He're some questions you've had - along with some you may have thought about asking - concerning the Idaho football coaching job and the overall state of the program:

Q: So, who's the next football coach going to be?

A: Whoever it is, he will have Vandal ties.

Of the five reported finalists, Central Washington head coach Blaine Bennett and Arkansas offensive coordinator Paul Petrino - yes, the brother of former Razorbacks coach Bobby Petrino - are former Idaho assistant coaches.

Brian Lindgren, San Jose State's offensive coordinator, played quarterback for the Vandals a decade ago.

Chris Tormey coached the Vandals for five seasons (1995-99). The Gonzaga Prep grad and former Idaho player and assistant coach was the head man when the Vandals moved from the Big Sky Conference up to NCAA Division I in 1996.

Tormey, of course, was coach when Idaho won the Humanitarian Bowl in 1998. That was also the last season Idaho beat Boise State. The Vandals have been to just one bowl game since.

Tormey went 33-23 in five seasons in Moscow. Idaho has had just one winning season (8-5 in its Humanitarian Bowl-winning season of 2009) since Tormey went 7-4 in his final campaign in 1999.

And Jason Gesser was Idaho's interim head coach for the final five games in 2012 after Robb Akey was fired, and he went 0-5. He came to Idaho as running backs coach in 2011, and became offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach this season - before adding head coaching duties midway through the season.

Since he left, the Vandals have gone from the Big West Conference to the Sun Belt Conference to the Western Athletic Conference to independent status in football in 2013 ... and who knows what after that.

Also, there could be a mystery candidate out there. Seems like Robb Akey kinda came out of the woodwork six years ago.

Tormey would appear to be the most “proven” candidate, having won at Idaho before. But he also left Idaho for Nevada one season after that Humanitarian Bowl win.

Gesser did an admirable job under almost impossible circumstances, if that counts for anything.

Q: How important is this hire?

A: All hires are important, obviously, but this one — or at least how the team fares under him — is critical.

As of now, the Vandals don’t have a conference. The Mountain West, their desired next home, not only said “No” but “Heck, no,” and the Sun Belt, after pretty much saying, “We’ll get back to you,” now says they might be interested after all.

Meanwhile, teams like Louisiana Tech, Utah State and San Jose State, whose football programs were at a similar level as Idaho’s just a few years ago, have improved to the point where they are moving on to other conferences — La. Tech to Conference USA, Utah State and San Jose State to the Mountain West.

Even New Mexico State — the only team Idaho beat in football this year — has been mentioned as a future member of the Sun Belt. The Aggies, like Idaho, plan to play football as an independent next fall.

This much we know — Spear has hired Nick Holt, Dennis Erickson (Part 2) and Robb Akey since becoming Idaho AD nine years ago.

Holt went 5-18 in two seasons after replacing the fired Tom Cable, who went 11-35 from 200-03. Erickson was 4-8 in his lone season, and Akey was 20-50 when he was let go midway through his sixth season.

Q: Can’t we just say we gave it the ol’ college try in Division I, and go back to the Big Sky Conference where we belong? All our other sports are going to be there anyway.

A: It’s not that easy. It would mean dropping from 85 scholarships to 65, and who knows if the lost revenue from playing a lower division schedule will have an effect on the number of scholarships for other sports.

And what about the boosters who paid hundreds of thousands of dollars with the expectation of watching Division I football teams come into the Kibbie Dome?

You think they might want a little refund when they have to start sitting through games against the likes of Southern Utah, UC Davis and North Dakota?

Maybe some wouldn’t mind, but maybe some would.

Q: What would you like for Christmas?

A: C’mon, this is supposed to be a column about the Vandals. Maybe I’ll tackle that question in the next few weeks.

Q: What do you think about the 49ers’ quarterback situation?

A: OK, I’ll bite on that one. The safe move would have been to stay with Alex Smith — sort of like baseball managers who always play it by “the book.” Funny, though, when Smith was the starter, people said he could only take the team so far, and if you wanted to win a Super Bowl, you need an upgrade at quarterback.

Now the same people that were bashing him are now feeling sorry for him, saying he was unjustly benched because he was a “game manager” or, worse, because he suffered a concussion.

Sure, Jim Harbaugh is taking a risk that the Colin Kaepernick experiment could blow up when the games mean more — but it could also lead to a Super Bowl. His inexperience could lead to a disastrous performance, and their penchant for having him run could lead to injury.

With that in mind, perhaps we haven’t seen the last of Alex Smith this season after all.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter at CdAPressSports.