UNC’s Larry Fedora Tops This Wish List Of 7 Potential Program Saviors
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com College Football Blogger
While athletic directors, fans and, in the case of at least Texas, boosters, are falling all over themselves to be first in line to get Tom Herman as their next coach, there are other candidates out there who may be just as good a hire as the current Houston head man.
Perhaps even better fits for some programs.
Here’s my choices for top potential candidates for coaches not named Ton Herman. In order of preference were I hiring a coach.
1.) Larry Fedora
North Carolina upset Florida State this year and perhaps came within a blown on-sides kick call of beating Clemson in last year’s ACC Championship game. The guy with the name of a hat who wears a visor has somewhat quietly turned the Tar Heels into a second-tier national power.
He can’t be ignored for too long, so I would be first in line to contact his agent and get the ball rolling – and risk being offsides on this on-sides kick.
2.) Mark Dantonio
Now may be the perfect time to leave Michigan State. What Dantonio has done there is remarkable but the team is down this year and of course Michigan is on the rise and would love to knock Sparty back to “little brother” status.
It could be tough to pry Dantonio away from East Lansing and those MSU boosters and alumni, but why not make a run at him, say, LSU? After all, the Tigers did pretty well before in getting a coach from Michigan State to come down to the Red Baton.
3.) Kyle Whittingham
He’s done something remarkable – continued what Urban Meyer started at Utah. And it’s been a while since Meyer was at Utah. The Utes are not a flashy team and frankly they are never any better than an above-average team. But it’s Utah for cryin’ out loud!
They do manage to win a lot of games because they are well coached and are fundamentally sound. They are like ambush predators who wait for an opponent to make a mistake, the pounce upon it. Because he doesn’t run one of those spread offenses, but rather has a more basic approach with sound execution, he is an ideal fit for USC.
His one drawback is that he seems to have a bit of a surly personality, although that’s never held back Nick Saban.
4.) Mike MacIntyre
Had anyone noticed what this guy has done at Colorado? He’s turned around one of college football’s most hapless programs and had Michigan scared to death in the Big House. He came from San Jose State, where he produced the school’s first 10-win season in 25 years. This guy could be a home run hire.
5.) Lane Kiffin
Has three years under Nick Saban matured him? Is he now capable of focusing on football rather than creating silly sideshows? If so, then he could be a very good hire, even at back at USC. Click here for why this is not such a crazy idea.
Frankly, were I an AD, I would rather watch him for a few years at another school before I would consider him, but that’s not reality for teams desperate now for a new coach.
6.) Willie Taggert
Who, you ask? He’s the coach at South Florida (and just ask Jimbo Fisher if he wants to face the Bulls again this year) and was an assistant under Jim Harbaugh at Stanford. He shined at Western Kentucky and won 10 games last year at USF.
With his “Gulf Coast Offense” rolling up points and his background at Stanford, he would be an ideal fit for Oregon.
He has s losing record as a head coach but don’t let that fool you – he’s quickly turned around two bad programs and made them winners.
7.) Ed Orgeron
While he’s an outstanding interim coach, he’s too unproved for a top-tier team to take a chance on for a few reasons. First – and nothing again him here – he’s not a big-name hire a “splash” that boosters at LSU are seeking. Second, in the full-time job can he handle all the head coaching responsibilities: staffing, recruiting, managing the program, the press, the alumni, all the off-field issues that pop up throughout the year with the players, and so forth.
He would be a great fit as a “second-tier” coach, a place he can go to really prove himself (or not). Taking over for Fedora at UNC, for example.
DO NOT CONSIDER THIS MAN AS A HEAD COACH
Bobby Petrino. Not even Auburn will hire this guy. Not after he was ready and willing to stab his former boss in the back in the infamous Planegate episode. Then again, Auburn gets desperate and has few morals when it comes to hiring coaches; the Tigers are said to be looking at Art Bryles and of course hired the morals-challenged Bruce Pearl in a heartbeat for its basketball team.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.