ARIZONA STATE FOOTBALL

Gambo: Justin Wilcox is new frontrunner for ASU

Dec 8, 2011, 6:19 PM | Updated: 6:42 pm

Seemingly back at square one following the mishaps
surrounding June Jones on Wednesday, another reported
frontrunner has emerged for the Arizona State football
head coaching
job.

Arizona Sports 620’s John
Gambadoro
sent out the following
tweet Thursday morning:

While its impossible to determine how many
cooks are in the ASU kitchen — I am being told that Tenn
DC Wilcox is a frontrunner for the job

That’s Justin Wilcox, the 36-year-old defensive
coordinator under Derek Dooley at the University of
Tennessee.

Wilcox was a defensive back at Oregon from 1995 to 1999
and got his start coaching as a graduate assistant at
Boise State in 2001. In 2003, he took the job as a
linebackers coach at Cal before moving back to Boise State
as the defensive coordinator under Chris Petersen in 2006.

In 2010, Wilcox joined Tennessee’s staff and this past
season, the Volunteers’ defense ranked 28th in the nation
in total defense and 35th in scoring defense.

Following the 2010 season, Wilcox had been mentioned as a
candidate to step into the defensive coordinator spot at
Texas to replace Will Muschamp, who took the Florida head
coaching job.

“I believe 100 percent in what Coach Dooley is doing here,
the direction of the program, and we’ve still got a lot of
work to do,” Wilcox said at the time of his decision.
“It’s going the right way, and I think all of us are
committed to doing it the right way. That’s where we’re
headed.”

Arizona State Football

Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham reacts during the second half of the team's NCAA college footb...

Vincent DeAngelis

Kenny Dillingham talks Jaden Rashada injury, revamped roster ahead of spring ball

ASU football coach Kenny Dillingham addressed quarterback Jaden Rashada's injury, revamped roster and NIL ahead of start of spring ball

6 days ago

Jaden Rashada on the football field...

Arizona Sports

Report: ASU’s Jaden Rashada dealing with thumb injury, will miss spring ball

ASU's Jaden Rashada won't be a full participant in spring ball due to a thumb injury on his throwing hand suffered earlier in the year.

7 days ago

...

Arizona Sports Video

Video: What is Bobby Hurley’s future at Arizona State?

On the latest State of the Sun Devil podcast the guys react to the end of men's basketball season, and wonder what the future of the program will be and how the offseason will unfold. Plus, reactions to football's pro day.

13 days ago

ASU football field...

Dan Bickley

Arizona State reaches rock bottom at end of Pac-12 stay

Rock bottom is mostly a metaphor, a cliché for sports teams that have fallen and can’t get up. But you can find it on the map at ASU.

13 days ago

Michael Crow, Arizona State University president...

Kevin Zimmerman

Now would be a good time for Arizona State to hire an athletic director

Who's to make a decision on Arizona State coach Bobby Hurley without an athletic director? Michael Crow must make a decision soon.

14 days ago

ASU QB Drew Pyne...

Arizona Sports

Former ASU starting QB Drew Pyne headed to Missouri

After playing in just two games in his ASU football career, quarterback Drew Pyne is moving on to the Missouri Tigers.

18 days ago

Gambo: Justin Wilcox is new frontrunner for ASU