By the end of the day Tuesday, athletic director Alison Cone and the committee will have met with 10 candidates, and one could be named by Wednesday but could come as late as Friday.

Only one will interview on Tuesday, and that’s Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood. Was the committee saving their favorite for last? Or will the front-runner emerge from the unnamed group that came before him?

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Our story on Saturday morning says Oregon offensive line coach Steve Greatwood is pursuing the job and former Ellerson assistant and current San Francisco 49ers special teams coach Dave Fipp has pulled out of consideration.

Other candidates have been revealed over at FootballScoop.com and talked about at the Cal Poly Mustangs message board.

One name that I haven’t seen brought up is the newly available Ted Tollner.

Tollner was let go by the San Francisco 49ers on Wednesday and has previously been a head coach at USC and San Diego State. He was a member of the 1960 Cal Poly football team and survived the plane crash that killed 22 in Toledo, Ohio.

Tollner switched seats with another player who died in the crash, and his new seat was apparently the cutoff point for survival.

He’s gone on to have a solid coaching career in both college and the NFL. Seems like the 68-year-old could be ready to settle down back in SLO, and he’d be a name that would definitely resonate with the community.

But with Cal Poly apparently moving fast on this job — an announcement could come Tuesday — it might be too late for Tollner to get involved. Plus, he might not even be interested in coming back to college and dealing with all of the off-the-field responsibilities that go hand in hand with campus life but aren’t concerns in the NFL.

Fipp didn’t have a whole lot of insight on Tollner’s situation but he did say that the two had discussed the Mustangs coaching job at length in the past. Your thoughts?

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I talked to Ellerson and Cal Poly president Warren Baker on Monday. To hear what they had to say on the topic check out Tuesday’s edition of The Tribune.

It doesn’t seem like anything is set in stone one way or the other yet, though the Middeltown report makes Ellerson-to-Army sound like a slam dunk.

If it is, it could be a sad day for Mustangs fans. Ellerson is a winning coach with a Pac-10 pedigree. It will be interesting to see if Cal Poly will be able to find as good a coach who’s as enamored with the SLO life.

Ellerson, who’s coaching resume includes a stop at Southern Utah, has said he loves living San Luis Obispo.

But he grew up an army brat and has ties to Army. His brother was a team captain there in the early 1960s. And I can certainly see why he’d be the pick for an Army program that has been down in the dumps.

Army obviously isn’t the best choice for top recruits across the country, but Ellerson’s philosophy is to target players that might not be as attractive to the bigger schools anyway. His flex defense and option offense are solid schemes designed to compete with smaller athletes.

It’s much of the reason he’s been so successful at Cal Poly. Well, that and his ability to coach a tall player like Ramses Barden here and there, too.

So what are your thoughts on the developments? Sound off below.

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Fresno-Edison linebacker Nat Harrison (6-3, 228) has Cal Poly listed among his suitors along with Cal, Fresno State, Sacramento State and Utah. He’s apparently already visited Sacramento.

The Mustangs missed out on College of the Sequoias defensive back Andru Stewart (5-10, 192), who reportedly verbaled to Arkansas. If my math is correct, Stewart would have been on the Oaks Christian team that took down Logan Budd and Morro Bay High in the CIF-Southern Section Northwest Division playoffs in 2006.

We’re now in the dead period where coaches are not allowed to visit recruits and can only call them once a week. So news should be slow going until the end of the period on  Jan. 4.

But there might be some other kind of Cal Poly football news brewing.

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Well… it’ll be slow this week because of Christmas, but in preparation for turning your full attention toward basketball in the new year, check out these highlights of the women’s team playing Eastern Washington on Saturday and the men taking on Portland State on Wednesday.

And let me know what you think the chances are for each team as they chase the Big West title and a shot at the NCAA Tournament.

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Only, Duliakis — who’s averaging 15.7 points, 9.3 rebounds and 2.9 blocks per game this year — is hoping to raise his stock. Already being pursued by Pacific and Utah State, Duliakis could see his stock raised right out of Cal Poly’s range.

Which brings up an interesting question. If you’re head coach Kevin Bromley and the Mustangs, do you root for a recruit to develop further and improve his play? Or do you secretly wish he’d not impress so he could fly under the radar of bigger programs?

This seems certain enough: Cal Poly could use some height. With senior forward Titus Shelton running out of eligibility and former 7-foot recruit Anthony DiLoreto facing bank robbery charges, any frontcourt players looking for immediate playing time could compete for minutes right away in San Luis Obispo.

That might be the Mustangs’ best selling point right now.

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Cal Poly assistant sports information director Eric Burdick appears scared in the video. The press box was actually swaying along with the jumping. I didn’t feel threatened, but then again, I lived in a house on stilts in Cayucos for a year.

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I know the video does not match, but I wanted to give you something to look at.

I’ll also be posting some video from the press box of the stadium dancing to House of Pain’s “Jump Around” between the third and fourth quarter. The stadium literally shook.

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Great West Football Conference Offensive Player of the Week Jonathan Dally and company made quick work of North Carolina Central in a 49-3 win.

Take a look at our weekly highlight package of the football game.

And let me know what you think of the two teams. Both had high hopes and expectations to start the season. Has either one disappointed?

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It looked like Mustangs running back James Noble, who’s missed the past two games with a broken hand, was practicing with the first team. Expect him to be back in the lineup somewhere barring a setback.

Quarterback Jonathan Dally’s arm must still be tired after passing for 410 yards and six touchdowns a week ago. He was sitting out when I got there as sophomore transfer from Utah Tony Smith ran the offense toward the end of practice.

Cal Poly coach Rich Ellerson said Dally is fine, that he was held out because of a bruise on his arm.

I was able to chat with Noble after practice. He gave me an exlusive look at the wrapped-and-gloved left hand. From afar, its hard to tell he even has anything there, but up close, you can see a little bulge.

He seemed ready to go after seeing action in practice Wednesday for the first time since having surgery nearly three weeks ago.

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