Five years ago, Bill Blankenship left a comfortable job at an Oklahoma high school football powerhouse, taking a leap of faith that he'd land a college coaching job that fit him. That offer didn't come until January 2007, when Todd Graham asked Blankenship to join his staff at Tulsa. Four years later, with Graham gone to Pittsburgh, Blankenship emerged from a crowded field of candidates and now has his dream job -- as head coach at his alma mater. "Who would have thought?" Blankenship said Friday, smiling wistfully as he was introduced as Tulsa's new coach. "To say this is a great day is an understatement." Blankenship takes over a program that has won at least 10 games three times in the past four seasons, including this past season, when the Golden Hurricane finished 10-3, beat Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl and were ranked No. 24 in The Associated Press' final poll -- their first top-25 finish since 1991. Graham announced Monday he was leaving Tulsa after four seasons, although athletic director Bubba Cunningham said the process to find his replacement began a couple of weeks earlier, when it became apparent Graham was listening to other coaching offers. Read more: http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=6022979
