10 Best College Football Coaching Candidates on the Market
The college football season is wrapping up, which means three things. First off, it's bowl season and after bids are announced, we'll have the pleasure (or not, depending on taste) to watch a 7-5 team face a 9-3 team in bowl No. 10 while waiting for, presumably, the Oregon-Auburn game. Second, many will look to the next level and hope for a high selection in the NFL Draft.
Third, coaches will be fired and replacement names will be dropped. Some will be coaches who don't plan on leaving, others will be coaches who would love to jump to a major problem, and others will be people who haven't coached in some time.
The top 10 coaching candidates come from various positions, but all have valuable coaching experience that would make them an asset in their next jobs.
Jim Harbaugh
1 of 10
Jim Harbaugh took over the Stanford Cardinal in 2007 and took the team from 1-11 record to a 11-1 record and likely a BCS bowl. Michigan is courting him to replace Rich Rodriguez as he's a Michigan alum, but beyond that, any major college that's looking would be lucky to have that kind of track record.
He'll most likely end up in Michigan, but it remains to be seen if any other head coaching positions open up and if they would be good fits as well.
Dana Holgorsen
2 of 10
The current offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, Holgorsen is a man who looks like he's ready for a head coaching gig. He has served under Mike Leach at Texas Tech and he was also offensive coordinator at Houston. That's three great offenses over the course of a decade. Beyond that, he's a finalist this year for the Broyles Award, given to the top assistant coach.
His drawback is that he hasn't been a head coach yet, but he seems to have earned his stripes and Oklahoma State is going to try its hardest to hold on to him.
Gary Patterson
3 of 10
It's only natural that if a mid-major coach does undefeated and brings his team into the top 10 multiple years, he's going to field a lot of offers for his services. The head coach at TCU since 2000, Patterson has brought TCU through three football conferences and several first-place finishes in the Mountain West.
If TCU can beat the likes of Wisconsin in a BCS bowl game this January, his phone will certainly be ringing off the hooks with a myriad of offers.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Brent Venables
4 of 10
Another coach who doesn't have head-coaching experience but has been due for a gig, Brent Venables is currently Oklahoma's defensive coordinator and a multi-time Broyles Award finalist.
He has already stated that he has no intention to be searching for a head-coaching job as recently as a couple days ago. Could he be saying that to concentrate on Oklahoma's Big 12 championship game and bowl game or is he really not interested? Many would think the former and, if he does decide to make the leap, many would love to have him.
Mike Bellotti
5 of 10
Many say that Jon Gruden is a huge name and a top candidate for any coaching job. That being said, I honestly don't see him trying to be a head coach at the college level, something he hasn't done. By contrast, I could absolutely see Bellotti, who's also an analyst and out of football currently, returning to the sidelines.
The longtime coach at Oregon, Bellotti turned the football program into what it is today. It wasn't the No. 1 team in the country, but it was a consistently tough team in the Pac-10. If he's itching to return to coaching, then he would make a great addition to any of the other teams.
Jon Gruden
6 of 10
I don't think he's going to be a college head coach personally, but I'd be a fool not to try and pick him up if I was looking for one. Making the jump from the pros down to college is not the jump one normally makes, and it remains to be seen if he could pull it off. The only Super Bowl-winning coach who's done that before is Bill Walsh and he had already been a head coach at the college level before.
I think his name will be popping up a lot the next month or two, but he won't be a head coach in 2011. Beyond that, who knows?
Marc Trestman
7 of 10
We move from college coordinators to analysts to... a Canadian football head coach. Marc Trestman was the offensive coordinator for the NC State Wolfpack for two years, then became the Montreal Alouettes head coach. Since then, he's brought the team two straight Grey Cup victories.
His name has popped up a lot for Miami, but I think he would be a better fit for his alma mater, Minnesota. Don't be surprised if he wears the maroon and gold in 2011.
Gus Malzahn
8 of 10
The offensive coordinator at Auburn, who works with the quarterbacks, would have to be on people's short lists. Before making Cam Newton a household name, he made Darren McFadden a household name. Needless to say, he's due for a head-coaching gig.
Don Treadwell
9 of 10
The offensive coordinator at Michigan State and, at one point, the acting head coach, Treadwell has helped turn the Spartans into a force in the Big Ten. His name has been thrown around about some of the mid-major schools, though I think he's certainly ready to be a head coach anywhere in college football.
Mike Leach
10 of 10
Thought I was gonna forget him? Now that he's had a year off after some issues, there will be many teams wanting to take a chance on him. His teams the past decade were explosive and had winning records each year. He'll land somewhere this offseason, there's no question about that.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
