Phil Martelli Will Decide When Phil Martelli Is a Candidate for the Providence Job

When Providence fired Tim Welsh, it made a lot of sense that Phil Martelli's name popped up among rumored replacements. He's done great things at Saint Joseph's and would be just the thing for a program looking to gain traction in the Big East. FoxSports.com said yesterday that Martelli was set to speak to the school but the coach said that wasn't true. The way he said it left room for future discussions, though.

"I don't know anything about it. I haven't given it a thought. I haven't thought whether I'd even think about it. The Yahoo! version of the fans [say], 'I'm a Benedict Arnold because I said this was my dream job and I would never leave.' The other fans at some of the other institutions in Philadelphia that love me so much, if I end up not getting it, they're going to say, 'See, he's not good enough and he failed again' and all this other stuff. I just don't want to be involved in all that."

If Martelli had no interest, he'd just say that. What he's doing here, though, is straddling the fence so that he doesn't look bad for nakedly pursuing the job and then going back to the Hawks. It's a very tough line to take once his name is in the mix.

For my money, Martelli should stay put. Providence plays in a higher profile conference but I don't think it's a better program or a higher likelihood of success than he has at Saint Joe's.