Once again, it has been one hell of a week on the coaching carousel. As quick and seamless most searches were the first week or so, things have gotten much more murky at this point for several jobs that have been opened or filled. Here is what we know now:
Oregon
I will start with the most recent opening, that being at Oregon, where Willie Taggart, after much wheeling and dealing, finally decided on a move and left for his "dream job" at Florida State. Of course, when it comes to Taggart, every job has been his "dream job", so take it all in with a massive grain of salt. The reality is that Taggart was not exactly forthcoming, as much as he claims to be, about the entire process, up to and including when he and Rob Mullen first started to converse on the topic. Taggart also took a donor's private plane on a recruiting trip to Phoenix to see a recruit, and turned it into a business meeting with Florida State reps, which is about as classless as it gets.
Here are the current candidates (real or not), and my take on which ones make sense, and which do not:
Mario Cristobal, Oregon OC and Interim Coach
Cristobal was fired at FIU as head coach there for ridiculously mysterious reasons, and it was a huge mistake that the Panther program still has not entirely recovered from. He then went on to work for Nick Saban at Alabama, signing on for the Master Class, before moving on to work under Taggart at Oregon. He has tremendous support from the administration and from the locker room, so I would say that this candidacy has solid footing.
Jim Leavitt, Oregon DC
There may be a few issues here. Leavitt was perfectly content to follow Taggart out of Eugene as the DC at Florida State before realizing that he could be a candidate at Oregon. If I were the administration, and AD Rob Mullens, I would hold that memory dear. He has support, but not like Cristobal.
Greg Schiano, Ohio State DC
Schiano may still be in shell shock from the debacle at Tennessee, and he still may very well be considering his legal options there. That said, Schiano was interviewed last season for this job, and if he is interested, they would still like to have a conversation or two with him. That said, after the Knoxville experience, I see him going back to Ohio State.
Matt Ruhle, Baylor
He was interviewed last season, and was considered a strong candidate before landing at Baylor to clean up the mother mess of all messes in Waco. He signed a seven year deal there, so I would say his candidacy is a long shot, at best.
PJ Fleck, Minnesota
Again, Fleck interviewed for the job last year, and lost out to Taggart. Offensively, I am not certain that his philosophy meshes well with the Oregon roster, but things can change. He also just signed a two year extension with the Gophers, so again, this looks long shot to me.
Jim McElwain, Fired at Florida
Some have told me that McElwain was the guy that Oregon really wanted last year when they hired Taggart, but he refused and returned to the Gators, where that relationship imploded this year. He still could be considered, as he had strong backing for the job last year. Still, the way he spurned them then, followed by getting canned by Florida is not a great look. I still give this an average chance of happening.
Justin Wilcox, California
Wilcox has strong family ties in Eugene and with the Ducks. It is very rare to have a coach leave one PAC-12 school for another, so that could be an issue. Wilcox did a solid job at Cal this season, and would be viewed as many as a no brainer choice for the job, but would he bail on Cal now, to coach a rival in the same division of the same conference? I say this is an average shot, but less likely in reality.
Kevin Sumlin, Fired at Texas A&M
Sumlin makes a ton of sense for the Ducks, as his offensive philosophy would fit perfectly with what the Ducks like to do. He was the initial name attached to this job when rumors began circling around Taggart, and he was neck deep in the UCF job search, before suddenly pulling out. Sumlin to Oregon makes perfect sense in every way here, so I would stamp his candidacy as high level.
Jeff Tedford, Fresno State
Tedford has ties to Oregon as well, and nobody can deny what he pulled off in one season at Fresno State. The issue here would be his overall age, first of all, and his desire to get this job, and then his final days at Cal need to be examined before any power school would reach out to him again. I say this has an average to high chance.
Mike Leach, Washington State
There is virtually zero chance of this happening, and would be a basic pipe dream. While there has been talk of Leach leaving Pullman after Bill Moos left for Nebraska, this move would even be zany by Leach standards.
Bryan Harsin, Boise State
Harsin was really into this job last year, and did indeed interview for it. He could be the dark horse of the group, but would they make this move right before Oregon/Boise State in the Las Vegas Bowl? That could add some saltiness to the mess.
Neal Brown, Troy
A severe outside shot guy who could be waiting for his chance in the SEC. His philosophy fits, but he has never been a west coast guy.
Jason Candle, Toledo
He was really invested in the UCF search that ended up going to Josh Heupel. He could be a very interesting fit here.
Mike Norvell, Memphis
Memphis just locked him down with a nice contract extension, but with PAC-12 ties at Arizona State, Oregon would be wise to reach out anyway.
Lane Kiffin, FAU
Extensive PAC-12 experience, and after his Nick Saban studies, blew up at FAU. This could be crazy, but just crazy enough to work.
More on this job as news starts becoming available...
SMU
With Chad Morris off to Arkansas, it's time now to look at who could be in play at SMU. Morris is looking to take a ton of his current staff with him to the Razorbacks, so let us examine who could fit with the Mustangs...
Jeff Traylor, SMU Interim Coach
Traylor will get an audition for the full time job as he coaches the Mustangs in the Frisco Bowl this month. As part of the current staff, he could be a choice for continuity.
Todd Graham, Fired at Arizona State
Has strong ties to the region, and coached at Rice, where he won enough to move on before David Bailiff derailed the program. Graham is off finishing second in the PAC-12, and at 7-5, was still fired in one of the more bizarre moves this year.
Seth Litrell, North Texas
Did a solid job as OC at North Carolina before moving on to resurrect success at North Texas. He won the CUSA West this season, and a move to SMU would be a huge boost in both money and resources. His Texas ties are rock solid.
Other early names could end up being Neal Brown of Troy, Blake Anderson of Arkansas State, Colby Carthel of Texas A&M Commerce, Willie Simmons of Prairie View, or Steve Campbell at Central Arkansas.
If SMU wants a big splash, they could work on Clemson's Brent Venables, as they also hired Morris away from the Tigers staff.
Kent State
The last word on this job was that Bob Nielson was being honed in on as a front runner for this job. Neilson is the current coach at South Dakota, where his team just lost to Sam Houston State in the FCS playoffs. He had previously coached at Western Illinois. Over the last 72 hours, there has been nothing at all on this job, other than Nielson saying that he is still the head coach at South Dakota.
UL-Lafayette
Brent Pry (DC Penn State), Matt Canada (OC, LSU), and Doug Nussmeier are the latest names out of the Ragin' Cajuns hunt, and this job has been a popular one at that. Look for Lance Guidry of McNeese State to be in on this as well. Expect other names that are involved at other schools to get in on this as well, like Steve Campbell of Central Arkansas, Willie Simmons of Prairie View, and Colby Carthel of Texas A&M Commerce. This will take some time to sort through.
South Alabama
The two primary players at USA appear to be Will Healy of Austin Peay, who would be the youngest coach in FBS football at 32 years old, and Chip Lindsey, the OC at Auburn. I would expect these two names to be the finalists in Mobile.
Tennessee
It would appear the Phil Fulmer has settled on a trio of finalists that would be very non-Gruden like for the Tennessee fan base. He is looking at Georgia DC Mel Tucker, Alabama DC Josh Pruitt, and Auburn DC Kevin Steele. These appear to be the finalists, but remember that Pruitt was telling people that he had intended on taking the Mississippi State job that ended up going to Joe Moorhead. Stay tuned.
UTEP
It would appear that KC Keeler of Sam Houston State is still the number one candidate, but Sam Houston State is still right in the thick of an FCS title hunt, so until the Bearkats are eliminated, stay tuned.
More news later!
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