Walsh happy at UMaine, not seeking other jobs

University of Maine hockey coach Shawn Walsh said Friday morning that he is happy at Maine and is not seeking other jobs.

However, Ohio State University officials contacted him about coaching that hockey team and he was interviewed on April 14, Walsh explained. As of Friday morning, Walsh said he had had no further contact with anybody at OSU.

Walsh was responding to reports this week that he was among five candidates interviewed for the Ohio State position and that he might be one of the top two contenders.

“All I’m doing is being consistent with what I tell my players. If somebody expresses interest in you, you at least owe them the courtesy of listening to them. And I’m doing that myself,” said Walsh, who is on a recruiting trip to Chicago. “The meeting I had with (OSU Athletic Director) Andy Geiger and other officials was strictly exploratory.”

He said in addition to them getting a handle on him and how he rebuilt the Maine program, “I was exploring the commitment they are prepared to make to rebuild their program.”

The Ohio State job could be “an exciting opportunity for someone,” said Walsh, who has directed Maine into the national Division I final in two of the last three years. Maine won the 1993 national title and was runnerup three weeks ago.

“They’re building a 17,000-seat arena that will open in 1998 and the other Big Ten schools with hockey programs have very successful ones.” He was referring to Michigan, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Minnesota.

The OSU job reportedly pays $80,000 per year and Walsh earns $74,650 per year from Maine.

He said he has not been contacted about the hockey job at the University of Notre Dame and he hasn’t applied. He added that he hasn’t talked with St. Louis Blues general manager-coach Mike Keenan about coaching the Blues, either.