Hesse was formerly the CEO of Embarq, a local telco that Sprint spun off last year, and once ran AT&T’s mobile-phone business, so he’s certainly got the chops for the job. “His history in wireless is impeccable,” said IAG Research analyst Roger Entner. “He is certainly the best person that is currently available. Dan did a miraculous job at AT&T Wireless. If they would have kept him on as CEO, the wireless industry would look very different. AT&T would have remained a force to be reckoned with, rather than a company that just sort of withered away.”

Perhaps. Question is, can Hesse work similar miracles at Sprint, where operational troubles, falling subscriber numbers and declining profits are dragging the company deep into the mud.

Rumors of Forsee’s imminent resignation began ciriculating earlier this month when The Wall Street Journal reported that activist investor Ralph Whitworth had lost confidence in Forsee and was threatening a proxy fight for board seats unless Sprint dealt with the situation “immediately.” Apparently, the board took Whitworth’s warning to heart. In a statement, Sprint board member Irvine Hockaday said “the decision to seek a new CEO was based on the board’s belief that it is the right time to put in place new leadership to move the company forward in improving its performance and realizing corporate objectives.”

That and the roughly 10% decline in Sprint’s share price over the past two years.

Anyway, with Forsee out of the way, the search for a new CEO is on in earnest. But it won’t be easy. Finding someone to burnish Sprint’s fortunes, stop the bleeding in its core cellular business and make good on its WiMAX promises is a daunting task to say the least. “There’s no silver bullet the new management team can bring in,” said Pacific Crest Securities analyst Steve Clement. “Things are still in limbo.”