Sacramento State Athletic Director Terry Wanless met today with the first of three finalists for the Hornets football team coaching position.

Wanless interviewed Foothill College coach Marshall Sperbeck today and they toured the university’s facilities.

“Coach Sperbeck was very impressive as expected and we learned a lot about his philosophy,” Wanless said.

Sperbeck was the first interview scheduled for week, with San Jose co-defensive coordinator Tom Williams scheduled for Friday and Sierra College coach Jeff Tisdale to meet on Monday.

Sperbeck was unavailable for comment.

Wanless wants to hire a new coach quickly. He said he expects the decision to be made by Jan. 14.

“Coaches can be out on the road on Jan. 14 for recruiting, so we’d like to have it wrapped up by then if possible,” Wanless said.

When it was announced on Nov. 27 that former coach Steve Mooshagian’s contract would not be renewed, Wanless said the school would be conducting a national search for the team’s new coach.

Wanless said it was interesting that the three finalists had ties to California, in spite of a national search that brought in approximately 70 applications.

“Ultimately we felt like for recruiting purposes, a northern California-based coach was going to be a better fit at this particular time,” Wanless said.

Sperbeck has compiled 99-52 overall record and 10 bowl game appearances in 15 years as the Foothill coach. Under Sperbeck, the Owls have been nationally ranked seven of the past eight years and have won seven Silicon Valley Bowl games.

As the team looks to its 12th year of competition in the Big Sky conference, Wanless said there is no validity to the rumor the Sac State football team is moving to the Great West conference.

The Mustang Daily, the Cal Poly student paper, reported on Nov. 8 that Great West commissioner Ed Grom is looking to expand the number of teams in the conference from five to eight to secure an automatic bid into the Division I-AA playoffs. Sac State was mentioned. Grom declined to name the schools the conference has contacted.

Click here to view The Mustang Daily story.

Wanless said moving to the Great West football conference has not been discussed within the administration and that the school is committed to the Big Sky.

“We are in the Big Sky, we have every intention of staying in the Big Sky, and we will be in the Big Sky,” Wanless said. Matthew Beltran can be reached at [email protected].