San Marcos — Individuals close to the situation confirmed Wednesday that Texas State head coach David Bailiff interviewed for the recently vacated head coaching position at Rice University yesterday.

Bailiff is one of a number of candidates that Rice has looked at during the coaching search that started Jan. 11 when Todd Graham left Rice to take the head coaching job at Tulsa. Rice’s athletic director Chris Del Conte told the Houston Chronicle Sunday that the University wasn’t going to rush the process, but the school has obviously moved on to the interview stage in a matter of three days.

As of Sunday, there were 50 candidates for Rice’s job including Georgia defensive coordinator Willie Martinez, Arizona defensive coordinator Mark Stoops, Valdosta State head coach Chris Hatcher and LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini according to the Chronicle. Other candidates that have surfaced include Les Koenig, an assistant at Texas A&M; and former Rice defensive coordinator Paul Randolph. Larry Coker, the embattled former Miami coach, has emerged as a leading candidate according to Internet reports out of Houston.

Graham signed a 5-year extension after leading Rice to a 7-6 record and a New Orleans Bowl bid in his first year as head coach, turning around a team that was 1-10. He had been the defensive coordinator at Tulsa before coming to Rice, and when Steve Kragthorpe took the job at Louisville, Graham quickly came to the forefront for the opening.

Bailiff, a Texas State graduate, has been the subject of rumors surrounding a number of jobs at the I-A level since leading the Bobcats to a co-Southland Conference championship and a spot in the I-AA national semi-finals in 2005. He was already a candidate for similar positions while at Texas Christian University. As the defensive coordinator at TCU, Bailiff’s unit was number one in the nation in 2002, allowing just 240.2 yards of total offense.

Bailiff, who graduated from San Antonio-MacArthur High, is in his third stint at Texas State after graduating from the school in 1981. He was a graduate assistant and defensive line coach from 1988-1992 and a defensive coordinator from 1997-2000. He took over the head coaching job in February of 2004 and began turning things around immediately, going 5-6 in his first campaign despite inheriting a program with a number of issues. He then presided over the 2005 season, the best in Texas State history at the Division I-AA level.

Bailiff’s squad lost in the national semi-finals 40-37 to Northern Iowa, falling just a game short of a trip to Chattanooga for the national championship game.

In many ways, Rice’s position would be an interesting one for the Texas native. Under Graham the Owls installed a spread offense similar to the one-back system Texas State uses. The Owls are affiliated with Conference USA which includes TCU, Southern Mississippi and Memphis.

Bailiff and athletic director Larry Teis did not return messages left Wednesday.