Rumor down here on the NC/SC coast is that he’s talked to USF. That makes more sense.
Sanders is staying south…doubt he would consider UC, I’ll be shocked…unless he enjoyed time as a Red…I think it’s a stretch.
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Interesting take on the MAC in this coaching carousel blog…
Western Michigan – Tim Lester couldn’t recapture the magic of P.J. Fleck, arguably the MAC’s last star head coach. Who the Broncos end up with – and who they’re able to land interviews with – will also speak to the state of the MAC at large. Are MAC jobs still the springboard to Power 5 gigs they once were? There’s mounting evidence that things are cooling in this conference. Expect a host of P5 assistants with Michigan ties, specifically Michigan’s Jay Harbaugh and Sherrone Moore. But don’t count out an FCS candidate here. What kind of coach still values these jobs will be very telling.
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I think the flaw in their analysis is that not all P5 or FCS schools are created equally - hiring a coordinator from Michigan is obviously way different from Northwestern, same as hiring North Dakota State’s head coach versus some dinky non-scholarship program. Because the MAC is the only G5 conference covering a big swath of Rust Belt states, there will always be coaches willing to come here because there are plenty who place an inherent value on being a head coach. Doesn’t mean we’ll attract coordinators from Bama or something, but we’re not all doomed to scrape the bottom of the barrel.
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I think their argument addresses not so much who we can attract as who we can sell to P5. That’s the cooling.
The hottest coach in the MAC right now ought to be Chris Creighton followed perhaps by Jason Candle. Neither seem to be a coveted commodity. The last three MAC hot products were PJ, Dino Babers and Lance Leipold. All have had only moderate success at their P5 programs.
The last “hot product” coming out of the Cradle of Coaches - formerly the poster child for coaching upward mobility - was Terry Hoeppner 20 years ago, unless you count star-crossed Mike Hayward.
He likely has fond memories of Marge. Wait what?
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Looks like Tulsa alum Kinne going to Texas State. Another former NFL QB lands a G5 job.
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From Incarnate Word? Word!
UIW is the the school that produced star Washington State QB Cameron Ward. He transferred to WAZZU this season.
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So if I’m hearing you right (and I think I am) when it comes to producing QB talent, you’re saying Word…is the word? Word!
Word and Houston Christian, the college formerly known as Houston Baptist.
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I think you are downplaying the success of Fleck, Babers and Leipold. I would not say they “have had only moderate success at their P5 programs”.
I believe you have to consider where they are and compare it to the historical success of these programs.
Fleck has the best winning percentage in his six years there of any coach at Minnesota going back over 70 years.
Your assessment of Babers is more accurate but he did produce a 10-3 record in 2018 which is the best record they have had since 1992 He has also survived 7 years at what has proven to be a hard place to win particularly since they joined the ACC.
Lance Leipold has arguably produced one of the best turnaround stories in college football over the last two years at Kansas. Les Miles won 3 games in two seasons at Kansas before Leipold arrived. Kansas did falter in the second half of the year but they finished 6-6 and only lost to undefeated TCU by 7 points. 2022 is the first season the Jayhawks did not have a losing season since 2008.
Success is a relative term. I agree that all of these coaches have had moderate success in looking at the Power 5 as a whole. However, considering what they have to work with, I think they have all been pretty successful compared to where they were before they arrived.
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Probably add former BG (and current WF) head coach Dave Clawson to the list as well. He was ACC coach of year in 2021.
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Good points. Babers was actually on a pretty warm seat at the Cuse before this season’s hot start. Perhaps it says more that MAC coaches are now being tapped by struggling programs like Kansas and Syracuse rather than the likes of Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State way back in the old days. Turner Gill was another MAC head coach who went to a struggling P5 program but was a bust. Matt Campbell has probably done the best job for a MAC coach with what he’s done at Ames.
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Dave’s been at Wake quite a few years, though - since the 2014 season. Doeren’s been at NC State even longer- since 2013. Not much in the way of coveted head coaches in the MAC in the past five years besides Lance.
What about NC State’s head coach. He’s done great and also was lights out at Northern Illinois
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Your original argument didn’t include a time frame of the last 5 years.
He’s been at NC State since 2013 - 10 seasons. We can go all the way back to Sid Gilman, Woody Hayes and Bo to find examples of success but the truth is the MAC coaching pipeline has cooled considerably the past five years.
The blog that started the conversation it what implied the pipeline is cooling.
Even Matt Campbell’s been gone from the MAC a long time. This was his 7th season at Iowa State.
But why aren’t P5 programs pounding on this guy’s door?
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