It’s not a great year to be looking for a coach. Last year, most of the good G-5 coaches moved up and a few who didn’t have seen their stars fade (Jason Candle comes to mind). My feelings on Narduzzi are known – but this is not about replacing him. I repeat, this not a list of candidates to replace Narduzzi. These are just one guy’s thoughts on popular names in the coaching carousel. I also think there is a good chance Brian Kelly leaves ND for either USC or FSU.
These are also not in a strict order, it’s not 1, 2, 3. Fit matters, so each job would have a different top candidate. But it is generally laid out from strongest to weakest P-5 candidates, according to a guy who watches too much college football. Only the first 4 guys are what I’d call sure fire P-5 coaches, frankly. It’s a very shallow pool this year.
Mike Norvell, Memphis. The former Pitt and ASU OC under Graham has done quite well for himself after taking over Fuente’s Memphis tigers. Norvell will likely get multiple low-level SEC job offers this year. He’s only 38 but in 4 years at Memphis, he’s 37-15 having won 8 games twice, 10 games once, and he's 11-1 so far this year. He hasn’t won a conference title or a bowl game yet (0-3), but he’ll probably do both this season, if he’s still around for the bowl game. His defenses have not been good, but we live in the area of offense so it’s not clear how much that matters. Boston College doesn’t make any sense, but FSU, Ole Miss, and Missouri would all be good fits, probably Missouri most of all.
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati. After going 4-8 his first season, Fickell led Cincinnati to an 11-2 record last year and followed it up with 10-2 so far this year with a chance to beat Memphis in the AAC Championship this weekend. Fickell spent 15 seasons at Ohio State, including one as interim head coach in 2011. Cincy’s former AD (who spent 8 years with Fickle at OSU) is now the AD at USC, and while he’s an Ohio guy, some people think he’s in the running for the USC job. He can almost certainly get a P-5 job this year, if he wants one. He’s reportedly pretty happy at Cincy and he can probably wait until MSU or another mid-tier Big Ten job opens up, if he doesn’t want to go south this season. If he does, Missouri and Arkansas probably make the most sense, although Arkansas is a mess. If Kelly leaves ND, Fickell will be on their short list.
Bill Clark, UAB. He spent one year at FCS Southern Alabama and went 11-4 and earned their first FCS playoff appearance. Clark literally resurrected the UAB program from the dead and has proven he can build a program from the ground up. No other coach on this list can say that. In each of his 4 years, UAB has gone to a bowl – after not even having a team the year before he took over. In his 4 years, UAB has gone 6-6, 8-5, 11-3 (C-USA Champs & bowl win), and 9-3 this year with UAB back in the C-USA championship game. He’s from Alabama, so he’s definitely only a southern candidate, but Ole Miss, Missouri, and Arkansas would be nuts not to consider him. FSU should also give him a look.
Lane Kiffin, FAU. Here’s another familiar name and another difficult personality. He was the wunderkind of college football until he wasn’t. He’s still only 44. He won C-USA in 2017 in his first year at FAU, he struggled in year two going 5-7, but he’s back in the C-USA championship this year at 9-3. We all know he struggled in the NFL, in his 1 year at Tennessee, and his time at USC ended in disaster. But he spent 2 years at Alabama under Saban as OC, has spent the last 3 years building relationships in Florida, and most importantly, he appears to have grown up. He’s probably worth the risk for a team in tough spot, and he appears to be headed to Arkansas.
Billy Napier, Louisiana-Lafayette. Napier is only 40, and he’s only been a head coach for 2 years, but he’s viewed as one of the best young coaches in the country. He made the conference championship in both seasons at UL-L having gone 7-7 and 10-2 so far this year. He’s held a variety of position coaching spots at Clemson, Alabama, and Colorado State, and 1 year as OC under Todd Graham at ASU. He seems like a high risk, high reward candidate. A lot of media types are obsessed with this guy.
Eliah Drinkwitz, Appalachian State. Drinkwitz is in his first year as a head coach, and he’s got an 11-1 record and a top 25 team. He took over a very good program from Scott Saterfield, though. He was OC at Boise State and NC State before his current gig. He’s viewed as rising star, but I’d be cautious hiring him if you’re in complete rebuild mode. He is likely a candidate for SEC openings, but taking over a great G-5 program and keeping it great is a different challenge than making a bad P-5 program a good one in the first place. He’ll be an ACC coach if he waits for an opening.
Butch Jones, former Tennessee head coach. Jones was reportedly considered for Rutgers, so he’s looking to get back in the game. Jones was fired after going 34-27 at Tennessee, but he was 23-14 in three years at Cincinnati and 27-13 in three years at Central Michigan. Overall, he’s 84-54. He’s currently working as an analyst for Alabama, and with so many openings, he’ll likely be hired, but it may be at a G-5. No one can win at Tennessee anymore, so it’s hard to assess him as a P-5 coach. He should be on Boston College’s short list, though. He could also be a fit at a decent G-5 job like ODU or USF.
Willie Fritz, Tulane. Fritz is another guy who has worked his way up the ranks without every working at a P-5 school. Fritz went 96-47 at Central Missouri (D-2), 40-15 at Sam Houston (FCS), 17-7 at Georgia Southern (FBS), and 22-27 at Tulane, having gone 7-6 and 6-6 in the last two seasons. Tulane is a really hard place to win, and he’s been better than .500 everywhere he’s been. Unless Missouri selects him because of his connection to the state or Arkansas gets turned down by its first choices, it seems unlikely that he’ll move up.
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan. This is not a sexy name, but when you dig in, Creighton is worth a look for a low level P-5 job. Creighton is only 28-46 at EMU, but EMU is one of the worst programs in college football, it’s nearly impossible to win there. EMU went 3-21 in Creighton’s first two years, but he’s won 7, 5, 6, and 6 games in each of the last four seasons. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s an accomplishment. EMU has only made 3 bowl games in its entire history and 2 of those have come under Creighton. There is 1 more bowl eligible team than bowl slots, and the MAC has 8 bowl eligible teams for 5 guaranteed spots. At 6-6, EMU and Toledo are both bowl eligible, but only one will get a bowl invitation. Either way, it’s another “good” year for Creighton. Prior to EMU, Creighton went 32-9 at Ottawa (CFL), 63-15 at Wabash (D-3) and 41-22 at Drake (FCS). He’s never even worked at a P-5 school, but Boston College should give him a look. He could also move on to a better G-5 job like ODU or USF.
Lance Leipold, Buffalo. Another non-sexy name, but this guy is a winner. As a Pitt fan I hate him, but he’s kind of like Brian Kelly who won back to back D-2 national championships at Grand Valley State before getting an FBS job. Chip Kelly was similar in his time at UNH. Liepold was 109-6 and won 6 D-3 National Titles in 8 years at Wisconsin-Whitewater. He’s 55 and he’s never worked at a P-5 school, but Buffalo is not an easy place to win, and he’s been to 3 straight bowls. He’s 17-9 over the last two seasons and he won 10 games in 2018. He’s likely on Boston College’s short list, although he may wait to see if a low level Big Ten position opens up down the road.
These are also not in a strict order, it’s not 1, 2, 3. Fit matters, so each job would have a different top candidate. But it is generally laid out from strongest to weakest P-5 candidates, according to a guy who watches too much college football. Only the first 4 guys are what I’d call sure fire P-5 coaches, frankly. It’s a very shallow pool this year.
Mike Norvell, Memphis. The former Pitt and ASU OC under Graham has done quite well for himself after taking over Fuente’s Memphis tigers. Norvell will likely get multiple low-level SEC job offers this year. He’s only 38 but in 4 years at Memphis, he’s 37-15 having won 8 games twice, 10 games once, and he's 11-1 so far this year. He hasn’t won a conference title or a bowl game yet (0-3), but he’ll probably do both this season, if he’s still around for the bowl game. His defenses have not been good, but we live in the area of offense so it’s not clear how much that matters. Boston College doesn’t make any sense, but FSU, Ole Miss, and Missouri would all be good fits, probably Missouri most of all.
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati. After going 4-8 his first season, Fickell led Cincinnati to an 11-2 record last year and followed it up with 10-2 so far this year with a chance to beat Memphis in the AAC Championship this weekend. Fickell spent 15 seasons at Ohio State, including one as interim head coach in 2011. Cincy’s former AD (who spent 8 years with Fickle at OSU) is now the AD at USC, and while he’s an Ohio guy, some people think he’s in the running for the USC job. He can almost certainly get a P-5 job this year, if he wants one. He’s reportedly pretty happy at Cincy and he can probably wait until MSU or another mid-tier Big Ten job opens up, if he doesn’t want to go south this season. If he does, Missouri and Arkansas probably make the most sense, although Arkansas is a mess. If Kelly leaves ND, Fickell will be on their short list.
Bill Clark, UAB. He spent one year at FCS Southern Alabama and went 11-4 and earned their first FCS playoff appearance. Clark literally resurrected the UAB program from the dead and has proven he can build a program from the ground up. No other coach on this list can say that. In each of his 4 years, UAB has gone to a bowl – after not even having a team the year before he took over. In his 4 years, UAB has gone 6-6, 8-5, 11-3 (C-USA Champs & bowl win), and 9-3 this year with UAB back in the C-USA championship game. He’s from Alabama, so he’s definitely only a southern candidate, but Ole Miss, Missouri, and Arkansas would be nuts not to consider him. FSU should also give him a look.
Lane Kiffin, FAU. Here’s another familiar name and another difficult personality. He was the wunderkind of college football until he wasn’t. He’s still only 44. He won C-USA in 2017 in his first year at FAU, he struggled in year two going 5-7, but he’s back in the C-USA championship this year at 9-3. We all know he struggled in the NFL, in his 1 year at Tennessee, and his time at USC ended in disaster. But he spent 2 years at Alabama under Saban as OC, has spent the last 3 years building relationships in Florida, and most importantly, he appears to have grown up. He’s probably worth the risk for a team in tough spot, and he appears to be headed to Arkansas.
Billy Napier, Louisiana-Lafayette. Napier is only 40, and he’s only been a head coach for 2 years, but he’s viewed as one of the best young coaches in the country. He made the conference championship in both seasons at UL-L having gone 7-7 and 10-2 so far this year. He’s held a variety of position coaching spots at Clemson, Alabama, and Colorado State, and 1 year as OC under Todd Graham at ASU. He seems like a high risk, high reward candidate. A lot of media types are obsessed with this guy.
Eliah Drinkwitz, Appalachian State. Drinkwitz is in his first year as a head coach, and he’s got an 11-1 record and a top 25 team. He took over a very good program from Scott Saterfield, though. He was OC at Boise State and NC State before his current gig. He’s viewed as rising star, but I’d be cautious hiring him if you’re in complete rebuild mode. He is likely a candidate for SEC openings, but taking over a great G-5 program and keeping it great is a different challenge than making a bad P-5 program a good one in the first place. He’ll be an ACC coach if he waits for an opening.
Butch Jones, former Tennessee head coach. Jones was reportedly considered for Rutgers, so he’s looking to get back in the game. Jones was fired after going 34-27 at Tennessee, but he was 23-14 in three years at Cincinnati and 27-13 in three years at Central Michigan. Overall, he’s 84-54. He’s currently working as an analyst for Alabama, and with so many openings, he’ll likely be hired, but it may be at a G-5. No one can win at Tennessee anymore, so it’s hard to assess him as a P-5 coach. He should be on Boston College’s short list, though. He could also be a fit at a decent G-5 job like ODU or USF.
Willie Fritz, Tulane. Fritz is another guy who has worked his way up the ranks without every working at a P-5 school. Fritz went 96-47 at Central Missouri (D-2), 40-15 at Sam Houston (FCS), 17-7 at Georgia Southern (FBS), and 22-27 at Tulane, having gone 7-6 and 6-6 in the last two seasons. Tulane is a really hard place to win, and he’s been better than .500 everywhere he’s been. Unless Missouri selects him because of his connection to the state or Arkansas gets turned down by its first choices, it seems unlikely that he’ll move up.
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan. This is not a sexy name, but when you dig in, Creighton is worth a look for a low level P-5 job. Creighton is only 28-46 at EMU, but EMU is one of the worst programs in college football, it’s nearly impossible to win there. EMU went 3-21 in Creighton’s first two years, but he’s won 7, 5, 6, and 6 games in each of the last four seasons. That doesn’t sound like much, but it’s an accomplishment. EMU has only made 3 bowl games in its entire history and 2 of those have come under Creighton. There is 1 more bowl eligible team than bowl slots, and the MAC has 8 bowl eligible teams for 5 guaranteed spots. At 6-6, EMU and Toledo are both bowl eligible, but only one will get a bowl invitation. Either way, it’s another “good” year for Creighton. Prior to EMU, Creighton went 32-9 at Ottawa (CFL), 63-15 at Wabash (D-3) and 41-22 at Drake (FCS). He’s never even worked at a P-5 school, but Boston College should give him a look. He could also move on to a better G-5 job like ODU or USF.
Lance Leipold, Buffalo. Another non-sexy name, but this guy is a winner. As a Pitt fan I hate him, but he’s kind of like Brian Kelly who won back to back D-2 national championships at Grand Valley State before getting an FBS job. Chip Kelly was similar in his time at UNH. Liepold was 109-6 and won 6 D-3 National Titles in 8 years at Wisconsin-Whitewater. He’s 55 and he’s never worked at a P-5 school, but Buffalo is not an easy place to win, and he’s been to 3 straight bowls. He’s 17-9 over the last two seasons and he won 10 games in 2018. He’s likely on Boston College’s short list, although he may wait to see if a low level Big Ten position opens up down the road.
Last edited:
