Haney: Fuente, Campbell emerging candidates - Travis Haney Blog - ESPN
Travis Haney, ESPN Staff Writer
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It isn’t uncommon for TCU coach Gary Patterson to exchange a text message with former assistant and current Memphis coach Justin Fuente. But it’s rare, Patterson said, that the two actually connect on the phone.
They did Sunday.
If you think they were celebrating Memphis’ historic win over Ole Miss on Saturday, you don’t know either man. Fuente wanted to pick Patterson’s brain on how to manage practice and the team in a short week. Memphis, now ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, plays at Tulsa on Friday night in what lines up as a tricky, hangover-type game for the highest-ranked Group of 5 team.
“That’s just who he is,” said Patterson, who hired Fuente in 2007, when his only coaching experience was at Illinois State. “He wanted to know about a short week instead of talking about a big win. … He’s a hard worker, a good listener. That’s why I hired him. I knew he could manage a room the best.”
Fuente isn’t talking about it, but others are talking about him. The coaching carousel, as it sometimes does, began early in 2015.
It’s only Oct. 19, and there are already four Power 5 openings, with, almost certainly, more to come.
Beginning with the aforementioned Fuente, we’ll highlight college football’s hottest commodities, who just so happen to be Group of 5 coaches in the middle of outstanding seasons. But first, a reset of the current major job climate.
Currently open: Illinois, Maryland, South Carolina and USC
Likely opening (likeliest to least): Virginia, Miami, Purdue
Possibly opening (likeliest to least): Syracuse, Rutgers, Indiana, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Kansas State
1. Fuente, Memphis
Fuente was already well-known in search circles, but his team’s 37-24 win over Ole Miss locked him in atop the group of coaching prospects who will be hotly pursued.
The score doesn’t tell the whole story, really. Taking cues from a coach known for his poise, the Tigers didn’t panic after falling behind 14-0 in the first five-plus minutes. Later, they were physical, disciplined and conditioned enough to sustain a 70-yard field goal drive that ate up more than half the fourth quarter. It was something you’d expect the big, bad SEC team to do to the American program -- not the other way around. That’s telling of the program’s identity.
If you didn’t already know Fuente is for real, now you do. You hear lots of new-ish coaches talk about “culture change” and that sort of thing, but few first-time coaches can illustrate it the way Fuente can.
Memphis had won five of 36 games when he took over. He's won 23 in his first 3.5 seasons -- including the current 13-game win streak that extends back to a 3-3 start in 2014. The win over Ole Miss was the program’s first against a ranked program since Peyton Manning and Tennessee in 1996. It was no fluke, either. The better team won.
Where he makes sense
This is the tricky part. The Tulsa native and former Patterson assistant would seem suited for a higher end Big 12 job. But unless something crazy happens, places such as Oklahoma and Oklahoma State aren’t opening in this cycle. This wasn’t coming from Patterson, but I’ve been told by those who know Fuente that the SEC doesn’t seem a likely landing place. The intensity of recruiting in that league isn’t for everyone.
“You have to know what you’re getting into,” an SEC coach told me.
Patterson’s feedback was that Fuente should go where he feels drawn in terms of fit, regardless of the league.
“You have to make that decision for yourself, whenever that time comes,” Patterson said.
2. Tom Herman, Houston
Herman is 6-0 in his first season as a head coach. Of course, the biggest drawback for a bigger job is that he’s in his first season as a head coach.
Even so, ADs have been monitoring him in earnest since he became Urban Meyer’s playcaller at Ohio State in 2012 -- and especially as Herman helped the Buckeyes to the national title last season, using three quarterbacks from August to January, and won the Broyles Award as the country’s top assistant.
Herman, 40, inherited organizational skills from Meyer, but he’s also got some salesmanship to him. His staff construction has impressed a number of peers, and that’s why gaining head-coaching experience – even if it’s one year – means something, compared to up-and-coming coordinators.
Herman’s $2.25 million buyout, which is in effect for the first three years of his five-year deal, is a hurdle in the minds of ADs, but it will not be a deal-breaker for the right school.
Where he makes sense
Presuming the interviews go well, when the time comes in a month or so, I am under the impression that both Maryland and South Carolina will find a way to take care of the buyout. Herman isn’t a perfect regional fit for the Terps or Gamecocks, but his energy will translate to most any program. Look at the way Herman incorporated skilled, Texas-savvy recruiters when he hadn’t coached in the state since 2008. If you can manage a state as big as Texas, Maryland and South Carolina are going to feel like a handful of counties.
But it also means you have to be better outside the state, and Herman knows both the Midwest and Southeast from his coaching background.
Bear in mind: Like Fuente, and especially with the way he’s recruiting at UH, Herman could very well hold out for a better job.
3. Matt Rhule, Temple
Those who know Rhule say he aspires to coach at his alma mater, Penn State. Well, PSU isn’t open right now, but it would behoove Rhule to find an intermediate Power 5 job as a middle ground for resume-building.
The next two weeks will be proving grounds for Rhule’s current program: The Owls are on a short week Thursday at East Carolina – welcome to Group-of-5 life, right? – and then they host Notre Dame on Halloween. Get through that 2-0, and Rhule will be move toward Fuente on this list.
The 27-10 season-opening win against PSU already demonstrated Temple isn’t standing down against quality competition.
Where he makes sense
Maryland. But will Maryland figure that out?
“You know those situations where a school thinks it can get Coach X, Y and Z – and it really can’t get any of them, and it starts panicking when it’s down to its third, fourth, fifth choice?” an agent told me recently. “Searches require self-awareness. You’ve got to know who you are.”
Maryland, namely backed by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, wants to make a big splash; everyone knows that. But sometimes a smart hire, such as Rhule, trumps a **** one. Learn from Tennessee’s mistake when it went after Lane Kiffin.
4. Matt Campbell, Toledo
The fourth-year coach defies logic: He’s just 35, and yet he is regarded in coaching circles as a mature program-builder and teacher of discipline.
In a league that tried to base its image on crazy midweek games – think: MACtion – 6-0 Toledo is a respectable 31st in yards-per-play defense, and it’s seventh in scoring, despite games – and wins – against Arkansas and Iowa State. A mid-November tilt with high-powered Bowling Green is the biggest remaining challenge for the Rockets.
As an aside, the race for a New Year’s Six bowl berth is going to be great theater. We’re going to wind up comparing Power 5 wins, and Toledo’s are likely to stack up well if the Rockets can keep winning in the MAC.
Where he makes sense
Like Temple, Toledo is an Under Armour school. Campbell makes a great deal of sense for Maryland, as well. Rhule and Campbell both look and sound like coaches who are going to win a bunch of games on the Power 5 level.
5. Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky head coach
If you like offense, the 44-year-old Brohm – Louisville’s quarterback in the early 1990s – is almost certainly your guy.
Fuente and Memphis knocked off an OK SEC team at home, but Brohm will turn heads if his Hilltoppers can hang with LSU on the road for even a half. It would be shocking if WKU didn’t at least score, considering it is sixth in the country in both yards per play and scoring.
Games against Power 5 opponents become showcases or de facto auditions. Like with Fuente or Rhule, this is an opportunity for Brohm.
Where he makes sense
Whoever needs the sizzle the most, a.k.a. the AD most desiring offense. Maybe it’s time Iowa State goes all-in on spread and tempo concepts -- not just the current staff playing catchup.
Next five
Chad Morris, SMU head coach
He’s 1-5, but everyone knows how far SMU has come in a year. Still, I would like to see where he takes the Ponies from here. If or when Kevin Sumlin moves on, Morris would seem to be a fit at his alma mater. Morris has a $3 million buyout. Like Herman, if the right, deep-pocketed school needs a coach, that will not be a deterrent.
Lane Kiffin, Alabama offensive coordinator
Enough time removed from USC failure? What he’s done with so-so quarterback play in 1.5 seasons at Bama has been pretty remarkable. And surely he has learned applicable lessons from his boss in Tuscaloosa. Surely.
P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan head coach
If the Broncos were better than 3-3, his name would have appeared above. Fleck, 34, is a ball of energy – and sometimes he’s criticized for it in coaching circles. (Just like Penn State’s James Franklin, for one.) But think of a program such as Purdue, which could greatly use someone pumping life into it. There are certain guys who can make any school seem cool, regardless of circumstance or reality, and Fleck is one.
Everett Withers, James Madison head coach
I'm hearing more and more buzz for Withers, who guided UNC through the onset of its NCAA adversity and is currently 16-4 at JMU (7-0 this season). Withers is 52, and he has one of the youngest staffs in football. (Disclamer: I wrote this before GameDay announced it is going to JMU this week. I swear.)
Dino Babers, Bowling Green head coach
The Falcons, as mentioned earlier in regard to the MAC race, are one of the most entertaining teams in Division I college football. They’re mid-major Baylor.
That became evident when quarterback Matt Johnson and the offense went for 11 plays of 20-plus yards in a season-opening loss to Tennessee. From there, BG went on to get Power 5 wins at Maryland and Purdue.
The obvious takeaway there: If you’re looking for a new coach in the Big Ten, Babers already knows how to get conference victories.
Travis Haney, ESPN Staff Writer
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It isn’t uncommon for TCU coach Gary Patterson to exchange a text message with former assistant and current Memphis coach Justin Fuente. But it’s rare, Patterson said, that the two actually connect on the phone.
They did Sunday.
If you think they were celebrating Memphis’ historic win over Ole Miss on Saturday, you don’t know either man. Fuente wanted to pick Patterson’s brain on how to manage practice and the team in a short week. Memphis, now ranked No. 18 in the Associated Press poll, plays at Tulsa on Friday night in what lines up as a tricky, hangover-type game for the highest-ranked Group of 5 team.
“That’s just who he is,” said Patterson, who hired Fuente in 2007, when his only coaching experience was at Illinois State. “He wanted to know about a short week instead of talking about a big win. … He’s a hard worker, a good listener. That’s why I hired him. I knew he could manage a room the best.”
Fuente isn’t talking about it, but others are talking about him. The coaching carousel, as it sometimes does, began early in 2015.
It’s only Oct. 19, and there are already four Power 5 openings, with, almost certainly, more to come.
Beginning with the aforementioned Fuente, we’ll highlight college football’s hottest commodities, who just so happen to be Group of 5 coaches in the middle of outstanding seasons. But first, a reset of the current major job climate.
Currently open: Illinois, Maryland, South Carolina and USC
Likely opening (likeliest to least): Virginia, Miami, Purdue
Possibly opening (likeliest to least): Syracuse, Rutgers, Indiana, Virginia Tech, Vanderbilt, Iowa State, Kansas State
1. Fuente, Memphis
Fuente was already well-known in search circles, but his team’s 37-24 win over Ole Miss locked him in atop the group of coaching prospects who will be hotly pursued.
The score doesn’t tell the whole story, really. Taking cues from a coach known for his poise, the Tigers didn’t panic after falling behind 14-0 in the first five-plus minutes. Later, they were physical, disciplined and conditioned enough to sustain a 70-yard field goal drive that ate up more than half the fourth quarter. It was something you’d expect the big, bad SEC team to do to the American program -- not the other way around. That’s telling of the program’s identity.
If you didn’t already know Fuente is for real, now you do. You hear lots of new-ish coaches talk about “culture change” and that sort of thing, but few first-time coaches can illustrate it the way Fuente can.
Memphis had won five of 36 games when he took over. He's won 23 in his first 3.5 seasons -- including the current 13-game win streak that extends back to a 3-3 start in 2014. The win over Ole Miss was the program’s first against a ranked program since Peyton Manning and Tennessee in 1996. It was no fluke, either. The better team won.
Where he makes sense
This is the tricky part. The Tulsa native and former Patterson assistant would seem suited for a higher end Big 12 job. But unless something crazy happens, places such as Oklahoma and Oklahoma State aren’t opening in this cycle. This wasn’t coming from Patterson, but I’ve been told by those who know Fuente that the SEC doesn’t seem a likely landing place. The intensity of recruiting in that league isn’t for everyone.
“You have to know what you’re getting into,” an SEC coach told me.
Patterson’s feedback was that Fuente should go where he feels drawn in terms of fit, regardless of the league.
“You have to make that decision for yourself, whenever that time comes,” Patterson said.
2. Tom Herman, Houston
Herman is 6-0 in his first season as a head coach. Of course, the biggest drawback for a bigger job is that he’s in his first season as a head coach.
Even so, ADs have been monitoring him in earnest since he became Urban Meyer’s playcaller at Ohio State in 2012 -- and especially as Herman helped the Buckeyes to the national title last season, using three quarterbacks from August to January, and won the Broyles Award as the country’s top assistant.
Herman, 40, inherited organizational skills from Meyer, but he’s also got some salesmanship to him. His staff construction has impressed a number of peers, and that’s why gaining head-coaching experience – even if it’s one year – means something, compared to up-and-coming coordinators.
Herman’s $2.25 million buyout, which is in effect for the first three years of his five-year deal, is a hurdle in the minds of ADs, but it will not be a deal-breaker for the right school.
Where he makes sense
Presuming the interviews go well, when the time comes in a month or so, I am under the impression that both Maryland and South Carolina will find a way to take care of the buyout. Herman isn’t a perfect regional fit for the Terps or Gamecocks, but his energy will translate to most any program. Look at the way Herman incorporated skilled, Texas-savvy recruiters when he hadn’t coached in the state since 2008. If you can manage a state as big as Texas, Maryland and South Carolina are going to feel like a handful of counties.
But it also means you have to be better outside the state, and Herman knows both the Midwest and Southeast from his coaching background.
Bear in mind: Like Fuente, and especially with the way he’s recruiting at UH, Herman could very well hold out for a better job.
3. Matt Rhule, Temple
Those who know Rhule say he aspires to coach at his alma mater, Penn State. Well, PSU isn’t open right now, but it would behoove Rhule to find an intermediate Power 5 job as a middle ground for resume-building.
The next two weeks will be proving grounds for Rhule’s current program: The Owls are on a short week Thursday at East Carolina – welcome to Group-of-5 life, right? – and then they host Notre Dame on Halloween. Get through that 2-0, and Rhule will be move toward Fuente on this list.
The 27-10 season-opening win against PSU already demonstrated Temple isn’t standing down against quality competition.
Where he makes sense
Maryland. But will Maryland figure that out?
“You know those situations where a school thinks it can get Coach X, Y and Z – and it really can’t get any of them, and it starts panicking when it’s down to its third, fourth, fifth choice?” an agent told me recently. “Searches require self-awareness. You’ve got to know who you are.”
Maryland, namely backed by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, wants to make a big splash; everyone knows that. But sometimes a smart hire, such as Rhule, trumps a **** one. Learn from Tennessee’s mistake when it went after Lane Kiffin.
4. Matt Campbell, Toledo
The fourth-year coach defies logic: He’s just 35, and yet he is regarded in coaching circles as a mature program-builder and teacher of discipline.
In a league that tried to base its image on crazy midweek games – think: MACtion – 6-0 Toledo is a respectable 31st in yards-per-play defense, and it’s seventh in scoring, despite games – and wins – against Arkansas and Iowa State. A mid-November tilt with high-powered Bowling Green is the biggest remaining challenge for the Rockets.
As an aside, the race for a New Year’s Six bowl berth is going to be great theater. We’re going to wind up comparing Power 5 wins, and Toledo’s are likely to stack up well if the Rockets can keep winning in the MAC.
Where he makes sense
Like Temple, Toledo is an Under Armour school. Campbell makes a great deal of sense for Maryland, as well. Rhule and Campbell both look and sound like coaches who are going to win a bunch of games on the Power 5 level.
5. Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky head coach
If you like offense, the 44-year-old Brohm – Louisville’s quarterback in the early 1990s – is almost certainly your guy.
Fuente and Memphis knocked off an OK SEC team at home, but Brohm will turn heads if his Hilltoppers can hang with LSU on the road for even a half. It would be shocking if WKU didn’t at least score, considering it is sixth in the country in both yards per play and scoring.
Games against Power 5 opponents become showcases or de facto auditions. Like with Fuente or Rhule, this is an opportunity for Brohm.
Where he makes sense
Whoever needs the sizzle the most, a.k.a. the AD most desiring offense. Maybe it’s time Iowa State goes all-in on spread and tempo concepts -- not just the current staff playing catchup.
Next five
Chad Morris, SMU head coach
He’s 1-5, but everyone knows how far SMU has come in a year. Still, I would like to see where he takes the Ponies from here. If or when Kevin Sumlin moves on, Morris would seem to be a fit at his alma mater. Morris has a $3 million buyout. Like Herman, if the right, deep-pocketed school needs a coach, that will not be a deterrent.
Lane Kiffin, Alabama offensive coordinator
Enough time removed from USC failure? What he’s done with so-so quarterback play in 1.5 seasons at Bama has been pretty remarkable. And surely he has learned applicable lessons from his boss in Tuscaloosa. Surely.
P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan head coach
If the Broncos were better than 3-3, his name would have appeared above. Fleck, 34, is a ball of energy – and sometimes he’s criticized for it in coaching circles. (Just like Penn State’s James Franklin, for one.) But think of a program such as Purdue, which could greatly use someone pumping life into it. There are certain guys who can make any school seem cool, regardless of circumstance or reality, and Fleck is one.
Everett Withers, James Madison head coach
I'm hearing more and more buzz for Withers, who guided UNC through the onset of its NCAA adversity and is currently 16-4 at JMU (7-0 this season). Withers is 52, and he has one of the youngest staffs in football. (Disclamer: I wrote this before GameDay announced it is going to JMU this week. I swear.)
Dino Babers, Bowling Green head coach
The Falcons, as mentioned earlier in regard to the MAC race, are one of the most entertaining teams in Division I college football. They’re mid-major Baylor.
That became evident when quarterback Matt Johnson and the offense went for 11 plays of 20-plus yards in a season-opening loss to Tennessee. From there, BG went on to get Power 5 wins at Maryland and Purdue.
The obvious takeaway there: If you’re looking for a new coach in the Big Ten, Babers already knows how to get conference victories.
