The Next Nick Saban: 7 Up-and-Coming Candidates Who Might Have What It Takes
Nick Saban wasn't always the greatest active coach in college football. That took a while to develop.
He had a modest start to his career, not achieving notable success until the tail end of his second head coaching gig at Michigan State, and it was even longer before he started to get compared to the game's all-time greats. Fast-forward to today, and he's sitting on five national titles, four with Alabama in the last seven seasons, and it's hard to believe he was ever just an up-and-coming coach.
Saban's first head coaching job came at age 39, around the age of many of today's young coaches. Do any of them have the makings of future greatness?
We've identified seven rising college football coaches who may someday have their names mentioned alongside Saban, assuming they're able to carve out a successful path over the next few decades. We limited the selections to coaches under 45 who have at least one season of FBS head coaching experience, choosing to wait a bit before passing judgement on the crop of first-time coaches who will be on the sidelines during the 2016 season.
Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky
1 of 7
Age: 44
Career record as head coach: 20-7
What he's done
Jeff Brohm is coming off a stellar 2015 season in which he led Western Kentucky to a 12-2 record and the Conference USA title, with his only losses coming to power-conference teams Indiana and LSU. Under his tutelage, the Hilltoppers had the nation's top passer the last two years in Brandon Doughty, who threw for more than 9,800 yards with 97 touchdowns from 2014 to 2015.
A quarterback at Louisville as well as in the NFL (and XFL), Brohm spent a decade as an assistant before landing his first head coaching job. He'd been Western Kentucky's offensive coordinator in 2013 under Bobby Petrino, for whom he had worked at Louisville from 2003 to 2006 as quarterbacks coach.
Who he is
Brohm is an accomplished X's and O's guy, one who has been involved with top-50 offenses in seven of the previous eight seasons. However, what stands out the most about him to this point is a sense of loyalty.
According to Sports Illustrated's Pete Thamel, Brohm declined to interview with schools about potential openings until after last season's C-USA title game. That essentially took him out of the running, since nearly every notable job was filled by the time Western Kentucky beat Southern Mississippi on Dec. 5.
"To me, I wanted to finish the season and look our players in the eye," Brohm told Sports Illustrated. "I wanted to do everything I could to help us win. If I do that, then I’m going to ask you to give us everything you can to help us win. I just thought that was the right thing to do, and I think our players appreciated that."
This loyalty also played out earlier in his career, when he was at Louisville from 2007 to 2008. Before each of those seasons, Alabama offered him the offensive coordinator job under Nick Saban, but Brohm opted to stick with the Cardinals and coach younger brother Brian Brohm as his quarterback.
Jeff Brohm hired Brian Brohm as quarterbacks coach this offseason.
Matt Campbell, Iowa State
2 of 7
Age: 36
Career record as head coach: 35-15
What he's done
Matt Campbell was the youngest head coach at the FBS level when Toledo promoted him from offensive coordinator and offensive line coach for the 2012 season. Then just 32 years old, Campbell had already led the Rockets to a win in the Military Bowl as interim coach, and he went 9-4 in his first full season.
All four years with Toledo resulted in at least seven victories, capped by a 9-2 performance in 2015 that included wins over Arkansas and Iowa State. He must have impressed the latter in the process, as ISU hired him to replace Paul Rhoads on Nov. 29, his 36th birthday.
Who he is
Campbell is a died-in-the-wool Midwesterner who played tight end and defensive line in college, first at Pittsburgh and then at Division III power Mount Union in Ohio. His entire coaching career (prior to taking the ISU job) was spent in Ohio, which forged his approach to the game by preaching hard work and dedication.
It also helped him develop an understanding of community that should play great in Ames, Iowa, where former basketball coach Fred Hoiberg was so beloved by the fans because of his personable nature.
"Campbell has some of those same traits, with an easy-going attitude and big, broad smile," Tommy Birch of the Des Moines Register wrote.
After getting his start at the same school where Nick Saban was first a head coach, Campbell is now taking the next step on Saban's path by accepting a challenge at a power-conference school. Iowa State hasn't had a winning record since 2009, and Michigan State was mired in mediocrity before Saban took over in 1995.
Bob Diaco, Connecticut
3 of 7
Age: 43
Career record as head coach: 8-17
What he's done
Bob Diaco is coming off a 6-7 season at Connecticut, his second at the school, but that included the program's first bowl bid since the 2011 Fiesta Bowl and five wins in the previous two seasons. Last year, the Huskies had the nation's 20th-best pass defense and were the only team in the country to knock off Houston.
Formerly Brian Kelly's defensive coordinator at Notre Dame, Cincinnati and Central Michigan, he won the 2012 Broyles Award, which is given to the nation's top college assistant. Diaco was also a two-time All-Big Ten linebacker for Hayden Fry at Iowa in the 1980s.
Who he is
Diaco is as defensive-minded as they come in today's coaching world, having spent 12 years coaching on that side of the ball before landing the UConn job. He's also a master motivator—one who convinced a relatively undermanned Huskies team it could beat anyone last year.
This kind of spinning extends beyond the field and the film room, as Diaco has made every effort possible to create interest in his program. That includes creating a rivalry with UCF—known as the "Civil Conflict"—but only after UConn upset the Knights in 2014. After his team took down American Athletic Conference champ Houston in November, many wondered if a similar rivalry would suddenly manifest with the Cougars.
Much like Saban did early in his career, Diaco is feeding off his defensive know-how while learning how to handle the other aspects of the game. Given a few more years to learn the full craft, Diaco could have Connecticut as the best football program in the Northeast.
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Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech
4 of 7
Age: 39
Career record as head coach: 26-23
What he's done
Justin Fuente took over a dumpster fire of a program at Memphis and quickly resurrected it from the ashes, winning 19 games over the past two seasons while producing a possible first-round NFL draft pick in quarterback Paxton Lynch. Now he's tasked with succeeding a legend at Virginia Tech, where he replaces Frank Beamer.
A part-time starting QB at Oklahoma in the mid-1990s, Fuente began his coaching career in 2001 at Illinois State before joining Gary Patterson's staff at TCU in 2007. In five seasons with the Horned Frogs, he was part of teams that played in the Fiesta and Rose bowls as a so-called “BCS buster,” developing Andy Dalton into an NFL passer along the way.
Who he is
Well-respected at every place he's been, Fuente is aware of the expectations he faces at Virginia Tech. The Hokies were once at the pinnacle of power-conference football, but in Beamer's final years, they sank into mediocrity, stuck on seven or eight wins each year. Virginia Tech is asking Fuente to reignite the fire in Blacksburg.
One of Fuente's old mentors, Denver Johnson, believes Fuente has been preparing for such a challenge for a while.
"Justin was the kind of guy you’d like to buy stock in," Johnson told Sports Illustrated's Zac Ellis.
Fuente put together a series of coaching clinics in Virginia this winter to keep Tech's brand relevant while also making sure not to forget about what Beamer accomplished in his 29 seasons. For that reason, Fuente did not attend Tech's Independence Bowl win over Tulsa in December so as not to take attention away from Beamer in his final game.
Bryan Harsin, Boise State
5 of 7
Age: 39
Career record as head coach: 21-6
What he's done
Bryan Harsin has kept Boise State at the level that previous coach Chris Petersen established and maintained for so many years, keeping the Broncos at or near the top of the mid-major ranks. This came after a one-year stint at Arkansas State, a school that has also lost head coaches to Ole Miss (Hugh Freeze) and Auburn (Gus Malzahn) this decade.
A Boise State alum who played quarterback for the Broncos during their early days of FBS competition in the 1990s, Harsin spent 10 years on staffs there before serving as Mack Brown's offensive coordinator at Texas from 2011 to 2012. That landed him the Arkansas State job before his alma mater came calling in 2013.
Who he is
Harsin told ESPN's Chris Low last year that his alternate career plans would have been to be a professional drag racer, which says a lot about how he coaches the game.
"I love being the one driving that car," said Harsin, who will be calling plays for Boise State this season in light of a series of staff changes. That hands-on approach has been part of his makeup from the outset, and it was integral in working with true freshman quarterback Brett Rypien in 2015.
Harsin's Boise teams are similar to those from the past, with a love of trick plays and wide-open offense but also a dedication to the fundamentals that have included having a workhorse running back each year.
Tom Herman, Houston
6 of 7
Age: 40
Career record as head coach: 13-1
What he's done
He's only been a head coach for one year, but what a year that was. Tom Herman somehow topped his performance as Ohio State's offensive coordinator on the 2014 national title team by having one of the best debuts ever last season.
Houston knocked off three power-conference teams last year, including Florida State in the Fiesta Bowl, and is likely to enter 2016 as a top-10 squad. This is because of the Cougars' returning talent, the incoming players who were part of the nation's 40th-ranked recruiting class (per 247Sports) and being able to retain Herman for at least one more year.
Herman's coaching roots weren't as flashy, spending his first 11 years at various schools in Texas before serving as Iowa State's offensive coordinator from 2009 to 2011. His three years at Ohio State included a 38-3 record and some amazing player development, such as turning both J.T. Barrett and Cardale Jones into superstars in 2014 without any prior experience.
Who he is
Herman's time in the Lone Star State taught him about the aspects of the spread attack that has become such a staple of college football, but he's made sure to put his own stamp on this offense. This has become known as the "smashmouth spread" that both he and SMU coach Chad Morris have come to popularize.
Though it's his philosophy that dictates how Houston operates, he's sure to collaborate with his staff to find common ground. It's something he learned from Ohio State coach Urban Meyer, who let Herman run with his style but made sure it fit with the Buckeyes' mentality.
"He told me to hire people you trust and let them do their job, but always understand that it’s your name on the scorecard at the end of the day," Herman told Bleacher Report's Adam Kramer. "Make sure everybody is in alignment—speaking the same language, delivering the same message."
Though committed to Houston for 2016, the likelihood that he'll remain at a non-power conference school beyond this upcoming season seems slim. Of all of FBS' younger coaches, none appears to be on a faster ascent to the big time than Herman.
Willie Taggart, South Florida
7 of 7
Age: 39
Career record as head coach: 30-43
What he's done
In six seasons as a head coach, Willie Taggart has already turned around two programs that were going nowhere before he arrived. Western Kentucky was 0-12 the year before it hired Taggart in 2010, and in his second season, he reached seven wins. It took until his third season with South Florida to revitalize the Bulls, who were briefly ranked second in the nation in 2007 but had fallen on hard times when Taggart came on in 2013.
This past season, South Florida won eight games and finished second in the American Athletic Conference's East Division, its best record since 2010.
Taggart played quarterback at Western Kentucky and then served as an assistant there from 1999 to 2006 before spending three seasons (2007-09) as Jim Harbaugh's running backs coach at Stanford.
Who he is
Taggart tries to ignore the win-loss record when getting started on his work with a program. It's how he was able to deflect concern about going 2-10 in his first season at both Western Kentucky and South Florida, and how being 4-8 in his second year at USF didn't alter his path.
Taggard shared some of his strategy for improving the team, per CBS Sports Radio:
"I thought the football part would come around, but we had to be better academically, we had to be better socially, and before we could be great football players, we really concentrated on getting those guys and recruiting the right guys that fit what we wanted to be here and then held them accountable to live up to that standard.
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Just as important as building up a program is leaving it in good condition, which he did with Western Kentucky (which has won 28 games in three years since his departure) and would likely do if and when another school wants to hire him to fix its problems. It's a formula that Nick Saban managed to cultivate in his stops at Michigan State and LSU—programs that have remained successful since his departure.
Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
