There are many valid reasons why they may not have had "your" references on their resume.

For example, I attended a well-known metro university about 20 years ago now. There are *two* persons still employed in the Music Ed department at that university that were there when I attended - and both are nearing retirement age. Nearly every single instrument concentration professor save a small few have turned over as well - across brass, woodwind, and percussion.

Fifteen years is an entire career length these days, friend. There may be a really, really good reason that they didn't list your mentors or colleagues - they may not have interacted with them.

Additionally, many people are asked/instructed (by job placement counseling) to put their student teaching supervisor as a reference, and then they use people for whom they've worked as a lesson teacher or drill tech. Real experience usually trumps personal references 9 times out of 10.

When people accuse Texas of having a "good old boy" system - your response is EXACTLY why that accusation still tends to stick. You didn't see the "right" references so you discarded their application.