Cal athletic director might not be hired for awhile

You might have to get used to calling Michael Williams your athletic director for the 2014-15 season. Chancellor Nicholas Dirks is not in any particular hurry to make a new AD hire, and indicates that it could take as long as a year before next

Jeff Faraudo has more.

Cal alum Michael Williams will begin his assignment as interim AD on Tuesday, and is charged with running the department while providing Dirks with regular feedback on what he sees as priorities going forward.

Dirks said nothing tangible, including the hiring of a search firm or the assembling of a search committee, will begin until the Chancellor's Task Force on Academics and Athletics provides its recommendations. That report originally was scheduled to be delivered by late June, but now is expected in September.

...

Asked to describe the ideal candidate profile, Dirks said he's seeking "people who are wizards at financial management, terrific at recruiting, retaining and inspiring coaches and student-athletes, people who are gifted fundraisers," Dirks said. "They have to walk on water. Short of that, we hope there will be lots of people who can fill that role."

Because most candidates will be employed at other schools, Dirks said he doesn't expect to complete the process sooner than February or March, possibly not until June.

It's good to see the chancellor making this an extensive process to try and find the best candidate rather than rushing to a hire. The Bears don't need a new AD immediately with John Wilton holding down the fort in terms of making business decisions. They have two pretty new head coaches in their revenue sports and they should be back next season, so that does give Dirks plenty of time to make the best hire for the job.

(Additionally, this timetable should alleviate pressure on Sonny Dykes for this upcoming season. An interim AD isn't likely to fire or hire anyone barring drastic failure, so Dykes will be given another year to rebuild and try and turn things around.)

If no other major candidates emerge, I wouldn't be surprised if John Wilton puts himself in the running (this is a long shot--the hiring process lasting that long seems to indicate he's not interested in the job either), but outside of that I have no idea who the Bears end up looking for from the job.