Could Yurcich leave OSU?
The success of Oklahoma State’s highpowered offense might lead to a head coaching opportunity for offensive coordinator Mike Yurcich.
STILLWATER — On Saturday afternoon, nearly two dozen Oklahoma State football players will compete in their final game at Boone Pickens Stadium.
But what about Mike Yurcich? Could Saturday be his last game in Cowboy orange?
College football’s coaching carousel is already spinning, and a week from now, it will kick into high gear. With the success Yurcich has had in his five seasons at OSU, the play-caller of the nation’s No. 1 passing offense could become a valuable commodity on the head coaching market.
“I brought him here to hide him for a few years,” Mike Gundy said. “I don’t know that I’ll be able to hide him much longer. He’s pretty dang good at what he does.
“I cannot say that he’s not a good candidate for somebody.”
Those comments were made in mid-September, so Gundy knows the clock could be ticking down on Yurcich’s time in Stillwater.
The Southeastern Conference already has a couple of job openings, and is going to add more. Yurcich isn’t likely to be a candidate to get his first headcoaching gig at an SEC school.
But he very well could be in the hunt to replace a guy who gets an SEC job.
With what is anticipated to be a hot market for new coaches at big schools, the mid-majors — programs in conferences like the American Athletic Conference, the Mid-American or the Mountain West — could see a lot of headcoaching turnover.
“It starts next week,” Gundy said on Monday. “I’ll get the headhunter calls, and ‘When can we interview Yurcich?’ The only thing I’ve asked my guys to do is make sure I know what’s going on. So they tell the headhunters to call me.
“I’m sure some people are doing whatever right now, but next week is when that all starts to roll.”
UTEP has known since October that it would be in the market for a new coach, and an ESPN report at the time suggested Yurcich could
be high on the list.
The name of Memphis’ Mike Norvell seems to be attached to just about any big opening, so he could leave behind a talent-filled program in a good situation for a new coach to win right away.
And there’s no reason to think a Power 5 program in need of a shakeup wouldn’t look at someone with Yurcich’s offensive reputation.
Reports have suggested that Oregon State is open to the idea of handing the program to a first-time head coach. Purdue’s Jeff Brohm is another hot name who could leave an intriguing vacancy behind.
The new early signing date for high school recruits is a yet-tobe-known factor in the timing of coaching changes this offseason. Will programs move to have someone hired a couple of weeks before the signing date — and thus, given time to recruit part of the new class — or wait until after the prospects have signed?
Under the previous rules, with only an early February signing day for high school prospects, January was a valuable recruiting period.
“It’s not gonna be that way anymore,” Gundy said. “Ninety-five percent of your class is gonna be confirmed before a lot of the moves start to happen, other than your major places.”