The Duke football coaching search entered its third week Monday, with Karl Dorrell and Bobby Johnson the latest to interview for the job, and a behind-the-scenes debate mounting over the potential candidacy of Rick Neuheisel.

Meanwhile, the ACC Sports Journal has learned the identities of the six individuals who are the primary assistants to Duke athletic director Joe Alleva in the school's quest to replace Ted Roof, whose dismissal was announced Nov. 26.

Dorrell, 43, was fired by UCLA on Dec. 3, after posting a 6-6 record this season. A former star wide receiver for the Bruins, he went 35-27 with five bowl appearances in five years as the head coach there. Previously, he worked for three years as the wide receivers coach for the NFL's Denver Broncos. He also spent 12 years as a college assistant, with seven as an offensive coordinator, including stints in that role at Colorado (1995-98) and Washington (1999).

Johnson, 56, is 20-50 (8-40 SEC) after six years at Vanderbilt, a school whose high academic standards in football stand in stark contrast to most of the rest of the Southeastern Conference. A former Clemson defensive back, Johnson previously was a successful head coach at Division I-AA Furman, where he went 60-36 in eight seasons. Unlike most of the other candidates for the Duke job, Johnson has a background on defense, including 10 years in the coordinator role at Furman and one at Clemson.

Neuheisel, 46, is in his first year as the offensive coordinator for the NFL's Baltimore Ravens, after serving two seasons as the team's quarterbacks coach. A former UCLA quarterback, Neuheisel became the head coach at Colorado at age 34. He posted strong records with both the Buffaloes (23-11) from 1996-98 and at Washington (33-16) from 1999-2002, but both tenures ended in controversy.

"Somebody over here thinks (Neuheisel) should be the No. 1 target. Somebody over there thinks he shouldn't be a candidate at all," a Duke source said. "But everyone agrees that he has an intriguing record of success on the field."

The source said Neuheisel, whose name also has been linked to the vacancies at Georgia Tech, Southern Methodist and UCLA, recently inquired about the Duke job. Neuheisel has received the endorsement of Ravens head coach Brian Billick, who has said that Neuheisel will be free to leave his NFL responsibilities immediately if he takes a college job.

Duke's top target, Paul Johnson of Navy, agreed Friday to become the head coach at Georgia Tech, after also receiving a lucrative offer to take over the Blue Devils.

"Duke made an excellent presentation and left no doubt they are committed to restoring Duke football to national prominence," Jack Reale, Johnson's agent, said Sunday. "They made clear their willingness to allocate whatever resources are necessary to accomplish this objective. The next coach will be coming into a very attractive circumstance. Duke received very serious consideration from Coach Johnson."

The only other candidate known to be interviewed by Duke officials is Rod Broadway of Division I-AA Grambling State. Broadway, 52, just posted an 8-3 mark during the regular season in his first year at Grambling, which will face Jackson State in the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship game Dec. 15. He has deep roots in North Carolina, as a native of Oakboro, a former player at North Carolina (1974-77), a former North Carolina Central head coach (2003-06), and a former assistant at East Carolina (1979-80), Duke (1981-94) and UNC (2001-02).

In his four years at N.C. Central, Broadway went 33-11 and helped the Eagles capture back-to-back CIAA titles for the first time since 1953-54. In 2006, he earned the Eddie Robinson Award as the Division I-AA national coach of the year. Over his last three seasons at NCCU, Broadway's teams were 29-5. His time as an assistant with the Blue Devils included the glory years of Steve Spurrier, which included Duke's only first-place ACC finish (a tie in 1989) since 1962.

Broadway is another candidate whose background is on defense, but his plan for Duke is believed to include the addition of an offensive coordinator from the ranks of the most creative and prolific offenses in Division I-A.

"Rod had a great visit at Duke," Nathan Whitaker, Broadway's agent, said Monday. "He enjoyed reconnecting with Joe (Alleva) and meeting President Brodhead and walked away with a great respect of where they are headed with the program. At the same time, he was able to communicate his vision for assisting in that turnaround, which is the same as it has been at Grambling and North Carolina Central — play solid, fundamentally sound defense while being creative and aggressive on offense. As of now, however, he is back at Grambling and focused on winning the SWAC championship."

Duke, which has never had a black head coach in any sport, has reached out to the Black Coaches and Administrators association (formerly the Black Coaches Association) for assistance in its search. Two of the known candidates for the job, Broadway and Dorrell, are black. Both now have had on-campus interviews, which is one of the key recommendations of the BCA.

For the third time in his 10-year tenure as Duke's AD, Alleva is directing the university's search for a new football coach. His two previous hires, Roof and Carl Franks, posted records that rank among the worst in ACC history.

Alleva has declined to name the members of his search committee, but numerous sources told the ACC Sports Journal and ACCSports.com that the other committee members are university trustee Roy Bostock, athletics council chairman Michael Gillespie, athletic advisory board chairman Leo Hart, university trustee C.G. Newsome, faculty athletics representative Martha Putallaz, and executive vice president Tallman Trask III.

Bostock, Newsome and Hart are successful businessmen and former Duke football players. Gillespie (political science) and Putallaz (psychology) are professors at Duke. Gillespie played football at Harvard. Trask is the university's chief administrative and financial officer.