In our second installment, we get some closure on a few jobs while still two of the biggest remain.
Jerry Kill gets the job in Minnesota, Kevin Wilson gets the job in Indiana, and many possible openings still remain only speculation.
So, we’ll look into which coaches are the best remaining, where they might end up, who each team is likely looking at, and what the complete end result could very well be.
* = BCS or BCS-level head coach unlikely to leave
| Possible Destinations? | |||||
| * | . | Jim Harbaugh | Head Coach, Stanford | Michigan, NFL? | |
| * | . | Carl Pederson | Head Coach, Boise State | ||
| * | . | Dan Mullen | Head Coach, Mississippi State | Miami (FL) | |
| * | . | Gary Patterson | Head Coach, TCU | ||
| * | . | Randy Edsall | Head Coach, Uconn | Michigan, Vanderbilt | |
| 1 | . | Kyle Whittingham | Head Coach, Utah | Miami (FL) | |
| 2 | . | Kevin Sumlin | Head Coach, Houston | Miami (FL) | |
| 3 | . | Gus Malzahn | Offensive Coordinator, Auburn | Pittsburgh, Clemson | |
| 4 | . | Mike Leach | Former Texas Tech Head Coach | Miami (FL) | |
| 5 | . | Troy Calhoun | Head Coach, Air Force | Denver Broncos? | |
| 6 | . | Phillip Fulmer | Former Tennessee Head Coach | ||
| 7 | . | Brady Hoke | Head Coach, San Diego State | SAN DIEGO STATE | |
| 8 | . | Al Golden | Head Coach, Temple | UConn?, Miami (FL) | |
| 9 | . | Dana Hologorsen | Offensive Coordinator, Oklahoma St. | Houston, Florida (OC) | |
| 10 | . | Jim McElwain | Offensive Coordinator, Alabama | ||
| 11 | . | Jerry Kill | Head Coach, Northern Illinois | MINNESOTA | |
| 12 | . | Todd Graham | Head Coach, Tulsa | ||
| 13 | . | Kirby Smart | Defensive Coordinator, Alabama | ||
| 14 | . | Mike Haywood | Head Coach, Miami (OH) | ||
| 15 | . | Bryan Harsin | Offensive Coordinator, Boise State | ||
| 16 | Don Tredwell | Offensive Coordinator, Michigan State | |||
| 17 | Dave Doeren | Defensive Coordinator, Wisconsin | |||
| 18 | . | Ken Niumatolo | Head Coach, Navy | Vanderbilt | |
| 19 | . | Randy Shannon | Former Head Coach, Miami (FL) | ||
| 20 | . | Kevin Wilson | Offensive Coordinator, Oklahoma | INDIANA |
Notes:
-Now that Josh McDaniels has been fired, one of the most surprising names linked to the job has been Troy Calhoun of Air Force. While it came as a bit of a surprise that Calhoun completely shut down the Minnesota rumors, he obviously is thought highly of by other major programs and, in this case, the NFL.
-Kevin Sumlin has been higly sought after on this coaching rumor mill. Minnesota wanted him, and now Miami (FL) is rumored to be very interested. He’s one of my favorites, and if it’s true that Kyle Whittingham is out of the running, then Sumlin could be battling with Dan Mullen for the job.
-Brady Hoke, rumored to be in the mix for Minnesota and Big East possible openings, has been locked up for four more years at San Diego State, taking him out of the mix this year…unless Michigan shows interest.
-Dana Hologorsen has been linked to a few jobs so far, including most notably Houston if Kevin Sumlin does leave, but the most likely job is as Florida Offensive Coordinator in replacing Steve Addazio.
* = Possible jobs that could be open in future
X = Jobs already filled
| Previous Coach | Possible Coaches? | My Vote | |||
| 1 | . | Miami (FL) | Randy Shannon | Dan Mullen, Kyle Whittingham, Kevin Sumlin | Dan Mullen |
| 2 | . | Vanderbilt | Robbie Caldwell | Randy Edsall, Ken Niumatolo, Dave Doeren | Randy Edsall |
| 3 | . | UL Lafayette | Ricky Bustle | Carl Pelini, Joe DeForest | Carl Pelini |
| 4 | . | Ball State | Stan Parrish | Brian Polian | Brian Polian |
| * | . | Michigan | Rich Rodriguez | Jim Harbaugh, Les Miles, Randy Edsell | Jim Harbaugh |
| * | . | Pittsburgh | Dave Wannstedt | Gus Malzahn, Todd Graham | Gus Malzahn |
| * | . | Clemson | Dabo Sweeney | Gus Malzahn, Kirby Smart | Kirby Smart |
| * | . | West Virginia | Bill Stewart | ||
| * | . | UConn | Randy Edsall* | Al Golden, Mike Haywood | Al Golden |
| * | . | Arizona State | Dennis Erickson | Bryan Harsin | Bryan Harsin |
| * | . | Houston | Kevin Sumlin* | Dana Hologorsen | Dana Hologorsen |
| * | . | Kent St. | Doug Martin | ||
| * | . | UAB | Neil Callaway | ||
| * | . | Eastern Michigan | Ron English | ||
| X | . | Colorado | Dan Hawkins | John Embree, Coach, Minnesota Vikings | John Embree |
| X | . | Minnesota | Tim Brewster | Jerry Kill, HC, Northern Illinois | Jerry Kill |
| X | . | Indiana | Bill Lynch | Kevin Wilson | Kevin Wilson |
| X | . | North Texas | Todd Dodge | Dan McCarney, DL Coach, Florida | Dan McCarney |
Notes:
-Miami should have their head coach picked out by early next week, and now the rumor list has grown to six. The listed Whittingham, Mullen, and Sumlin are the likely top 3, but Al Golden, Randy Edsall, and Tommy Tuberville of Texas Tech are also in contention.
-Kevin Wilson to Indiana, as we named last week, is a surprising and I believe poor hire. With options like Al Golden or Jerry Kill or Mike Haywood who have lead quick turnarounds in the MAC available, Wilson is an interesting hire.
-David Lee, currently a position coach of the Miami Dolphins, is also rumored to be in the mix for the Vanderbilt job, but I’d still take Niumatolo as the favorite.
-UL Lafayette isn’t a very good job in my opinion because they have very little chance to have success. However, Carl Pelini of Nebraska and Joe DeForest of Oklahoma State could use a change, and by going only 7-5, 8-4 could lead to an upgrade in jobs.
-Gus Malzahn of Auburn winning assistant coach of the year is no surprise to me, and I’m surprised he hasn’t been highly sought after yet. He’s in line to be a great head coaching prospect, and when all the jobs open up in the coming weeks, I’d imagine he becomes much more common in coaching searches.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
