, North Dakota State announced Polasek’s contract extension. The FCS school is now in talks to potentially join the MW as a football-only member, as first reported by Yahoo.