While some were expecting Sunday, bloody Sunday to fall this morning, it has been a rather quiet day on the coaching news front, with only 3 changes being made, and all of those coming at G5 programs in Conference USA and the Mountain West Conference. No hires were made so far today, but expect a mass of movement come Monday. By this time tomorrow, some ver big jobs may be available. Here is what is going on as of this moment today, and a little of what to watch for moving into the week...
LSU
LSU bungles the Jimbo Fisher and Tom Herman moves, and ended up doing what they were not likely to do a week or so ago, and they promoted Ed Orgeron to the full time job. LSu tightened their pockets, and in doing so lost out on every outside candidate that they wanted to do business with, and would not meet a $6 million per year demand from Tom Herman. LSU also figured they would lose out on Herman to Texas, and bailed on him without a fight.
Orgeron now has to make good on hiring an elite OC, namely one Lane Kiffin, but as of tonight, Kiffin has had no conversations with Nick Saban about going anywhere. Stay tuned on this one.
Texas
Not one member of Charlie Strong's staff will be retained by new head coach Tom Herman, according to multiple reports. Herman is already building his Longhorn staff, and 3 members of his Houston staff are coming along. No word yet on DC Todd Orlando. who is staying behind to coach the Cougars in their bowl game.
Oregon
AD Rob Mullens has a meeting set with Mark Helfrich "later this week", but will not confirm exactly when. It was thought last night that a meeting would occur today, but both sides pushed the meeting off. Mullens will be evaluating the entire program today and tomorrow, and if everything I am seeing serves correctly, will meet with Helfrich later tomorrow night or Tuesday. Do not expect this situation to carry on long, as this is just moevment to get the buyout of $11.6 million in place.
Expect Oregon to look closely at Oklahoma State's Mike Gundy and UCF coach and former Duck OC Scott Frost in the early stages. They will likely reach out to Chip Kelly to return, but that is unlikely, and that conversation has probably already happened.
Purdue
The Boilermakers were pushing to make a hire by the end of this weekend, but by 8PM local time today (Sunday), no hire has been made. Purdue would love to move forward on PJ Fleck of Western Michigan, but according to sources, he would rather concentrate on the continuation of the Bronco's undefeated season than talk with Purdue, or anyone else right now. Les Miles, Greg Olson, and Troy Calhoun are all backup options, but any one of those candidates is a secondary choice to Fleck, and he may not even want the job.
Notre Dame
Despite serious denials by Brian Kelly, several sources are still claiming that he has reached out elsewhere to seek out a head coaching job that is not Notre Dame. A couple of names that have surfaced if Kelly were to leave the Irish are PJ Fleck and Mike Gundy. Stay tuned on this situation, as it is seriously fluid right now, and the choice may still not be Kelly's to make, as he has made a mess out of his situation.
San Jose State
As I have been calling for weeks now on this very site, Ron Caragher has been dismissed as head coach of the Spartans. Possible early candidates could be Cal Poly coach Tim Walsh and the Spartans could also hit the U. San Diego well again with Dale Lindsey, but the Toreros beat Cal Poly in the FCS playoffs yesterday. Beau Baldwin of Eastern Washington could also come into play here, so once again, stay tuned.
Nevada
Brian Polian is out at Nevada after four seasons. This, again, was not much of a shocker to me, as I have been saying here that his seat has gotten hotter every week. Even the blowout win over UNLV in Vegas yesterday was not enough to convince the administration to save him. Again, Beau Baldwin of Eastern Washington could be in play in Reno as well as San Jose, so stay tuned here.
Florida Atlantic
Again, as was called for weeks on this site, Charlie Partridge is out with the Owls. Partridge won just 9 games in 3 years at FAU. No early candidates have been mentioned yet, but one name that has popped up on the periphery is current Alabama assistant and former FIU coach Mario Cristobal. James Madison and former Citadel coach Mike Houston could come into play here as well. Once again, stay tuned.
Georgia State
A new name has popped up on the Georgia State radar, and that would be Georgia DC Mel Tucker. This search seems to be dragging just a bit, with absolutely zero serious buzz happening on a national level. Again, stay tuned.
NC State
Dave Doeren saved himself by beating North Carolina this weekend, and will be returning for the 2017 season, but expectations will be high. Expect his to be one of the hotter seats in the nation entering the season next fall.
UCLA
Kennedy Polamalu, one of the worst hires in UCLA football history, is out as OC for the Bruins. The move was made today after UCLA returned home from a 36-10 thrashing at the hands of California last night. UCLA finished 96th in the nation in total offense in 2016, and the Bruins flailed to a 4-8 finish, going just 2-7 in PAC-12 play after being a favorite to win the South this season. Jim Mora possibly used Polamalu as a scape goat to save his own job, as he has come under immense pressure to make changes or resign himself.
Florida State
Jimbo Fisher can expect a serious contract extension in the coming days that will make it all but impossible for him to run out on his deal to coach elsewhere. Whatever he is being offered at LSU is likely to be in the 6-7 million dollar range or more.
More news as it comes at us...stay tuned for what could be a very messy Monday...
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