I'll have to admit, the list of candidates for the vacant Yale football job exceeded my expectations.

I was figuring coordinators, preferably offensive coordinators, would be the ones in the running for the gig left available when Jack Siedlecki relinquished his post to become as assistant athletic director at Yale.

But the four finalists include current UMass coach Don Brown, who my sources say is the leader in the clubhouse, and Holy Cross coach Tom Gilmore. Former Cheshire High coach Steve Addazio, who is currently the offensive line coach for a Florida team a win away from its second national title in the last three years, and former Sacred Heart University coach Jim Fleming, now at Akron after a stop at North Carolina. Stanford offensive coordinator Dave Shaw was also brought in for an interview.

Coaching searches can be precarious creatures. At one point, it seemed as if recently fired Tennessee offensive coordinator Dave Clawson was emerging as a serious candidate. Then the former head coach at Fordham and Richmond was hired at Bowling Green. As recently as a week ago, Addazio was being thought of as the No. 1 guy. In recent days, Brown was moved to the front of the pack.

One thing to remember, there are a lot of people who have to sign off on the hiring of the Yale football coach. If all goes well, a new coach could be named by Friday although people I spoke to on Monday and Tuesday felt that seemed a little less likely than it was a few days earlier.