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33 coaches to know for college football’s epic coaching carousel: Bruce Feldman’s list as USC, LSU, Florida and more shop for a new coach...

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If Herman is such a no brainer, as some suggest, then certainly some of these schools will be all over him, right? Looks like a record number of openings for top 25 programs. No way all of those schools are run by morons who can’t recognize the talent in Herman.
 
The biggest problem with Frost is that he brought most, if not all, of his UCF staff to Nebraska. Whilst they may have been good coaches, they may not have been good fits, especially with regards to recruiting. If you look at successful coaches like Meyers, Saban, even our own Jimmy Johnson, he brought his guys but also kept some of the holdover, especially on offensive side of ball.
 
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MedleyCane said:
A tribute to what his team did previous seasons....that's how these preseason rankings work...the fact he had a program in the middle of nowhere, in recruiting version of No-Mans-Land in preseason top10 is remarkable.
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Yes and no. His preseason rankings were much like ours, based a lot on what was returning talent wise and schedule. I stand by my statement that he **** the bed more than Manny
 
Cryptical Envelopment said:

22. Bill O’Brien, offensive coordinator, Alabama​

His name comes up often for coaching vacancies. O’Brien has plenty of head coaching experience at Penn State and in the NFL. He did a very good job taking over and stabilizing a Penn State program that had been rocked by scandal. He did land five-star quarterback Christian Hackenberg, but the jury’s out on just how well he’d recruit across the board. His work at Alabama this season has been mixed. The Tide lost five first-round picks on offense, but they’re still leading the SEC in yards per play and in third down conversions and red zone touchdown percentage. The downside, though: They’re No. 10 in the SEC in rushing and managed just six yards on the ground against LSU.

23. Jim Leonhard, defensive coordinator, Wisconsin​

His Badgers lead the nation in defense and have ranked in the top five in the country the past three years. Leonhard’s had lucrative offers to run the defense at other places (LSU offered him a boatload of money last year). We know he and his family love Madison. Will someone offer him a good enough head coaching chance to get him to move this time?

24. Jeff Grimes, offensive coordinator, Baylor​

The Garland, Texas product came home and has had a superb debut season at Baylor. The Bears have gone from second-to-last in the Big 12 in offense to No. 1 this year under his direction. Grimes did a terrific job at BYU before that and was a candidate for the Utah State head coaching vacancy. If Aranda does leave, we expect Grimes to get strong consideration at Baylor to take over, as well as for other vacancies. He has the commanding presence of a leader and his work at BYU and Baylor has been too impressive to ignore.

25. Dan Quinn, defensive coordinator, Dallas Cowboys​

A former Florida defensive coordinator, the 51-year-old from New Jersey was over .500 as an NFL head coach (43-42) and was well thought of by folks at Florida. He’s also got a connection to Pete Carroll, which seems to be enough to get some USC sway. However, Quinn is now the Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator and a key factor on a team with real Super Bowl hopes. Hemight be in line for another NFL head coaching run, too. At the very least, the Cowboys’ success would likely make a shot at being a college coach very, very challenging, in terms of timing.

26. Todd Monken, offensive coordinator, Georgia​

He’s done a very nice job at UGA and elevated the Bulldogs’ offense, keeping things rolling despite a bunch of injuries and issues at receiver this year. The 55-year-old Monken also has been an NFL offensive coordinator and did an impressive job as a Group of 5 head coach at Southern Miss, taking the Golden Eagles from 1-11 his first year to 9-5 in his third season despite a lot of administrative challenges.

“Monken’s in an interesting situation,” an industry source told The Athletic last week. “He checks a lot of boxes. (He) has prior head coaching experience where he did a really good job; he has a really good reputation; (he) has experience in the NFL; and now what he’s doing offensively at Georgia with pretty average quarterback talent is impressive. Does he want to go back to the NFL at some point if he can get some potential OC opportunities in the NFL? He also now knows that Nick Saban/Kirby (Smart) model about how to put it all together.

“The question is, where does he fit best and just how motivated is he to become a head coach again? Would he want Tulsa? Would he make sense at Duke if that comes open? He did well in the state of Mississippi, and you’d think he’d be a strong candidate at Ole Miss if Lane (Kiffin) were to leave. But he’s in a good spot in that he’s at a place where he knows he’s always going to coach really good players.”

27. Justin Wilcox, head coach, California​

He’s in a very awkward spot. The 45-year-old is 25-27 at Cal and has been dealing with some mind-numbing challenges there for all sorts of issues off the field. How much more will Wilcox want to deal with? According to sources, he has some key supporters going to bat for him to return to Seattle, where he was once a defensive coordinator for the Huskies. Wilcox was well-liked there, but his teams have struggled offensively, much like Washington has in recent years. That probably wouldn’t play well with the frustrated Washington fan base, nor would a 14-24 career mark in Pac-12 play.

28. Tony Elliott, offensive coordinator, Clemson​

The 41-year-old former Broyles Award winner has had a rough year by Tigers standards. Clemson is last in the ACC in yards per play and it’s ninth in scoring. Elliott, though, is still on plenty of radars. In the past, he has been selective about head coaching opportunities. He’s turned down interest from a few places. Elliott has spent his entire college career in South Carolina, both playing as a wide receiver in the Palmetto State and then coaching at Clemson, but we hear coming home to the West Coast could be very intriguing to him.

29. Jon Sumrall, linebackers coach/co-defensive coordinator, Kentucky​

As we previously reported, Sumrall, a Huntsville native, is expected to be a top candidate for the Troy head coaching vacancy. He’s on a lot of athletic directors’ radars because of how well thought of he is in coaching circles. He was a top assistant for Neal Brown when he had things rolling at Troy, and he’s been a very good addition for Stoops. We expect Sumrall, 41, to get a head coaching job soon.

30. Ja’Juan Seider, run game coordinator/running backs coach, Penn State​

A South Florida native (Belle Glade) with strong roots in the recruiting hotbed, Seider is a candidate for FIU as well a few other Group of 5 jobs. The former standout quarterback at FAMU was also a very successful high school coach in South Florida. He’s proven to be a really good position coach and is one of the best recruiters in college football.

31. Jordan Lesley, defensive coordinator, West Virginia​

The former Troy captain will be in the mix for that head coaching job and if he doesn’t get it, he will likely be targeted for some big Power 5 defensive coordinator jobs. Lesley has emerged as one of the better defensive coordinators in college football in the past two seasons.

32. Brian Polian, associate head coach/special teams, Notre Dame​

The son Bill Polian is yet another product of Ohio Division III powerhouse John Carroll. He has been a key staffer for the Irish and has head coaching experience from his time at Nevada, where he went 23-27 and led the program to two bowl games. Polian’s 2020 book, “Coaching and Teaching Generation Z”, has resonated well with college administrators and has upped his stock in the industry. He is a candidate for the Akron vacancy and likely will be in the mix for other MAC jobs that come open.

33. Patrick Toney, defensive coordinator, Louisiana​

His defense just held Liberty’s Hugh Freeze and Malik Willis to 293 yards and 14 points in a 42-14 win. The young Southern California native is the latest in the strong Ron Roberts defensive pipeline and is expected to have some lucrative Power 5 defensive coordinator opportunities coming his way this winter. If Napier does leave, the 31-year-old likely will get consideration to replace him. The Ragin Cajuns are 20-2 since he took over as DC.
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Thank you for the list of potential coaches. I appreciate your effort. My favorites are Kiffin, Cristobal, Stoops, Fickell & Aranda.
 
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Jim Leonhard at 23 is a JOKE. If he leaves Wisco (which he won’t) he’s gonna turn a program around
 
You left off Jason Garrett, who just became available:

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We could do MUCH WORSE, he was a Dolphin coach and ofc a successful HC at Dallas.

And he favors the mask mandate.
 
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bandhammer said:
Frost was the hottest name in college football a few years back. It doesn't make him a bad coach just because he hasn't turned Nebraska around. He got Milton to UCF and developed Milton. A head coach is responsible for the entire program, good or bad. If he fails at Nebraska, it will be because he didn't do well enough there, yet it doesn't mean he's not a good coach.
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Frost also found, recruited & signed Justin Herbert to Oregon.
 
bandhammer said:
Frost was the hottest name in college football a few years back. It doesn't make him a bad coach just because he hasn't turned Nebraska around. He got Milton to UCF and developed Milton. A head coach is responsible for the entire program, good or bad. If he fails at Nebraska, it will be because he didn't do well enough there, yet it doesn't mean he's not a good coach.
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He went up there thinking he could recruit nationally (especially in Florida) as Ohio State does and that backfired big time.

All in all, I agree, he's not a bad coach just a bad fit with that program and this is the fun part because Nebraska is his alma mater.
 
dycane said:
If Herman is such a no brainer, as some suggest, then certainly some of these schools will be all over him, right? Looks like a record number of openings for top 25 programs. No way all of those schools are run by morons who can’t recognize the talent in Herman.
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This is Feldman’s list, not a consensus among AD’s around the Nation as to who they may or may not hire.

There’s several dozen coaches who aren’t on his list that could get jobs at a number of different places.

Also, you have to remember that most hires are failures in college football, just because someone is a hot candidate doesn’t mean they’re going to do a good job.

Herman is 54-22 as HC & 5-0 in Bowl games, he absolutely is a good coach, but there could a number of other factors that keep him from getting a job in this cycle, doesn’t mean he can’t get one in the next offseason or if he’s even interest in going back to college.
 
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