College Football Coordinators Who Should Be Head Coaches Already
This past "silly season" in college football head coaching hires was undoubtedly a big one for elite coordinators all over the country.
Alabama's Kirby Smart got the dream offer he had waited for from his alma mater of Georgia. Mike Norvell parlayed his success as Arizona State's offensive coordinator into a job at rising Group of Five power Memphis. D.J. Durkin and Chris Ash traded their Big Ten coordinator jobs into head coaching positions in the same league. Oregon offensive mind Scott Frost scooped up an offer from UCF.
Later this year, another crop of coordinators will become the highly coveted names of the next coaching carousel in college football. They'll get their chances to take over a program after honing their skills as top assistants.
For some of them, their potential hires can't come quickly enough. The following coordinators in this countdown are ones who have shown the skills and had the connections for head coaching jobs in the past, but they've all stayed put.
Which college football coordinators should get their first head coaching opportunities—sorry, Lane Kiffin—when the carousel spins again? Here are nine names to watch.
Alabama DC Jeremy Pruitt
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It took eight years for Nick Saban's last defensive coordinator at Alabama to take a head coaching job. Don't expect that long of a stay for Kirby Smart's replacement, Jeremy Pruitt.
The Alabama alumnus is back in Tuscaloosa for his third stint as a Tide assistant after three successful years as a defensive coordinator at Florida State and Georgia. In his one season with the Seminoles, Pruitt was part of a national championship-winning coaching staff and led a defense that ranked first nationally in scoring and second in total yards allowed per play.
In his two seasons at Georgia, the Bulldogs had one of the most-feared defenses in the entire country. Last year, Georgia ranked No. 1 nationally in pass defense and No. 3 in red-zone defense.
While he decided to return to his alma mater after Smart's departure for Georgia's vacancy, Pruitt was linked to head coaching jobs at both South Carolina and UCF, per Chip Towers of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Pruitt has been an extremely fast riser in the college coaching world, and he's proven he can coach high-quality defenses wherever he goes. He would have been an intriguing head coach selection for a lower-tier Power Five program looking to make a splash or a Group of Five power in the last carousel. This Saban disciple will be a head coach in the near future.
Clemson DC Brent Venables
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Brent Venables knows how to make the most out of tough roster situations. Last season, he had only three starters returning from a Clemson defense that was ranked No. 1 in the entire country. But he developed new stars for the Tigers, who went all the way to the national championship game.
Success has followed Venables as a defensive coordinator at both Oklahoma and Clemson, where top-10 defenses have become the norm, no matter how many starters are set to return to the unit. Those coaching jobs should make him an appealing head coach candidate if he ever decides to leave Death Valley.
"I really believe that my job is better than a majority of head coaching jobs that are out there," Venables said late last year, per Doug Samuels of Football Scoop. "I have been consumed zero with the idea of trying to position myself to be a head coach. It’s like one of those 'be careful what you wish for' things."
One possible destination for Venables in the future is Kansas State, his alma mater. While Bill Snyder is coming back for yet another season with the Wildcats, Venables would probably be a top name whenever the veteran head coach finally decides to retire.
Venables could be satisfied in his position as Dabo Swinney's right-hand man at Clemson for years to come. But the way he's been able to coach up elite Clemson defenses over the last few years would translate well into leading an entire program. He's learned under some of the best in the business.
Florida DC Geoff Collins
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If you had a checklist of everything a program would want to see in an elite defensive coordinator wanting to make the jump to head coaching, Florida's Geoff Collins would fill in every single box.
"Recruiting, energy, swagger and an aggressive defensive system that worked at Mississippi State and this year at Florida," Dan Wolken of USA Today wrote last year. "It's not a matter of if, but when."
Collins rose through the ranks quickly from FCS defensive coordinator to Alabama support staff member to Group of Five star before becoming a top-notch assistant at Mississippi State. After making the move to Florida, the Minister of Mayhem brought a new level of blitzing and sacks to a Gators defense that was already excellent under former head coach Will Muschamp.
Collins was connected to the vacancy at UCF before it was filled by Oregon offensive coordinator Scott Frost. He'll continue to be a key name in any coaching search in the South, and for good reason. His coaching style is unmistakable and could be a huge selling point for a program looking to generate a lot of buzz.
Keep an eye out for Collins if any coaching vacancies come up in the American, Conference USA or Sun Belt in the next carousel. Those jobs would be right in his wheelhouse.
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Navy OC Ivin Jasper
4 of 9If Ken Niumatalolo would have left Navy for BYU in the last coaching carousel, Ivin Jasper would probably be nowhere near this list. Instead, the longtime Navy offensive coordinator will be handling his assistant's position again this fall for the Midshipmen.
In an age when defenses are getting smaller and faster to compete against the abundance of spread offenses, Jasper would be the perfect hire for a Group of Five program looking to turn things around by going in a completely different direction. Navy's triple-option offense is efficient and dangerous even though it can't recruit whoever it wants, and Jasper has been in the system for more than two decades.
"Why, oh why, doesn't Ivin Jasper have a head coaching job yet?" Bill Connelly of SB Nation wrote. "Navy has ranked in the top 40 [in offensive rating] seven times in 11 years and hasn't ranked worse than 66th in that span. Like any other offense, it takes the right players and proper practice and execution. But it's a great way to overachieve compared to your recruiting rankings. And a lot of teams could stand to do that."
Jasper seemed to have a huge window of opportunity to become a head coach last year when Niumatalolo was rumored to go to BYU—among a few other schools—and his alma mater of Hawaii had an opening. But Niumatalolo stayed put, and Hawaii went with another option.
The Navy offensive coordinator has developed touchdown machines such as all-time record holder Keenan Reynolds out of no-star recruits, and his attacks are as consistent as they come. As Connelly writes, more option coaches should get chances at schools that need to do something different in order to succeed. Jasper is the top of that class of coaches.
Notre Dame OC Mike Sanford
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Mike Sanford lived up to the hype in his first season as Notre Dame's offensive coordinator in 2015, and it's only a matter of time before a college athletic director comes calling for the young coaching star to take a head job.
Sanford knows what it takes to be a head coach at the college level, as his father was a head coach at UNLV and is currently leading FCS-level Indiana State. And like his father, the younger Sanford has picked up plenty of experience under a number of head coaches, with successful stops at Stanford and Boise State standing out on his resume.
Last year, Sanford took over the Notre Dame offense and moved it from 35th nationally in yards per play in 2014 to sixth in 2015. That improvement came in spite of several roster shake-ups due to injury, including the on-the-fly development of DeShone Kizer from a backup into a strong starting quarterback for the Fighting Irish.
Sanford also has high-quality recruiting experience, as he was the coordinator in that department for Stanford when the Cardinal signed some of their best-ever classes. He was the primary recruiter for Christian McCaffrey at Stanford, and he recently grabbed a commitment from 2018's No. 1 dual-threat quarterback, Phil Jurkovec.
His offensive prowess and recruiting power would make for an exciting hire for any Power Five program looking to turn things around. Sanford is young and energetic, and he's had success everywhere he's been as a high-level assistant coach.
Ohio State OC Ed Warinner
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Urban Meyer's offensive coordinators don't have a hard time finding head coaching jobs, and Ed Warinner will be the next to follow in the footsteps of Dan Mullen and Tom Herman.
Warinner is a slightly different breed of Meyer offensive coordinator, though, as he's more of a veteran assistant who garnered experience in plenty of places before working under the famous head coach. He's worked at Akron, Michigan State, Army, Air Force, Kansas, Illinois and Notre Dame in the past, mostly developing his reputation as an outstanding offensive line coach.
Warinner had the responsibilities of being both associate head coach and offensive coordinator at Kansas in the year the Jayhawks shocked the college football world with a run to the Orange Bowl. At Ohio State, he's played a role in developing offenses that have shattered numerous school and Big Ten records.
Warinner was rumored to be a candidate at one of his previous employers, Illinois, during the last coaching carousel. According to Ari Wasserman of Cleveland.com, Rutgers also expressed interest in Warinner before hiring Ohio State's defensive coordinator, Chris Ash, to its head coaching position.
It's only a matter of time before a program—most likely a Big Ten one—snaps up Warinner. If he can build an impressive offense out of the young and inexperienced talent he has on his hands for 2016, Meyer will make it 6-for-6 in his offensive coordinators turning into head coaches.
Oklahoma OC Lincoln Riley
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Another offensive "whiz kid" who made a huge difference in his first season at a new job, Oklahoma assistant Lincoln Riley could've been plucked from Norman this past year for a head coaching spot. Riley won the Broyles Award after the Sooners won the Big 12 title and made a run to the College Football Playoff with his Air Raid scheme.
Riley was groomed as a Mike Leach disciple at Texas Tech before becoming the offensive coordinator at East Carolina, where he led one of the Group of Five's most prolific attacks for several seasons. At Oklahoma, he helped Baker Mayfield nearly become a Heisman finalist at quarterback and brought life back into the Sooners' offense after a down 2014 campaign.
According to Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports, Riley "bypassed at least a half-dozen coaching opportunities, including a couple of FBS head coaching jobs" late last year. He reportedly interviewed for the South Carolina head coach job that eventually went to Will Muschamp, per JC Shurburtt of 247Sports.
Riley has said he wants to be a head coach someday, and he could be holding out for a bigger job in the area than the Group of Five vacancies during the last cycle. There's also been a movement for him to stay in Norman and become Oklahoma's coach in waiting behind Bob Stoops.
Even though he's only been an assistant coach for a little more than a decade, Riley has the look of the "next big thing" in college coaching. If he has another huge year of offense with the Sooners, he should have more programs across the country blowing up his phone.
TCU OC Doug Meacham
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Due to the number of openings in and around the state of Texas during the last coaching carousel, TCU co-offensive coordinator Doug Meacham appeared destined to become a head coach. Premature reports even named him the new head coach at Tulane in December.
Meacham was definitely a hot candidate in coaching circles late last year for the incredible job he's done with Sonny Cumbie at TCU. In the season before their arrival, the Horned Frogs went 4-8 and struggled mightily on offense. But Gary Patterson's hires of Meacham and Cumbie helped turn Trevone Boykin into a Heisman-caliber star and TCU into a serious Big 12 title contender.
The elder Meacham turned down offers from Texas State and North Texas, as well as offensive coordinator interest from both Texas and Texas A&M, per Max Olson of ESPN.com. His track record extends beyond his success at TCU, as he was a receivers coach at his alma mater of Oklahoma State during the times of stars such as Dez Bryant and Justin Blackmon.
Meacham is staying put for now, but he could have easily been one of college football's newest head coaches. His stock has never been higher as an offensive coach, and he has the experience of winning big at several stops in Big 12 country.
If Houston's Tom Herman makes a move this offseason, look for Meacham to be a possible candidate for the Cougars, as he was their offensive coordinator in 2013. He turned down plenty of Group of Five opportunities last year and could be holding out for a bigger head coaching gig. Another year of uptempo success at TCU—especially after the departures of several offensive stars—could secure one of those.
Virginia Tech DC Bud Foster
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A mainstay of any of these coordinators-to-head coaches lists, the last carousel looked like it was going to finally be the time Bud Foster got a crack at leading a program. With legendary boss Frank Beamer retiring, the longtime Virginia Tech defensive coordinator was due for a job change of some kind.
However, Virginia Tech decided to hire Justin Fuente from Memphis instead of promote Foster from within. And while some saw that as a signal for Foster to leave, he decided to stay on board in Blacksburg and become Fuente's associate head coach and defensive coordinator.
Foster's qualifications to become a head coach are obvious. He's regarded as one of the best defensive coaches in the game, leading Virginia Tech on that side of the ball since 1995. His defenses have finished outside of the Top 50 nationally in yards per game only twice and outside of the Top 25 just five times in the last two decades, per the NCAA's stats database.
According to Kevin McGuire of College Football Talk, Foster said he still wants to be a head coach sometime in his career, but he remains committed to continuing his legacy at Virginia Tech. While Foster is not known as an ace recruiter, he's one of the most veteran coaches in the entire country, and he would be a big-time pickup for a Group of Five program or a Power Five team looking for defensive steel.
Foster has remained put despite plenty of offers throughout his career. But now that he's in his mid-50s, Foster might be closer to making his dream of becoming a head coach a reality after a period of success alongside Fuente.
Justin Ferguson is a National College Football Analyst at Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @JFergusonBR.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
