Dec. 18, 2000

Randy Holtz
Denver Rocky Mountain News

FORT COLLINS, Colo. - That whooshing sound heard on Friday wasn't the gusty Front Range wind. It was a collective sigh of relief from Colorado State football fans. And players. And administrators.

It's official. Sonny Lubick, the man whose passion and grace lifted CSU football from years of mediocrity to national prominence, is in for the long haul in Fort Collins after Pete Carroll was announced Friday as Southern California's new coach.

And after this flirtation, which dragged on as USC officials continued to bungle their search, it seems certain the 63-year-old Lubick will finish his coaching career at the school that has come to adore him.

"I always thought this is the place where I wanted to finish my career, and now it looks like that's going to happen," Lubick said after Friday's practice. "But I figured, 'Why not hear what they have to say? Why not give it a shot? What could be wrong with that?"'

Lubick heard what USC officials had to say - and vice versa - on Monday in Los Angeles. But as rumors swirled the rest of the week about San Diego Chargers coach Mike Riley and former NFL coach Carroll, Lubick and CSU's players and fans were left hanging.

Finally, all parties can breathe a sigh of relief.

"We're all relieved," redshirt freshman tight end James Sondrup said. "Coach Lubick is CSU football. I want him to be here forever."

It won't be forever, but at his age, the Southern Cal situation likely will be the last that appeals to Lubick enough to consider leaving the impressive groundwork he has laid at CSU. Lubick is under contract through the 2005 season and says he sees no reason he can't coach past then.

"I don't see myself as 63 years old," he said. "I think of myself as being something like 45. I'm healthy. I work out every day. If there's one thing that bothered me about the whole process at Southern Cal, it's the thinking that my age was the reason I didn't get the job."

Age definitely was a concern for USC officials, but Lubick impressed them in every other way. After his Monday interview, USC athletic director Mike Garrett couldn't stop talking about how impressed he was with him. Garrett told Lubick at one point he was sorry he didn't speak to him three seasons ago when the now-deposed Paul Hackett was hired.

Lubick, meanwhile, isn't angry at USC officials for stringing him along.

"Being in this business, I understand people have their work to do and things don't always work out like one plans according to a specific timetable," he said. "I've been in the same situation with recruiting. You always feel you're going to know for sure in one or two days, but then complications always come up.

"I really don't think they used me. The other two guys (Carroll and Riley) probably were ahead of me in their minds all along, but they had to cover their bases and talk to everyone they thought had a chance. I'm not embarrassed or ashamed of that.

"I knew in my own heart that if I didn't hear back from them by Tuesday or Wednesday, I wasn't going to get the job. Now that it's over, I'm just relieved."

He isn't alone in his relief.

"This has been on everybody's mind," junior safety Aaron Sprague said. "It's definitely a relief. I wouldn't want to play for any other coach in the nation. Every guy on this team loves playing for coach Lubick."

Added senior quarterback Matt Newton: "I don't know what we would do without him. He's the reason most guys come here. The guys on this team would do anything for him. That shows you what he means to us."

And CSU, to be sure, means a lot to Lubick.

"This," he said Friday, gazing around Moby Arena, "is where I belong."