Updated 11/2 (ordered best to worst job IMO): USC Miami Virginia Tech South Carolina Maryland UCF Minnesota Hawaii Illinois North Texas Won't be surprised to see Georgia and WVU added to the list sometime soon.
Can't argue too much with the order of your list, but you forgot Minnesota in there. I would slot it in after UCF. I'd also have Illinois ranked in front of Hawaii. Sure, Illinois is one of the toughest FBS job in the country, but Hawaii is tougher, in my opinion. The program has basically zero budget, and there is still an ongoing debate on the islands about whether or not the school can even afford to continue fielding a football team. Sure, the locale is great, but good luck recruiting talented kids to the program when you have basically zero money and everyone is unsure about whether or not you will exist in a couple of years.
Agreed but that would be an epic kick to the balls if they hired outside. Fox actually did a great write-up on potential candidates which could go for any school. Also, some other interesting tidbits on openings.
gucci888 quoted the article that I was going to bring up. All indications are that VT is going to look outside of the program for the hire. If this had been five years ago, I think Bud Foster would have been a shoe-in for the job. But as the program has declined over the last few seasons, I think the bloom has come off the rose a little bit. Foster also used to get mentioned as a candidate for other jobs as they came open, but that has quieted down in recent years as well. Whether that's because the decline in the quality of the VT program gave people pause or because there was an assumption that he was the heir apparent, I wonder now if he regrets not branching out earlier.
Good luck, Coogs fans, in keeping Herman. Odds are pretty good this is going to be a very short marriage.
He's definitely gone. What I'm most curious to see is how he manages the situation when speculation becomes very loud. Hopefully he won't blow it like Sumlin did.
If I'm Herman, I'm only leaving if USC or Georgia (if the job opens up) comes calling. The rest of the openings are nice but another year like this one at UH would make him the top HC candidate for any job come the following year. Maybe wait it out in case Strong doesn't work out next year...?
I'd still be surprised if Foster isn't the man at VT but the news they'd consider an outsider after extending him last year are pretty wild. I cant see any great candidates jumping for joy for that job though. Although there are a lot of young up and comers.
I agree. VT is a nice school and all but it's not a perennial power anymore. If he gets a shot at USC or something along those lines, he should take it. I wouldn't mind if he were a replacement for Strong but I don't think that's going to happen this year (assuming UT doesn't lose to Kansas).
There's always inherent risk in waiting, though. What if next season's team drops to 7-5 or 8-4 due to a rash of injuries or some other type of misfortune and there are only a small handful of open jobs, all of which end up going to more established candidates? Then, suddenly, there's a lot riding on year three as far as his coaching stock goes. Beyond the on-field performance, sometimes waiting can also just take your name out of rotation. Two or three years ago, Dan Mullen of Mississippi State was one of the hottest names in college coaching. After the fantastic season MSU had last year, there's no reason he should be any less attractive to other programs, but you just don't hear his name very much anymore. I guess that's a long way of saying that, if I were a betting man, I wouldn't bet on Tom Herman being the coach at UH next season. There are just too many high-paying, top-tier jobs open for him to either miss out on or turn down enough of them to end up back at UH.
I think we've officially seen the first case of this happening. Earlier this week, Purdue announced that they are going to bring back Darrell Hazell for next season. To this point, he had looked as good as gone, given that the Boilermakers had all of two Big Ten wins in his two-plus seasons on the job. In a strange way, I'm kind of rooting for Hazell to prove everyone wrong and lead Purdue to success next season. I have no connection to Purdue at all, but I think it would be refreshing to see a coach get an extra year and have that one year make all the difference. Schools (plus their fans and alumni) are so eager to replace coaches if they don't get things turned around immediately. I understand why that's the case, and I'm as guilty as anyone else about thinking that a coach should be replaced after just a few years on the job, but often think of how many coaches were the right guy for the job but just didn't get enough time or about the coaches whose careers would never have gotten off the ground had they started their careers today. For example, in Frank Beamer's first six years at VT, he averaged four wins per season. Today, there's no way he would have survived his 2-8-1 record in year six, but in the early-90s, he survived and the rest is history. I'm not saying that Hazell is Beamer or anything, of course, I'm just saying that it would be nice if the patience (forced or not) Purdue has shown ends up paying off for everyone.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Gophers?src=hash">#Gophers</a> name Tracy Claeys Head Football Coach, sign him to a three-year deal. Details coming shortly. <a href="https://t.co/wiNPE1HQKP">pic.twitter.com/wiNPE1HQKP</a></p>— Minnesota Football (@GopherFootball) <a href="https://twitter.com/GopherFootball/status/664431995221487616">November 11, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Sure. That's why Herman would have to leave if USC came calling and would have to seriously consider Miami, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech. Word is that Herman is at the top of South Carolina's wishlist and it would be difficult to turn them down if they offer. Honestly not sure where Herman ends up next season. Part of me believes he wouldn't bail out after 1 season (only guy I can think of doing that was Kiffin) but an offer from the 4 mentioned above can be seen as a career move. Also, the Longhorn in me wants him to stay at UH for another year in case Strong doesn't pan out.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Statement from <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Mizzou?src=hash">#Mizzou</a> Athletics regarding head football coach <a href="https://twitter.com/GaryPinkel">@GaryPinkel</a> resigning due to health concerns [<a href="https://t.co/mEJfTo6g0A">https://t.co/mEJfTo6g0A</a>]</p>— Mizzou Athletics (@MizzouAthletics) <a href="https://twitter.com/MizzouAthletics/status/665276923153547265">November 13, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Really sad to see Pinkel step aside under these circumstances. He'll undoubtedly go down as the best coach in the program's history. It's easy to forget now because Missouri has won ten or more games in five of the last eight seasons, but until Pinkel got there, they were a very mediocre program. In fact, until Pinkel came on the scene in 2001, Mizzou had only appeared in two bowl games since 1983 and they hadn't had a season of double-digit wins since 1960. For that matter, it took Pinkel himself five years or so to really get things rolling. He had them in the Independence Bowl in year three, but they followed that up with a 5-6 record the very next year, in 2004. In today's college football world, just about a decade later, he may not have gotten a fifth year. As it was, he was very much on the hot seat going into 2005, but that was the beginning of a run of seven straight bowl games with three double-digit win seasons during that time, in 2007, 2008, and 2010. The Missouri job has a lot going for it. Pinkel has laid a solid foundation, the program has great support, and all that SEC money is nice. Missouri is also an underrated state of high school talent. Both Kansas City and St. Louis are fantastic hotbeds. The job has its challenges as well, though. In terms of difficult jobs, it's probably ahead of only Vanderbilt and maaaaaaybe Kentucky in the SEC.
Word today is that Lane Kiffin has already interviewed for the Maryland job. That guy already had nine lives when it comes to his coaching career, but being on Saban's staff probably bought him a couple more. if he gets this job, we can already kind of see how it's going to turn out. He'll recruit better than Maryland traditionally recruits and there will be some buzz around the program, at least initially, but in the end, they'll be poorly coached and they'll end up being no better than the 7-5 or 8-4 team they've largely always been.
Louisana-Monroe <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">ULM coach Todd Berry fired. DL coach John Mumford will serve as interim coach rest of season</p>— Brett McMurphy (@McMurphyESPN) <a href="https://twitter.com/McMurphyESPN/status/665706568126738432">November 15, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
