ST. PAUL, Minn. – Throughout the University of Maine’s playoff run, coach Tim Whitehead has taken the high road when referring to the “interim” tag attached to his job title.

Whitehead, who took over the job when Shawn Walsh died on Sept. 24, has repeatedly said that he chooses to focus on the job at hand, and not on the job search that UMaine will mount for the full-time coach.

But after the Bears overtime loss in the national championship game, Whitehead dealt with a quirky question: If you were in charge of the search, would you hire yourself?

“A friend of mine told me the other day, ‘I guess you had a pretty good interview,'” Whitehead said. “I suppose that’s true. But I’ve just enjoyed working with [assistant coaches] Grant [Standbrook] and Campbell [Blair] and Matt [Thomas], and really enjoyed working with this group of players and everyone involved in the program.”

University of Maine athletic director Sue Tyler said the fact they are opening a national search is a “system policy” according to President Peter Hoff.

“We are still finalizing our search committee and the interviews won’t start until the 17th [of April],” said Tyler. “I don’t know what kind of interest we’ll have.

“But I now know coach Whitehead is interested. At one time, he wasn’t sure. He did a great job this season as did the kids. They were workhorses. They never gave up,” said Tyler who hopes to name the full-time coach shortly.

“The sooner and better,” said Tyler.

A couple of names often mentioned as being possible candidates are former Maine interim head coach and assistant and current New York Islanders assistant Greg Cronin; former Maine assistant Jay Leach and former Lake Superior State head coach and U.S. National Team Development Program director Jeff Jackson.