NCAAF · 1 month ago

Predicting Every CFB Power Conference Hiring and Firing

TJ Inman

Host · Writer

Washington Huskies - Ryan Grubb (Alabama OC)
If Jedd Fisch leaves Washington, I don’t think the search process would take long at all. I believe the Huskies would quickly call Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, and the hire would be made shortly thereafter. Grubb was the offensive coordinator in Washington with Kalen DeBoer, and then for the Seattle Seahawks for a season. Grubb is considered an offensive whiz, and he’s very well-liked by the administration at Washington.
Arkansas Razorbacks - Jeff Traylor (UTSA Roadrunners)
The Arkansas Razorbacks fired Sam Pittman midseason and gave Bobby Petrino a bit of a tryout to regain the head coaching position in Fayetteville. Although Petrino has his backers, the results have not been good enough, and it’s time for a fresh start for the Hogs. Former Penn State coach James Franklin was rumored to be in conversation with Arkansas. Still, the Hogs were unable to seal the deal, and he chose the easier path to the College Football Playoff and a more natural fit location-wise at Virginia Tech. With that deal wrapped up, Arkansas goes back to the drawing board. This is a tough job, as Arkansas allocates a large share of revenue to basketball, baseball, and even track and field, which makes competing in football in the SEC a real challenge. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek is reportedly targeting a defensive head coach, and Jeff Traylor of UTSA is a gettable candidate. Traylor is 51-25 as the head coach at UTSA, and he's used to doing more with less. Alex Golesh of USF makes a lot of sense, but if defense is the ask, Traylor might be the answer.

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Auburn Tigers - Jon Sumrall (Tulane)
Sometimes, athletic directors can overthink things and end up overlooking the obvious and logical move in favor of trying to look like the most intelligent person in the room. It would not be shocking to see Auburn try to take a big swing after firing Hugh Freeze, but I think they ultimately make the logical choice and hire Jon Sumrall from Tulane. Sumrall is very well-respected, and he won at Troy before continuing to win with the Green Wave. He has them in the American Athletic Conference title race, and them making the College Football Playoff could complicate things, but I don’t think Tulane gets in the field. Sumrall will head to the Plains and make Auburn a really tough out immediately.
Florida Gators - Jedd Fisch (Washington)
The Florida Gators canned Billy Napier in the midst of another underachieving campaign and immediately turned their attention to snagging Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin. LSU also wants Kiffin, and the Gators are reportedly willing to make Kiffin the highest-paid coach in the country. Ultimately, I think Kiffin is happy in Oxford and signs a new contract with the Rebels. He can compete at Ole Miss and get whatever he asks for from the administration, so why leave? Florida would then probably pivot to Eli Drinkwitz, but if Drinkwitz is more interested in the Penn State job, the Gators could have to settle for Jedd Fisch. Fisch is at Washington, is a sharp offensive mind, and is a Florida alumnus. This would strike me as an uninspiring hire, but some connections make Fisch the pick.
Florida State Seminoles - Glenn Schumann (Georgia DC)
Mike Norvell has, by every measure, failed spectacularly as the head coach at Florida State in the past two seasons. His buyout is massive, but I don’t see how Florida State can afford to keep him on the payroll for another season after back-to-back woeful campaigns. In a very mediocre ACC, the Seminoles are languishing in the basement. If they move on from him at the end of the season, as predicted here, they’ll try to swing big for sitting head coaches, but it’s tough for me to envision coaches in the SEC or Big Ten moving to an ACC school. Glenn Schumann would make a lot of sense as a coordinator, ready to move up and take over his own program after a successful stint as Georgia's defensive coordinator. He’d certainly apply much more effort into high school recruiting after learning under Kirby Smart.
LSU Tigers - Kenny Dillingham (Arizona State)
The LSU search has been unable to really get moving because of dysfunction within the athletic administration and the ongoing conflict with ousted head coach Brian Kelly. This should be the most attractive job available, but the chaos surrounding it has to be hindering things, at least a little bit. The Tigers are rumored to have tried to grab Marcus Freeman from Notre Dame, but I think Freeman will get a raise and stay in South Bend, and I’ve already written that I believe Kiffin stays in Oxford. After talking with Urban Meyer or other flashy candidates, LSU turns to a young culture-builder who could work wonders with the resources he’d get in Baton Rouge. LSU hires Kenny Dillingham from Arizona State, and if he hires a good staff, it would be fascinating to see how he does in Baton Rouge.
Mssouri Tigers - Collin Klein (Texas A&M OC)
Spoiler alert: I am predicting Eli Drinkwitz is leaving Missouri. That opens this SEC job. It’s challenging to get any read on what the market for a job that isn’t even open would be. Still, I imagine LSU defensive coordinator (and former Missouri defensive coordinator) Blake Baker would get a look before they hire Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein. Klein was a quarterback at Kansas State, so he is very familiar with that area of the country, and he’s done a fantastic job with the Aggies' offense this season and is ready to lead a program.
Oklahoma State Cowboys - Eric Morris (North Texas)
The Oklahoma State Cowboys fired Mike Gundy early in this season, and they have been the worst power-conference team in the country for most of the past two seasons. If Oklahoma State is not ready to invest more into the football program, quite frankly, it won’t matter who they hire here. Still, I have to believe they understand that and are ready to compete on the NIL and revenue-sharing fronts. Eric Morris has produced the top offense in the country at North Texas, and he played wide receiver at Texas Tech before taking over as head coach of the Cardinals at Incarnate Word in 2018. He went 24-18 there before moving to North Texas ahead of the 2023 season, and the Mean Green are 8-1 this season. As a bonus, he’d likely bring young star quarterback Drew Mestemaker with him to Stillwater.
Penn State Nittany Lions - Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri)
The Penn State job search has been fascinating after the surprise midseason firing of James Franklin. Many assumed that Matt Rhule was the number one target and that PSU was disappointed when he signed an extension to stay in Lincoln, but it never seemed to me that Rhule was even close to a preferred option for Penn State athletic director Pat Kraft. I think there are five targets under consideration and pursuit: Mike Elko (Texas A&M), Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame), Brent Key (Georgia Tech), Eli Drinkwitz (Missouri), and Brian Hartline (Ohio State OC/WR). Hiring a coach that is in the College Football Playoff is incredibly difficult because of the timing of the transfer portal window and the urgency to immediately build a good team, something that becomes increasingly difficult if your coach can’t be hired until the portal window is already open. Despite PSU’s pursuit, I think Elko signs a new contract with A&M, and Freeman does the same with Notre Dame. Key loves Georgia Tech and would be a weird cultural fit in the Northeast, opting to stay in Atlanta. Penn State would prefer a sitting head coach, and that makes the hire of Eli Drinkwitz look attractive. I don’t think it makes a ton of sense from a cultural standpoint, and his record in “big games” isn't a massive upgrade over Franklin's. Still, the bet would be that the increased resources would help Drinkwitz assemble a great staff and achieve results at the level expected by Penn State fans.
Stanford Cardinal - Jason Eck (New Mexico)
This is an incredibly tough sell for Stanford. They are stuck in the ACC, making travel a major issue multiple times each season, and they will not have the resources to compete at even the middle of the league, let alone against schools in the SEC or Big Ten. General Manager Andrew Luck would love to get a proven winner, and I’d look very hard at Utah State’s Bronco Mendenhall. Still, another option would be former Idaho head coach and current New Mexico coach Jason Eck. Eck is not at all flashy, but he would have been an excellent fit for Wisconsin (he played there) if they had moved on from Luke Fickell, and he has experience on the West Coast.
UCLA Bruins - Sean Lewis (San Diego State)
The UCLA Bruins fired DeShaun Foster and gave Tim Skipper a shot as the interim head coach. For a few weeks, it looked like they might give Skipper the job, as the Bruins won a few games and gained significant momentum from the interim staff. That stopped when they ran into the IU buzzsaw in Bloomington, and it certainly appears the Bruins will be moving in a new direction. Jedd Fisch, a one-time interim coach for the Bruins, has gotten some buzz, but I don’t know why Fisch would choose UCLA over Washington (or Florida). Sean Lewis is impressing at San Diego State, and he was good as the offensive coordinator at Colorado before exiting that circus. He’s a young and charismatic coach who could inject some energy into a fan base that seems entirely checked out.
Virginia Tech Hokies - James Franklin (HIRED)
Virginia Tech really wanted James Franklin, and the school’s boosters and administration are reportedly injecting a lot of cash into the football program to try to make it competitive again. I thought Franklin would end up at Arkansas, but the Razorbacks reportedly were unable to meet his demands for support and resources, so the Hokies have hired him. This hire makes sense for both sides, and Franklin should be able to recruit in the area pretty well with his East Coast connections.
Washington Huskies - Ryan Grubb (Alabama OC)
If Jedd Fisch leaves Washington, I don’t think the search process would take long at all. I believe the Huskies would quickly call Alabama offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb, and the hire would be made shortly thereafter. Grubb was the offensive coordinator in Washington with Kalen DeBoer, and then for the Seattle Seahawks for a season. Grubb is considered an offensive whiz, and he’s very well-liked by the administration at Washington.
Arkansas Razorbacks - Jeff Traylor (UTSA Roadrunners)
The Arkansas Razorbacks fired Sam Pittman midseason and gave Bobby Petrino a bit of a tryout to regain the head coaching position in Fayetteville. Although Petrino has his backers, the results have not been good enough, and it’s time for a fresh start for the Hogs. Former Penn State coach James Franklin was rumored to be in conversation with Arkansas. Still, the Hogs were unable to seal the deal, and he chose the easier path to the College Football Playoff and a more natural fit location-wise at Virginia Tech. With that deal wrapped up, Arkansas goes back to the drawing board. This is a tough job, as Arkansas allocates a large share of revenue to basketball, baseball, and even track and field, which makes competing in football in the SEC a real challenge. Athletic director Hunter Yurachek is reportedly targeting a defensive head coach, and Jeff Traylor of UTSA is a gettable candidate. Traylor is 51-25 as the head coach at UTSA, and he's used to doing more with less. Alex Golesh of USF makes a lot of sense, but if defense is the ask, Traylor might be the answer.

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Predicting Every CFB Power Conference Hiring and Firing

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