While there were probably a million places he would rather have been two hours before UConn's final football game of the 2013 season, UConn director of athletics took questions from the media before today's game about what he is looking for in the next football coach.

Manuel played it cool but did make it clear that the interview process will start tomorrow with face to face meetings.

Manuel made it clear that he was not going to address any specific names or rumors out there, here's some of what he had to say.

"As I said I would, I waited until the end of the season," Manuel said. "The search will ramp up in earnest tomorrow. I am at a point, having had probably hundreds of conversations with different people, emails and I really tired of talking about what this search is going to be all about and who is out there, who are the candidates I should be looking at. I am tired of watching game after game to see what people are doing, how their teams are doing and I am ready to talk to candidates, sit down with people and speaking directly to candidates about jobs. The positive aspect of this is I have talked to about 25 former players and really had an opportunity over the last nine weeks to get a good sense, a good perspective of what former players want to see from this program so that was really good

"I am looking for the right person for the job however long it takes. Numbers of candidates could vary. I will talk to those who are interested who I have selected who are interested in talking to me about the position. I have to make sure I do my due diligence and talk to those who I am interested in talking to.

"I am not putting a timetable towards making a decision, I am looking at finding the right person for the job however long it takes. Numbers of candidates could vary. I will talk to those that are interested in talking to me about the position. I have to make sure I do my due diligence and talk to those who I am interested in talking to."

Manuel said he is not focusing on a person specifically based on ties to the Northeast to help out with recruiting.

"If a guy can recruit and talk to high school coaches, talk to prospective student-athletes, talk to moms and dads in the living room, they can recruit anywhere," Manuel said. "I am not targeting a guy who knows the Northeast, that would be nice but I am not saying that is a primary criteria for me to select a coach who is the best fit for UConn.

"I have an impressive list of interested candidates. I am very pleased with the candidate pool I’ll be talking to. I’ve said all along that this is a great job and a great place.

"I am not going to talk about specific candidates. I am not going to talk about who is in the pool and who is not in the pool. I wish this could be a more public process but there are gentlemen who have jobs that I am going to protect as best as I can and not put their names out. You will hear from me again when I am introducing the next coach at the University of Connecticut."

Manuel made it clear he does not consider the UConn job to be a rebuilding one.

"I’ve read some of you writing that this is a rebuilding job. This is not a rebuilding job, this is building on the great talent that we have on this team, this is building on the championship success of this program

"I was at Buffalo, that is rebuilding so put it in perspective. Why would I look at what we have, the facilities, the stadium, the institution and fans and say that this is a job that people know we have performed and won multiple championships, we have been to multiple bowl games, we have been to a BCS bowl game. They see that we win championships in other sports, both basketball programs, soccer, field hockey. All of those things matter to people when they look at how to judge and institution.'

Manuel said he thinks he has a strong enough pool of candidates that the Huskies will get a top-notch coach even if one of two opt to take another available job.

"I am well aware of the jobs that are open, keep abreast of who somebody else maybe interested in that is in my pool of candidates but the bottom line and I am going to support this team to the very end and I am not going to start my search until the end of the regular season has ended," Manuel said. "I don’t play a lot of games with people and we will deal with that and see where we are. I know where we are with candidates who may overlap but the candidate pool is the candidate pool that we have when I sit down with people. I am so pleased with where we are with the pool of candidates that if one or two are not available, it is what it is at this point."

When Paul Pasqualoni was hired, his track record recruiting Connecticut played a major role in his hiring. Manuel isn't going to make that the No. 1 priority.

"If a guy can recruit and talk to high school coaches, talk to prospective student-athletes, talk to moms and dads in the living room, they can recruit anywhere," Manuel said. "I am not targeting a guy who knows the Northeast, that would be nice but I am not saying that is a primary criteria for me to select a coach who is the best fit for UConn."