The search for Harvard's first new football coach in 23 years is underway.

Athletic Director Bill Cleary '56 took the first step yesterday, naming a committee consisting of himself, several top College officials and the football team captain to find a replacement for retiring football Head Coach Joe Restic.

Along with Cleary, the committee members are Associate Director of Athletics Patricia Henry, Dean of the College Fred Jewett '57, Dean of Admissions Bill Fitzsimmons '67, McKay Professor of Computer Science Harry Lewis, Executive Director of the Alumni Association Jack Reardon '60 and junior Brian Ramer, captain of the 1993 football team.

Lewis chairs the Standing Faculty Committee on Athletics. Reardon served as athletic director from 1977 to 1990.

"This is an important appointment and we will be searching openly and nationally for Joe's successor," Cleary said in a statement. "We do not want to leave any stone unturned."

The committee hopes to complete its task by the end of this year and thereby not lose a recruiting season, according to Jewett.

The committee's first step will be to place an advertisement in the NCAA News, a weekly magazine published by the NCAA for coaches and officials, Sports Information Director John Veneziano said.

Veneziano also said the deadline for applications would probably be close to July 15.

A rough text of the advertisement lists "successful and extensive college coaching" as "a necessity" for any applicant, Cleary said. Head coaching experience is "preferred."

Prospective applicants must have a bachelor's degree and a "knowledge of NCAA rules and Ivy League principles" as well as "a commitment to high academic standards for student athletes," Cleary added.

"It's nothing unusual," Jewett said. "Nothing you wouldn't expect."

While the committee appears to be searching for a fairly seasoned candidate, Restic himself had just four years of college coaching experience, all as an assistant, before he was hired. When he was hired by Harvard, Restic had been a head coach for just three years--in the Canadian Football League.

No obvious successor to Restic has emerged, but speculative lists of leading candidates include Tulane Coach Buddy Teevens, who coached Dartmouth to two Ivy titles in 1990 and 1991, and former Boston College coach Jack Bicknell.

"Hiring football coaches has not been something that we have had to concern ourselves with at Harvard since we have had only two coaches over the last 37 years," Cleary said. "I hope that we will be able to select a person who espouses the Ivy and Harvard philosophy of football and athletics as well as Joe Restic has done for many years."

Restic announced he would retire after the upcoming season at his team's spring practice three weeks ago. Cleary initially said a search committee would be in place within a week of the announcement, but later said more time would be needed.

Other members of the committee could not be reached by phone yesterday.