The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
SEC will soon see coachng changes
Arkansas fired its athletic director this week — remember Jeff Long from his appearances as chair of the College Football Playoff selection committee? — in a move surely preparatory to the firing of coach Bret Bielema. That would make four vacant SEC jobs, with Texas A&M poised to become a fifth. Today we assess each opening/opening-to-be.
Florida: The person least apt to be hired in Gainesville is the one a lot of folks believe should be hired — Dan Mullen of Mississippi State. You’ll recall that Jeremy Foley hired two head coaches after Urban Meyer retired to spend time with his family without seriously considering the guy who’d been Meyer’s offensive coordinator at Florida. For reasons still unknown, Foley never cared for Mullen. (And Greg McGarity, long Foley’s aide-de-camp, didn’t look at Mullen after firing Mark Richt.)
Foley is AD emeritus, but he still cuts a wide swath across the Swamp. It would be a shock if new AD Scott Stricklin — full disclosure, sort of: Stricklin believes he and I are cousins — did something counter to the wishes of his famous predecessor. The growing belief is that Scott Frost, the former Nebraska QB and Oregon offensive coordinator who’s head coach at unbeaten Central Florida, will be the choice.
Tennessee: Mullen could wind up here, though he might prefer to stay in Starkville — most of the maroon Bulldogs’ starters will return — rather than venture into what has become a graveyard of coaches. As for oft-rumored Jon Gruden: If he ever takes another coaching job, it will probably be in the NFL. (Latest whisper has him angling to return to the Buccaneers should Dirk Koetter get canned.)
Beyond that, it’s a roundup of the usual suspects: Chip Kelly, Bobby Petrino, maybe Mike Leach. There’s little question the wayfaring Petrino would jump, seeing as how Tom Jurich, the man who hired him (for a second time) at Louisville, just got fifired and the Cardinals’ athletic department is in disarray. The joke in SEC press boxes has been that Petrino has spent more time on the phone with his agent than coaching his team. Then again, Louisville is 6-4, having lost to Boston College and Wake Forest, so it mightn’t be a joke at all.
Ole Miss: The Rebels are facing deep-dish sanctions or the death penalty, and the latter might actually be preferable to the former. (No way you can keep up in the SEC West if you’re barely allowed to recruit.) Mike MacIntyre — who played at Georgia Tech and worked at Georgia and was the 2016 coach of the year at Colorado — might be looking to escape Boulder, seeing as how the Buffaloes are 5-6 and occupants of last place in the Pac-12 South. Chad Morris, the former Clemson OC who’s head coach at SMU, has been mentioned. So has Jeremy Pruitt, of whom you’ve heard. A hot name is Mike Norvell, of 8-1 Memphis, but he might have better options.
Arkansas: Norvell will be in play here, too. And what of Les Miles? How often do can you hire a coach with a national championship in his portfolio? But here’s the real name to watch: Gus Malzahn. Some believe that Long was fifired so the Hogs can make a run at the Auburn coach, who worked as Houston Nutt’s assistant in Fayetteville and spent a year coaching Arkansas State.
About here, you’re saying, “Mightn’t Malzahn and Auburn win the SEC and make the playoff?” Answer: yes. But if the Tigers lose to Alabama for a fourth year running, the grumbling over Gus would resume, and there’s no grumbling like Auburn grumbling. He might see this as a chance to go to a place he’s wanted.
Texas A&M: Miles? Kelly? The Aggies have the money and the profile to aim high. A USA Today report holds that they’re kicking the tires on Jimbo Fisher, whose Florida State Seminoles began the season ranked No. 3 and have fallen apart so completely that you wonder if this coach will ever put it back together. It has long been assumed that Fisher, who worked at Auburn and LSU, would eventually return to the SEC.
This might be the time.