by: Sam Gillenwater 2 hours ago samdg_33
The FBS has ten head-coaching jobs that are currently open as of October 28th, setting up what could be an all-time kind of coaching carousel with that many positions, and at the specific programs they’re at, available midseason in 2025. But, with that in mind, who all is in line to take those jobs, whether open now or will come open at this rate over the next month, all around college football?
On ‘Always College Football’ on Tuesday, Greg McElroy put together a comprehensive list of possible candidates for the upcoming carousel. It includes 15 names labeled as top candidates, as well as 15 more who are either candidates from out of the Group of Five, or are current coordinators or past coaches in either the NCAA or the NFL.
Here is that list compiled together and shared this morning by McElroy:
At this point, we all know that Kiffin is “the top candidate right now in college football” and “the number one candidate by a mile for everybody”, says McElroy. It’s just a matter of if he chooses to remain at Ole Miss, where he is currently at 51-19 (.729) and where he has the Rebels in contention again, or if he’d leave for somewhere else in the sport, specifically one of the three open jobs elsewhere in the Southeastern Conference.
“The entire market is going to revolve around Lane Kiffin here, and he is the number one consensus target for probably everybody,” said McElroy. “And, it depends on fit, it depends on where would things kind of work out for him, what’s he interested in, what does he want…It’s not like it’s only going to be about money for Lane Kiffin. It’s going to be about fit, it’s going to be about desirability, it’s going to be about alignment, all of these other things, if he were to decide to leave Ole Miss. Because, guess what? He’s got a pretty good thing going right now. He has established a proven, portal-fueled, top-ten program in the SEC.”
To this point, Rhule has only been really connected to the open job at Penn State . But, with a coaching career in college known for successful rebuilds, with three stops where the program improved record-wise in every season he was there, he’s a proven commodity that could come under consideration this cycle.
“He has a proven track record of rebuilding programs like Temple , like Baylor and his Nebraska Cornhuskers are off to a 6-2 start. So, it’s understandable that he is a desirable candidate for some of the openings that might come up,” McElroy said. “To be honest with you, I think it’d be hard to leave Nebraska. He’s got a good thing going right now, and it looks like that good thing could continue here in the weeks to come.”
Campbell is another one of those proven coaches, being 69-54 (.561) in a decade spent in Ames as the Cyclones’ all-time winningest coach. But, that said, McElroy noted that any school wanting to hire him away will likely have to adjust their thoughts to doing it his way.
“He has done a lot with less for a number of years. He’s also not an outrageously high-paid coach. So, you look at what others are making elsewhere? He’s not in the top-ten in college football in terms of coach’s salary,” said McElroy. “Here’s the thing about Matt Campbell, though, that you have to be comfortable with. If you want to go hire him, by all means. Or, if you want to have a conversation with him, totally support that. I think he’s one of the best coaches in America. But Matt Campbell will not be interested in recruiting people based on how many stars they have in high school. That’s part of what’s made the Iowa State job so appealing to him. He can do it his way. He can go find those diamonds in the rough. And, if he takes a top-five, top-ten job, the expectation with taking that job is, well, you better recruit top-five, top-ten classes on a year in, year out basis, and those players that have the star rankings that would warrant a top-five, top-ten class might not fit what Matt Campbell wants to coach.”
Drinkwitz is one of several coaches on this list who’s become a bigger and bigger commodity, being 56-27 (.675) in seven total seasons as a head coach and 27-7 (.794) the past two and a half seasons at Mizzou. He may not be at the very top of all of these lists for the programs involved, but, especially in this era of the sport, he’s done enough lately in CoMo to warrant interest.
“He has kind of remade Missouri into a consistently relevant program…He’s been a top-tier candidate for years. If he were to make a move, would he be in the mix at a place like Florida ? Would he be in the mix at a place like LSU ? I don’t know. I don’t know the answer to that,” McElroy said. “All I know is that his system, offensively, is very, very fun to watch. It works. They do a really good job of evaluating talent. I also think he’s done a really good job of navigating the NIL world. He has made Missouri into a big spender…And I think he’s done a really good job of engaging with players and being a players coach that has high expectations while also being able to maintain and deal with some of the circumstance that come with being a head coach nowadays.”
Lea is “another one of the hottest candidates that’s out there right now” because of his complete and almost unprecedented turnaround of the Commodores, having them at 14-7 (.667) the past season and a half and at 7-1 so far this season to be on pace for one their best campaigns ever at Vandy. The question is could he continue that work elsewhere based on what he’s done, or will he keep his anchor down at his alma mater in Music City?
“You could make a case that he is having the most impressive season in the entire country, given where he’s at and what he’s done at Vanderbilt. Frankly, it’s borderline miraculous. They currently sit comfortably in the Top-10, are 7-1, and they are a legitimate College Football Playoff contender,” said McElroy. “He’s been at the top of the list for a lot of job openings as well. Now, he’s also a Vanderbilt grad. Is he really open to leaving Nashville? I don’t know. But I would imagine that his agent is working overtime, because everybody wants to find out exactly how it is he’s doing what he’s doing because it’s been really remarkable.”
Similarly to Lea, Key has led quite the turnaround himself of the Yellow Jackets, with GT being undefeated at 8-0 this season and at 26-16 (.619) since taking over as interim in 2022. His job now has him in consideration elsewhere too, but he will have to decide if he would want to leave his alma mater as well.
“Another kind of miracle worker. He is also at his alma mater. They currently sit at 8-0, are ranked in the Top-10. He’s been a prime target as well,” McElroy said. “The toughness, the edge, the physicality that his teams have played with have become very admirable across the board in college football. So, everybody’s paying very close attention to what Brent Key is doing, both offensively and defensively. He’s pressed all the right buttons at his alma mater, and they are in prime position to potentially make the College Football Playoff this season.”
Again, similarly, Brohm is doing his own great work at his alma mater, being 25-9 (.735) to this point of his tenure at Louisville to bring him to a career record of 91-53 (.632) when paired with stops at Western Kentucky and Purdue . That resumé makes him “another name that continues to come up” ahead of this carousel, especially if he’d actually consider leaving the Cardinals.
“Also at his alma mater is Jeff Brohm. And, anybody that’s watched college football for five minutes knows that that guy can flat-out coach ball. He can flat-out coach, and he’s at a place in Louisville that is fantastic and it fits. The fit is ideal. Very few in college football have a better feel for the university than Jeff Brohm,” said McElroy. “I don’t see him as a real candidate to leave, but I can understand why other schools are looking at him like, man, I hope he takes our phone call and just hears what we have to say. So, he’s been very desirable as well.”
