Kevin White never budged.

White's biggest hires as an athletic director to date were both in basketball, at Arizona State and Notre Dame, and he didn't waver on either one. White went after who he wanted, wherever he wanted and he landed his coach at the price he was willing to pay.

As White scours the country for the new Notre Dame football coach -- the most stressful and important job search of his career as an athletic director -- those who have worked with or dealt with him say expect nothing less as he searches for Bob Davie's replacement.

"He'll go out and get who he wants, and he'll go after the best," said Arizona State men's basketball coach Rob Evans, who coached White's son at Ole Miss and then was hired by White in Tempe.

	“	He's going to play out every scenario with every coach. He's going to go see them, watch them work. He's not the type to talk to coaches in advance, but he's got feelers out there. I know he has. He is as sharp as an AD as you'll find. ”
		— Rob Evans, who was hired by White as Arizona St. basketball coach

"If there is a hesitation on your part, then he'll have a second and third choice ready," Evans said. "He'll have a set amount he's willing to pay and won't go over it. He won't be exorbitant."

Those who have worked for him, or nearly done so, all got the impression that he's an AD on the move, always pushing for modernization and trying to stay ahead of his rivals. He's not laid back, not about to sit in his office, play golf with the fat-cat alums or remain in the background. He wants action, and while his ties are more closely linked to basketball, because his sons both played the sport, he's no stranger to football.

And, perhaps one of the most important things to prospective candidates, he won't leak anything to the news media or employees in the athletic department.

"He's very secretive," said Oregon men's basketball coach Ernie Kent, who was a finalist for the Notre Dame opening in the summer of 2000. "He's not going to let anyone know what's going on. He's going to protect the school and the individuals, and as a coach you can appreciate that. I really liked him as a person and as an AD. I came away from him saying that this is a guy that I could work with and get the job done for."

Mike Brey, whom White hired to replace Matt Doherty as men's basketball coach in the summer of 2000, said White was the "Lone Ranger" in pursuing him. But that was, in part, because White had just arrived at Notre Dame after leaving Arizona State.

The football coaching search will be primarily White's, with some help from assistant AD Jim Phillips -- himself a former basketball guy as an assistant to Bill Frieder with the Sun Devils -- and Notre Dame vice president for public relations Lou Nanni.

During the men's basketball search, which was unexpected after Doherty left in June for North Carolina, White had a list of three names. He wanted to talk to Brey, Kent and former Seton Hall and Golden State Warriors' coach P.J. Carlesimo. Carlesimo, who declined to talk to ESPN.com for this story because he didn't think it would be fair to Brey, was in Italy on his honeymoon at the time. But that didn't deter White. He took the South Bend-to-Vatican express and met with Carlesimo in Rome.

"When I met with Kevin for the first time, or at least talked to him, I told him I can't get into a seven-horse race like the last time," said Brey, who was a candidate with six other high-profile coaches when Doherty got the job the previous year under then-AD Mike Wadsworth.

"Kevin told me there were two-and-a half guys involved, and he was going to see how interested the half was (Carlesimo)," Brey said. "I knew things were different. I tell everyone that it was two different job interviews, and I felt like it was two different jobs from one year to the next (Wadsworth to White). I wasn't as excited the first time. Notre Dame is Notre Dame but he made a difference. He's the type of AD to come to me and say we need to do things, rather then me asking him."

Kent said he knew right away that White was an up-front and "honest guy." He said White is big on candidates being a good fit for the school and wants to see them have the same passion for Notre Dame that White has. Kent didn't, saying he has it for Oregon, his alma mater.

"He won't have anyone on his list that he doesn't feel fits Notre Dame," Kent said. "He won't waste his time or theirs."

But White does have a close-knit group of advisors off whom he might bounce some ideas. He used Evans that way with the basketball search, calling him to talk about Kent. When Evans said he didn't know how interested Kent would be, White told him Kent might not have a chance to turn it down.

In other words, he won't offer the job unless he is certain it will be accepted. White isn't about to get rejected, the way North Carolina was when it went after Frank Beamer for its football opening, then had to backpedal when Beamer returned to Virginia Tech.

Hiring Evans away from Ole Miss was a tough call for White, because White's son was playing for the Rebels. But he told Evans he would rather run the risk of his son not playing for the same coach than miss out on getting the coach he wanted for Arizona State.

"He told me he had a second or third guy but needed to know within two days if I wanted the job," Evans said. "If you're not interested, he's not offering. He's a businessman, a no-nonsense guy. He's probably been thinking about this since the day he got the job. He's the best AD in the world."

Evans said bartering is out of the question and don't even think about trying to raise the stakes by playing hardball. It won't happen.

"And you can bank on the fact that the difference between his first, second and third choices won't be much," Evans said. "He's going to play out every scenario with every coach. He's going to go see them, watch them work. He's not the type to talk to coaches in advance, but he's got feelers out there. I know he has. He is as sharp as an AD as you'll find."

And he's about to make one of the most anticipated hires in college sports.

Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.