If you wanted to replicate Wisconsin at Nebraska, you couldnt do much better than this guy. He losta lot. Its odd that hes never been a head coach beyond the interim run with Maryland, which makes me think hes not really interested in it. Both BYU and Virginia had overall low expectations relative to Nebraska's, but at the same time he'd be taking over the program when those expectations are at their lowest in nearly half a century. He's now in his fourth year, and the Wildcats . He is 1-5 in the Cy-Hawk trophy game, leading many to question his ability to handle the defense-heavy Big Ten. Tom Herman: In Herman, Arizona State would get a coach with an excellent overall record (54-22 at Texas and Houston) who has ties to both Texas and California.Herman has two AP top-10 finishes, no . Closing Comment: Despite some Husker fans pounding the table for Chadwell, I think he more than likely ends up in the SEC or ACC. Hes defensive minded and knows college footballs most fertile recruiting grounds. He was the DC at Wisconsin and LSU and is now coaching the Baylor Bears. Gill went on to become head coach at . Cincinnati is going to the Big 12 soon. to get more serious about football, but now that they have, the results are showing. He's a grinder who revels in the foundation-setting portion of a coach's tenure and would embrace the task of digging Nebraska out from the depths of recent embarrassment. But as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder. Maybe he could pull it off and be great, but thats a tall order. Why It Might Work: Hes 42 and is clearly seen as one of college football up-and-comers, as Campbell was before him. Hes very much an old-school style coach and appears more stubborn than most. Who? Foley spent the past three seasons as an assistant special teams coach with the Panthers and previously worked with special teams at the collegiate level for seven consecutive seasons from 2013 to 2019. At most this would feel like a bridge coach. Scott Frost has been fired. Regardless of money, Nebraska won't be able to pull away a sitting head coach at a program of greater value the athletics department must sell the opening as a chance to rebuild a once-proud brand in a coach's image, which will be very appealing to a certain type of candidate. Why It Might Not: Its Jon Gruden. His record going into 2022 was 90-54, having coached at a couple spots at the FCS level. Aranda probably wont be coming into the Big Ten with the same level of naive arrogance, shooting off his mouth about how the conference should adjust to him. Closing Comment: As far as fall-back options go, this isnt bad. A former Husker (who youve probably heard of), Bohl was the head coach at FCS powerhouse North Dakota State from 2003 to 2013. Another guy who had a surprising breakout 12-win season in year two as a head coach, Traylor and UTSA had a magical year in 2021. But isnt that what Nebraska tried with Mike Riley? The headlines would be juicy. And yet he says he's not done coaching. Why It Might Not: The Huskers have had mixed results with first time head coaches who needed to learn the job on the fly. In the last cycle, Texas Tech (Joey McGuire) and Georgia Southern (Clay Helton) hired new coaches in November, about a month before the market traditionally heats up. Why It Might Work: Hes got a lot of energy for someone in his late sixties. Oh, look, another former North Dakota State head coach. Closing Comment: It would be interesting to see Hoke roam the sidelines in Lincoln, and he would almost certainly do a better job than Scott Frost, but there isnt much he can provide in the long term. Its not for everybody. Hes been doing well at Toledo for seven years. Hes now being talked about for bigger jobs, but was he a one-hit wonder? It took the Raiders committing $100 million to lure him away from Monday Night Football. Yes, the SEC is cutthroat, but youd think a guy with Moorheads acumen would be able to weather it. Nebraska is 3-7 overall and 1-6 in the Big Ten after four consecutive losses. Closing Comment: Les Miles may have been interesting as a replacement to Mike Riley or Bo Pelini, but that window has long since closed. Why It Might Not: Taggart was presumably given every help and benefit at Florida State and his failure there was not just the result of impatient boosters. Some of these names are crazy, some are not even remotely realistic, and some are legitimate targets. Hes the former head coach of the Florida Gators and, before that, the Mississippi State Bulldogs. The decision to fire Frost after just the season's 3rd game has given college football fans plenty of time to speculate about who would eventually be the coach to take his place. Why It Might Work: Canada did a remarkable job as Marylands interim HC. He brings 24 years of experience to the Nebraska staff, including six seasons working for Rhule at Temple, Baylor, and the Carolina Panthers. Stoops would represent a home-run hire for the Cornhuskers based on his work transforming Kentucky from SEC punchline to one of the toughest teams in the Power Five. could be open soon, and in my opinion Chadwell would probably prefer to wait for one of those to come calling than any Big Ten offer. 7 min read Nebraska athletic director Trev Alberts finally pulled the plug on the Scott Frost. Creighton is 53. Mike Farrell reveals Top 10 coaching candidates for Nebraska As a candidate, Campbell is a safe and sturdy pick who aces three of the Cornhuskers' primary criteria. Scott Frost pulled him from LSU to coach wide receivers and almost everyone in the fan base loves him. Closing Comment: Like Matt Campbell, Fickell chose not to take any bigger job opportunities. Nebraska would be an even tougher job. Has the shine worn off, though? Only in his second season at Kansas and coming off a 2-10 first season may give some pause about his. Doeren might be the most underrated coach in the Power 5. Baylors 2018 signing class was re-ranked as the No. He has a respectable head coaching record overall at 87-53. He also refuses to wear red. His recent playing experience provides Knighton the expertise to teach and develop at one of the sports most demanding positions. It also begs the question: how much of Taylors recent NFL success is linked to Joe Burrow? +, (Introductory note: So, I initially had this written and ready to post last week, but there was a technical glitch with the New Fanpost button which I had to contact SB Nation support about. You cant find a more aggressive, out-of-his-mind competitor beyond him other than possibly Jim Harbaugh. Hes currently "coaching" the Dallas/Arlington Renegades in the XFL, a relatively low-profile job. It also worked out pretty well the last time the Huskers hired a Buckeye. Nebraska coach Matt Rhule has reportedly made his first staff hires. Fleck has since elevated Minnesota to a level of competition that no one would have thought possible. Luke Fickell - Cincinnati. Theres a pretty big crop of them right now and Nebraska should definitely exhaust all options there before looking at coordinators whove never been a head coach. LINCOLN, Neb. Is he waiting for Ryan Day to leave Ohio State? After seven years, Candle hasnt taken over the MAC or done the things you would typically like to see from a young head coach ready for a big opportunity. For right now Ive got three basic tiers. Closing Comment: Only the most butthurt Iowa-hating Husker fans would be against this. Odds and lines subject to change. Hes never even interviewed for a head coaching job in college. Hes generally seen as past his prime, and despite his Midwest (i.e. Im sure youve heard of him. Closing Comment: Jason Candles not a big name and maybe feels content flying under the radar in college football. Why It Might Not: Setting aside the baggage that Malzahn allegedly would bring with a reportedly outspoken wife who creates drama, this guy seems entrenched in the deep South. Foley has served on Matt Rhules staff for eight of Rhules 10 seasons as a head coach, including each of the last four seasons. Toledos head coach, he took over when Matt Campbell left for Iowa State. Hell soon be looking for another chance to lead a program. Then he got booted for off-the-field allegations from his time at LSU. So putting him in that position as the full-time Nebraska head coach, barring an Ed Orgeron-like interim season, would be a total crapshoot. Hes quietly leading one of the most competitive programs in the country, causing a ton of trouble for their opponents in the Mountain West. Needless to say, from top to bottom, hed be a massive upgrade over Scott Frost, and has a better resume than either Mike Riley or Bo Pelini when they were each hired. It might be worth going after him before another program can. He may be mercurial, but it doesnt change the fact that the job Fleck did at Western Michigan and with the once-hapless Goofers has been excellent. He has steadily turned NC State, one of the ACCs most lowly also-rans, into an ascending program. Nebraska Football (@HuskerFBNation) October 2, 2022 Bill Busch, in his debut at the helm of the defense, coordinated an effort that led to 11 Indiana punts and eight three-and-out series. More specifically, this search is going to center on current Power Five head coaches with a track record of developing talent, building chemistry and establishing an identity that can serve as the bedrock of the entire program. Auburn is not an easy place to win but Malzahn might be itching to get back into the SEC like Lane Kiffin before him. He knows how to recruit. North Carolina or South Carolina (or even Clemson?) He seems like a guy who prefers to build a program rather than jump to a better job at the earliest chance. In both cases, he made them successful by his third season. Closing Comment: Bringing Rich Rod back to the Big Ten would certainly create serious buzz. But similarly I try to look at how each one might work. It's important to. But here it is as written around September 12, with minor edits.). Fresh off an overtime win at West Virginia that leaves Kansas at 2-0 for the first time since 2011, Leipold has quickly reversed the Jayhawks' losing ways and placed the program on an upward trajectory for the first time in over a decade. Chadwell racked up numerous Coach of the Year Honors for the job he's done recently. His record as a head coach is simply too good to ignore. He retired suddenly after a disappointing 8-5 record in 2019 and hasnt sought any coaching opportunities since. Creightons a lot younger but it might be tough to shake off the similarities. Quite the opposite, actually. Could Nebraska lure the former Oklahoma coach out of retirement (or semi-retirement)? I try to make the case for each one. Closing Comment: Ive heard his name mentioned a bunch, but I just dont see him leaving Kansas two years in, barring a stunning breakthrough. At Temple in 2016, Barthel worked as the director of player personnel on Rhules staff. He seems like a solid head coach, but its hard to project him being either wildly successful or a disappointing failure. He has Big Ten bona fides from his days as Ohio States DC and would bring serious credibility to a Nebraska program looking to get competitive in the conference. Closing Comment: Nebraska would certainly tell everyone where they stand in the Big Ten pecking order by poaching the dynamic head coach of a division rival, who also happens to be one of the best recruiters in the conference. At this point his work at Louisville may be seen as the outlier. Schematically, Stoops and his staff have developed a model designed to even the playing field with more gifted opponents, with terrific results. Herman quietly served as an analyst for the Chicago Bears last year and is now looking for a job. He struggled (to put it mildly) to develop a quarterback. Hes probably done coaching and no one is really looking at him. He hasnt pursued head coaching gigs very much and might be more comfortable as an assistant. Would he be up to it? And to be fair, though there is potential, his head coaching tenures with both the Nittany Lions and the Texans were not exactly spectacular. Obviously he wasnt ready for the big job in Austin, but maybe Nebraska might be a better fit. How would he jive culturally? If fans could get over the personality hang-ups, this might be the answer. But that kind of long term thinking and recalibration of expectations seems very unlikely in todays trigger-happy arms race of college football. While the program may be able to reset the market from a financial perspective, the likely list of contenders for this opening will still keep the Cornhuskers tethered to the end of the regular season unless the university taps an immediately available option such as former Florida coach Dan Mullen or former Virginia coach Bronco Mendenhall. Nebraska's top three candidates for the open . Why It Might Not: Nebraska would be a bigger job than anywhere hes been. He certainly proved capable as head-coaching material, in the right situation. But as caveats go, thats fairly small. Ed Foley has more than three decades of coaching experience and brings a diverse and robust resume to Nebraska. Entz could be riding on the coattails of North Dakota State, which finds it rare to not win the FCS national title. Who will replace Scott Frost at Nebraska? Here are 10 candidates Strong was quickly given a chance to redeem himself after Texas, and it could not have gone worse. How realistic are they? Does Nebrsaka really want to try that again? As anoff-field Nebraska assistant in the early 2000s, he understands the program, the expectations and, importantly, the disadvantages that come with the position. Questions remain on. Then there's the question: Why would he leave the SEC for a spot at a historically stronger but recently far weaker program? 87. So stay tuned. Barthel assisted with the running backs in Carolina, while also working in the player personnel department. Gruden hasnt even sniffed, let alone showed interest, in a college head coaching job in his entire career, but that wont stop people from pounding the table for him. He served as Marylands interim coach after they fired DJ Durkin. The former Washington head coach who led the Huskies to their only CFP appearance and who also built Boise State one of the Group of Fives top level programs, Petersen is currently retired and seems happy to be so. Barthel also helped attract a top-six recruiting class during his one season in a recruiting role at Penn State in 2017. Plus does he really want to leave the comfort of San Diego for a Big Ten job, again? He took a lowly Arizona program to the Pac-12 championship before losing to Oregon, proving hes capable of making a run in the right circumstance. Why It Might Work: Strong was a top candidate at Texas for a reason. Doerens time in Raleigh has been good but not great, and he hasnt lived up to the hype that came when he arrived after shocking everyone by going 12-2 at NIU. Pernell: A Shortlist for Frost in His OC Search - Sports Illustrated Closing Comment: Given the state of Pittsburghs and Nebraskas programs, some might consider this a lateral move. Theres some question as to whether hed leave as hes turned down previous job offers from better college programs. Why It Might Not: Fit and longevity. He started out as the wide receivers coach in Baton Rouge, but worked his way up to assistant head coach in .