On the market
Early signing period has programs acting faster
Besides UNM, see a list of other schools seeking coaches, and who might fill those jobs
The college football regular season was barely a memory before struggling programs started firing coaches Sunday. And, considering the early signing period in recruiting begins in less than three weeks, those programs are likely to move fast.
“The early signing [period] has complicated football searches,” Missouri Athletic Director Jim Sterk, who fired coach Barry Odom on Sunday, told Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports. “Speed is important.”
By Monday, programs both successful (Washington with Chris Petersen) and struggling (Old Dominion under Bobby Wilder) had announced their coaches were moving on.
Tuesday, Matt Campbell agreed to a contract extension to remain at Iowa State, taking off the market a coach who was reportedly coveted by both college and NFL teams.
Here’s a look at who’s hiring and who could be hired (with the New Mexico opening addressed elsewhere here by the Journal’s Steve Virgen):
The Jobs
ARKANSAS
Fired: Chad Morris (4-18 in less than two seasons)
Arkansas got a jump on everyone by firing Morris on Nov. 10 amid a second straight dismal campaign. His successor must reignite a spark in the program: Only 42,985 fans showed up for a lateNovember home game against Western Kentucky, the smallest crowd to witness a Razorbacks game at their 76,000-seat on-campus stadium since it was expanded before the 2001 season. The season finale against Missouri in Little Rock drew only 33,961. BOSTON COLLEGE
Fired: Steve Addazio (44-44 in seven seasons)
Addazio went 7-6 or 7-5 in five of his seven seasons in Chestnut Hill and achieved bowl eligibility in six of them but still was fired Sunday. Whether there’s a living coach who can break through the ceiling of respectable mediocrity at Boston College — which doesn’t have the same resources as its ACC competition and is in a recruiting desert - remains to be seen. FLORIDA STATE
Fired: Willie Taggart (9-12 in less than two seasons)
Some Seminoles players want Odell Haggins — a Florida State lifer who has gone 4-1 in two separate stints as its interim coach — to be given the job on a permanent basis. But the school may be looking to land a bigger name such as Penn State coach James Franklin or Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly.
The Tallahassee Democrat reports that an announcement isn’t expected before this weekend’s championship games, perhaps suggesting that Florida State is targeting a coach whose team still has a conference title game to play. MISSISSIPPI
Fired: Matt Luke (15-21 in three seasons)
The Rebels’ Egg Bowl loss to rival Mississippi State on Thanksgiving — one in which an Ole Miss player pretended to urinate like a dog in the end zone, drawing a penalty that pushed back the potential game-tying extra-point attempt — was apparently the last straw for Luke, who led the Rebels out of NCAA sanctions but failed to lead them to a bowl game. The move was something of a surprise, considering Athletic Director Keith Carter had voiced support for Luke, and Rebels players were not happy with the news, some of them exiting a team meeting with Carter before it was finished. MISSOURI
Fired: Barry Odom (25-25 in four seasons)
The Tigers were picked third in the preseason SEC East poll but stumbled out of the gate with a loss at Wyoming, then lost five straight at one point. Odom was fired, and whoever replaces him has one of the toughest tasks in all of Power Five football: competing in the SEC despite having few geographic ties to the conference. Oh, and Odom was the SEC’s lowest-paid coach. But still, coaching in the SEC East is easier than coaching in the SEC West. Sterk told Dodd that he’s looking for someone with a good amount of experience as either a head coach or coordinator. OLD DOMINION
Resigned: Bobby Wilder (77-56 after 11 seasons)
Wilder, who shepherded the Monarchs’ program into existence and then oversaw its ascendance from FCS to FBS, stepped down Monday after three straight losing seasons, the final one a 1-11 campaign. RUTGERS
Fired: Chris Ash (8-32 in less than four seasons) Hired: Greg Schiano After initial negotiations fell apart, Rutgers confirmed Tuesday that Schiano would return to the program he
coached from 2001 to 2011. The New Jersey native has a massive task ahead of him, as Rutgers is in no way close to competitive in the Big Ten. Schiano’s new deal is eight years, $32 million. SOUTH FLORIDA
Fired: Charlie Strong (21-16 in three seasons)
The Bulls went from 10 to seven to four wins over Strong’s tenure, and he was shown the door Sunday after going 4-14 over his final 18 games in Tampa. Taggart could return to the job he held from 2013 to 2016, according to Bruce Feldman. UNLV
Fired: Tony Sanchez (20-40 in five seasons)
With a move to the new Oakland Raiders stadium on the horizon, UNLV decided to look elsewhere after winning no more than five games in Sanchez’s tenure. UTSA
Fired: Frank Wilson (19-29 in four seasons)
The Roadrunners won’t be hiring former Baylor coach Art Briles. Athletic Director Lisa Campos said he isn’t a candidate because of how he handled sexual assault allegations with the Bears. WASHINGTON
Stepping down: Chris Petersen (54-26 in six seasons) Promoted to head coach: Jimmy Lake Washington stunned the college football world Monday, announcing that Petersen is stepping down to “recharge,” as he said in a statement.
After eight highly successful seasons at Boise State, Petersen, 55, led the Huskies to their first top-10 ranking in 14 years and the College Football Playoff in 2016. But Washington won just seven games this season, its first without double-digit victories since 2015.
At a news conference Tuesday, Petersen didn’t sound like he’s done coaching.
“My whole plan is to get recharged, redirected and rested,” he said. “I’m not ready to do nothing. I’ve just got to figure out where all this passion, energy and inspiration goes. I don’t want it to be on a football field. I’m excited to see where this takes me.”
Lake, who garnered interest from Colorado last year, has been on Petersen’s Washington staff since 2014 and was promoted to co-defensive coordinator in 2016.
The Candidates
Many of the following names are going to be linked to multiple openings.
MIKE NORVELL, Memphis: Norvell never has won fewer than eight games in his four seasons with the Tigers, who host Cincinnati on Saturday in the AAC title game with a New Year’s Six bowl berth likely on the line. Norvell is seen as an innovative offensive mind who has proven able to recruit in the South, meaning he will be on the radar of SEC schools with openings, along with just about everyone else.
LUKE FICKELL, Cincinnati: Urban Meyer’s former defensive coordinator at Ohio State is 21-4 over the past two seasons with the Bearcats.
LANE KIFFIN, Florida Atlantic: Arkansas officials reportedly talked to Kiffin in Boca Raton, Florida, on Sunday even though Kiffin outwardly doesn’t seem to want the job, telling a hopeful Razorbacks fan on Twitter that “I guess u have never been to boca.” Just 44, Kiffin already has been a head coach at Tennessee and USC and with the Oakland Raiders, was Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator at Alabama and is 25-13 over three seasons with the Owls, who will play for the Conference USA title on Saturday against UAB. BILLY NAPIER, Louisiana Lafayette:
The Cajuns are 10-2 and face Appalachian State for the Sun Belt title Saturday. Napier has spent time on the coaching staffs at Alabama and Clemson, and at 40 he’s another young, offensiveminded coach who will garner a lot of attention.
WILLIE FRITZ, Tulane: Fritz is 59, a good bit older than most of the names on this list, but he’s also the first coach to lead the Green Wave to consecutive nonlosing seasons since Tommy Bowden in the late 1990s. It will be interesting to see if any Power 5 school takes a chance on Fritz’s modernized take on the triple option.
BILL CLARK, UAB: Clark has gone a remarkable 34-17 as the Blazers’ coach, a tenure that included two seasons without football after the school shuttered the program. He has never coached outside of Alabama — Clark was a longtime high school coach in the state — but that probably won’t stop the SEC schools that have vacancies from giving him a good look.
JOSH HEUPEL, Central Florida: Heupel was Missouri’s offensive coordinator for one season before taking the Knights’ job, and he’s 21-4 over two seasons. But UCF might be a better job right now than some of the Power Five openings. JOE BRADY, LSU passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach: Only 30, Brady will be a hot commodity after his night-and-day transformation of the Tigers’ offense. But LSU probably will pay him enough that he would only leave for a major head coaching job.
TONY ELLIOTT and JEFF SCOTT, Clemson co-offensive coordinators, and BRENT VENABLES, Clemson defensive
coordinator: Venables won the Broyles Award, given to the nation’s top assistant, in 2016, and Elliott won it the next year. They’ve been on Dabo Swinney’s coaching staff for years and probably are just waiting for the right opportunities, though Venables’ son is a Clemson linebacker who is finishing his redshirt freshman season.
Staying Put
KEVIN SUMLIN, Arizona: UA athletic director Dave Heeke said Saturday night that Sumlin — 9-15 in two seasons in Tucson and coach of a team that lost seven straight games to end the season — is “our head football coach” heading into the 2020 season. Sumlin’s $10 million buyout might have something to do with that.
MATT CAMPBELL, Iowa State: Iowa State announced Tuesday that Campbell had signed a contract extension through the 2025 season. He reportedly had been targeted by Florida State and Arkansas and attracted the attention of NFL teams.
Campbell, 40, is 26-24 in four seasons leading the Cyclones with three straight bowl appearances, the first time that’s happened at Iowa State since 2000-02 and only the second time it’s ever happened, period, in Ames.
“Both Matt and I wanted to send a message to our fans and recruits and their families, that he is excited about the future of our football program,” athletic director Jamie Pollard said in a statement. “We are fortunate to have Matt leading our student-athletes and look forward to the continued success of our football program.”
JOE MOORHEAD, Mississippi State: A 6-6 record and a bowl game were enough to keep Moorehead in Starkville for another season. DEREK MASON, Vanderbilt: Athletic director Malcolm Turner announced last month that Mason will be back in 2020 even though he has yet to field an above-. 500 team in his six seasons.