In the wake of Jim Knowles '87's resignation from the football head coach position, director of athletic communications Jeremy Hartigan told the Ithaca Journal that the search for Knowles' replacement will begin immediately. A report from www.footballcoachscoop.com, a website that correctly reported the three finalists for Princeton's head coaching vacancy earlier this month, has identified six candidates that Athletics Director Andy Noel is "very interested in talking with" — Harvard offensive coordinator Joel Lamb; Holy Cross head coach Tom Gilmore; Lafayette offensive coordinator Mickey Fein; former Kansas State head coach and Cornell assistant Ron Prince; Kansas State tight ends coach and former Cornell player and assistant Ricky Rahne '02; and Seattle Seahawks quarterbacks coach and former Cornell player Bill Lazor '94. All of these names are more offensive-minded candidates, a contrast from Knowles, a former defensive lineman who was linebackers coach at Ole Miss before coming to Cornell, coaching the Red to a 26-34 record, then departing to become co-defensive coordinator at Duke.

Rahne, a former quarterback for the Red, was the running backs coach at Cornell in 2005. As a player, Rahne was arguably the most prolific passer in Cornell history, and set numerous school passing records including career-, season- and game-high passing yardage, all of which still stand. Lazor is also one of Cornell's all-time leading passers and holds the school record for completions in a single game with 37.

Noel wrote in an e-mail that he has not conducted any interviews yet and that the search will take "as long as it takes to identify and hire a terrific leader/coach."