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Coaching Rumor tidbits heading into Thanksgiving

·         Look for Rich Rodriguez to have three of four staff members in place by the end of next week.  The most likely of these candidates appear to be:

1.      Calvin Magee, Co-OC/RB Coach Pittsburgh

2.      Tony Gibson, DB Coach Pittsburgh

3.      Greg Frey, OL Coach Indiana

4.      The fourth option could be one of the following:

§  Tony Dews, TE Coach Pittsburgh

§  Travis Trickett, TE/Slot WR Coach Samford

§  Bruce Tall, DC UNC-Charlotte

§  Jeff Casteel, DC West Virginia

I believe the first three will definitely be hired and the fourth coach is less likely to be finalized by the end of next week.

·         The Ole Miss coaching search has been quite secretive and I keep getting mixed vibes in the direction they are going.  They seem to not be interested in some of the hot names out there (Mike Leach and Kevin Sumlin) and sources have been limited when regarding prospects.  At the same time, Ole Miss has told their entire coaching staff to clear out their offices by Monday leading some to believe that they will move quickly next week in naming their next head coach.  Having said that, expect Gus Malzahn and Art Briles to be in this search to end and as of right now, I believe Art Briles will be named the next head football coach at Ole Miss.

·         Tulane appears to be heading in the assistant direction route as far as interviews go at this point.  Burton Burns and Frank Wilson appear to be in line for interviews and I think Calvin Magee and Major Applewhite may get looks as well.  All four candidates are Louisiana natives and only Major Applewhite (Baton Rouge) doesn’t hail from New Orleans.  Tim Brewster is still a wild card in this search and I don’t expect a decision to be made until December.

·         Florida Atlantic has been aggressive and they have narrowed down their options to Terry Bowden (North Alabama HC), Jason Phillips (Assoc. HC/Co-OC/WR Coach Houston), Eddie Gran (Assoc. HC/RB Coach/STC Florida State), and Chuck Amato (former NC State HC and longtime Florida State assistant).  There are many reports saying that Jason Phillips is the favorite to land this job.  This is an interesting development due to the fact that Phillips (a Houston native and alum) would definitely be seen as the heir apparent to Kevin Sumlin at Houston if Sumlin were to leave.  Does he wait it out at Houston or does he jump at the opportunity in Boca Raton?

·         All signs at North Carolina point to Skip Holtz with his relationship with their AD.  I look for this to happen after next week at the earliest.  Everette Withers will not go down without a fight and expect him to be in serious contention to the end.  Kevin Sumlin has been linked to this job as well.  This is one of many coaching searches that will really heat up after Thanksgiving.

·         Akron is still in the early stages of their coaching search, but expect them to at least make a run at Luke Fickell if he is not named head coach at Ohio state.  Also expect Carl Pelini (DC at Nebraska) to get an interview as well as Pat Narduzzi (DC at Michigan State).  Top assistant coaches is where the attainable talent is for Akron, however, after hiring a couple failed top flight assistants, they may look to lower levels or out of work experienced head coaches to head their program.  More information will follow in the coming weeks.

·         Penn State is still in the aftershock stage of everything that has happened with their football program and hasn’t had much room to breathe when it comes to their search for their next head coach.  Expect Al Golden to talk with Penn State about the opportunity; however this seems too obvious and too much of a lateral move for it to actually happen.  Only time will tell where Penn State will go with this search and how many coaches will actually turn them down considering all the allegations the university if facing.  As much as they have kept wrapped up the last twenty years, expect their coaching search to be very secretive.

·         Expect Arizona State, Illinois, and Washington State to fire their respective head coaches next week. 

·         I hope all of you have a great Thanksgiving and continue to check back for information and news as it develops over this long weekend.

Urban Meyer's Assistant Coach Wish List

Chuck Heater, DC Temple

·         Assistant under Meyer at Utah and Florida

·         Highly regarded as top DB coach in country

·         Tiffin, OH native who is an excellent recruiter but is Michigan Alum

·         Has done terrific job this year at Temple

·         Has worked at Ohio State in past (1985-87)

Scott Loeffler, OC/QB Coach Temple

·         Barberton, OH native who is Michigan Alum (this is a negative)

·         Former Michigan, Central Michigan, and Florida assistant

·         Also worked with the Detroit Lions

Sean Cronin, DL Coach Temple

·         Attended perennial power Cincinnati Moeller (OH) HS

·         Graduate assistant under Meyer at Florida

·         Has worked under Addazio and Holliday at Temple and Marshall

Justin Frye, OL Coach Temple

·         Former Indiana offensive lineman and is from the state

·         Former GA under Meyer at Florida and played for Addazio at Indiana

Zach Smith, WR Coach/STC Temple

·         Dublin, OH native who played for Urban Meyer at Bowling Green

·         Worked for Meyer as GA at Florida and has worked for Holliday and Addazio ever since.

D.J. Durkin, LB Coach/STC Florida

·         Worked under Meyer as GA at Bowling Green and as LB coach at Florida

·         I believe Durkin is one of the fast rising assistant coaches in the country

·         Did a fantastic job with the special teams at Florida this year

Brian White, RB Coach Florida

·         Worked under Meyer at Florida and spent 12 years in the Big 10 at Wisconsin

Anthony Weaver, LB Coach North Texas

·         Killeen, TX native who played at Notre Dame while Urban was there and worked under Meyer at Florida as GA

Vance Bedford, DC Louisville

·         Former Texas defensive back and NFL assistant

·         Worked with Meyer at Colorado State and under him at Florida

·         Charlie Strong heir apparent who has coordinated a defense that has only given up 30 points once all season (West Virginia)

·         Was Michigan’s DB Coach from 1995-1998

Kenny Carter, RB Coach/STC Louisville

·         Former assistant under Meyer at Florida

·         Worked in the Big 10 at Penn State coaching their WR’s

Mike Sanford, Former OC at Louisville

·         Probably a stretch and most likely headed to New Mexico as OC

·         Worked with Meyer at Notre Dame (97-98) and under Meyer at Utah

Zach Azzani, OC/WR Coach Western Kentucky

·         Former Bowling Green GA under Meyer

·         Michigan native who coached WR’s/PGC for Meyer at Florida in 2010

·         Has done a nice job running pro-style offense (coming from a spread background) for Western Kentucky

 Tony Alford, WR Coach Notre Dame

·         Grew up in Akron, OH before moving to Colorado Springs in high school

·         Played under Meyer at Colorado State

John Peterson, TE Coach/RC Ohio State

·         Current Ohio State coach that will probably be retained

·         Possibly becoming OL Coach?

Stan Drayton, WR Coach Ohio State

·         Former assistant under Meyer at Florida who will most certainly be retained

Paul Haynes, Co-DC/S Coach Ohio State

·         Columbus native who will look to be retained

Luke Fickell, Interim Head Coach Ohio State

·         Columbus native and Ohio State alum who I think would be more than happy to serve as Meyer’s DC if rumors serve to be true

·         He may be looking at getting a Head Coaching gig in the MAC at possibly Akron or another school such as Toledo or Bowling Green if those jobs open up

Taver Johnson, CB Coach Ohio State

·         Cincinnati native who was a GA at Notre Dame in 1999 while Meyer was there as an assistant

Nick Siciliano, QB Coach Ohio State

·         Good pedigree as a GA or QC under Jim Tressell and Bob Stoops at Youngstown State, Ohio State, and Oklahoma

Mike Vrabel, LB Coach Ohio State

·         Akron native who essentially retired from football to coach at Ohio State, he will definitely want retained

Tommy Thigpen, S Coach Auburn

·         Former assistant under Meyer at Bowling Green

·         Big 10 experience spending 2 seasons at Illinois

·         Some Auburn defensive coaches could be on their way out so he may be looking for a new job

Gregg Brandon, OC/QB Coach Wyoming

·         Former OC at Bowling Green under Meyer who then replaced him when he left for Utah in 2003

·         Has done an outstanding job at Wyoming this season and has always been known as a top of the line offensive mind

Mick McCall, OC/QB Coach Northwestern

·         Has put together prolific offense after prolific offense with lesser talent in the Big 10 since taking over in 2008 as the Northwestern OC.

·         Worked under Gregg Brandon at Bowling Green who kept close relationship with Urban Meyer

Rob Ianello, Head Coach Akron

·         Unfortunately things haven’t worked out for Ianello at Akron but he is still regarded as one of the best Midwest recruiters and Urban Meyer has a great deal of respect for Barry Alvarez who is Ianello’s protégé and mentor.

If all holds to be true and Urban Meyer is announced as Ohio State’s head football coach next week, look for many of these names to be at the top of Meyer’s wish list.  Expect Gregg Brandon, Mick McCall, and Scott Loeffler to be his top choices for OC and Chuck Heater, Luke Fickell, Vance Bedford, and D.J. Durkin to be his top choices for defensive coordinator.  I believe that there may be some truth that Luke Fickell may be kept on staff as Associate Head Coach/Linebackers Coach (Head-coach-in-waiting type deal).  That is if he isn’t given a shot at a MAC school or possibly even Illinois if they were to fire Ron Zook.

Rich Rod to Arizona (Possible Assistant Coach List)

With the news already breaking that Rich Rodriguez is going to be hired in the next day or so at Arizona, I have decided to put together a list of possible assistant coaches.  It isn't as long as other coaches because look for Rich Rodriguez to bring in his guys especially on the offensive side of the ball.

Calvin Magee, Co-OC/RB Coach Pittsburgh

• coached under Rich Rod at Michigan and West Virginia and has long been considered his right hand man....expect this move to definitely happen

Paul Randolph, Assoc. HC/DL Coach Pittsburgh

• Has worked for Rich Rod at West Virginia and has been known as an excellent recruiter

Keith Patterson, DC/ILB Coach Pittsburgh

• Worked for Rich Rod at West Virginia and would bring in the 3-5-3 defense that Rich Rod covets very highly and wasn't given a chance to run at Michigan

Tony Dews, TE Coach/RC Pittsburgh

• Former GA and assistant for Rich Rod at both West Virginia and Michigan
• Has coached on the west coast before with time at UNLV

Tony Gibson, Co-DC/DB Coach Pittsburgh

• Longtime Rich Rod protege who will most certainly be on his Arizona staff
• Will help implement the 3-5-3 defense as well

Rod Smith, Co-OC/QB Coach Indiana

• Again longtime Rich Rod assistant at West Virginia and Michigan

Greg Frey, OL Coach Indiana

• Rich Rod's OL coach in last year at West Virginia and every year at Michigan

Herb Hand, OL Coach Vanderbilt

• Former TE Coach/RC at West Virginia under Rich Rod has had success as coordinator at Tulsa and has done a fantastic job at Vanderbilt this season.

Bob McClain, OL Coach Appalachian State

• Former GA/Quality Control assistant under Rich Rod at both Michigan and West Virginia
• Also worked with Herb Hand at Tulsa

Travis Trickett, TE/Slot Receivers Coach Samford

• West Virgina alum (2007) and son of former Rich Rod assistant Rick Trickett (Florida State)
• Very highly regarded by Bobby Bowden, Nick Saban, and Jimbo Fisher
• Student assistant for four years at West Virginia under Rich Rod

Jeff Casteel, DC/LB Coach West Virginia

• Longtime West Virginia assistant who is the 3-5-3 king in college football
• Highly regarded DC who will be hard to get out of West Virginia

Bruce Tall, DC UNC-Charlotte

• Again, longtime Rich Rod assistant at Michigan and West Virginia

Bill Kirelawich, DL Coach West Virginia

• Longtime West Virginia assistant who has recruited Arizona pretty successfully for West Virginia

This is just the obvious list with more assistants that will be added to the mix when I get word of them or if more develop.  I would really look for Calvin Magee, Tony Gibson, Tony Dews, Jeff Casteel, and Bruce Tall to definitely be apart of Rich Rodriguez' new staff.  Stay tuned.

Possible Assistant Coach List for Bob Davie's staff at New Mexico

Anthony Weaver, Linebackers Coach, North Texas

• Played for Davie at Notre Dame from 1997-2001 and is from Texas.

Ron Powlus, QB Coach/PGC, Akron

• Played for Davie at Notre Dame from 1997-1998.
• Would be brought in as offensive coordinator to run pro style offense that New Mexico wants

Autry Denson, RB Coach (GA), Bethune-Cookman

• Played for Davie at Notre Dame and recently got into the coaching ranks.

Jim Colletto, former OL Coach in NFL and UCLA

• former OC for Davie at Notre Dame who was well liked by Davie

Steve Ensminger, TE Coach, Louisiana State

• former OC at Texas A&M under R.C. Slocum where Davie spent over 10 years as an assistant

Bob Toledo, former Head Coach, Tulane and UCLA

• former assisant at Texas A&M with Davie and also is great friend to Coach Davie

O'Neill Gilbert, DC at Southern

• former DC at Tulane under Toledo and also played at Texas A&M when Davie was there

John Hendrick, DL Coach Tulane

• former player under Davie at Pittsburgh and coach at Texas A&M
• Davie recommended Hendrick to Toledo when Jim Leavitt was fired at South Florida (Hendrick was the DL Coach there at the time)

Mike Sanford, former head coach at UNLV and OC at Louisville

• QB Coach at Notre Dame under Davie before he left for the NFL
• Has ran a spread style offense while at Utah under Meyer but has traditionally been a pro style offense guy

Chris Wiesehan, WR Coach, Winnipeg Blue Bombers

• former GA under Davie at Notre Dame

Larry Edmondson, QB Coach/PGC, Rice

• former player and graduate assistant at Texas A&M while Davie was there

Coaching rumor tidbits from the weekend

-The Urban Meyer hype at Ohio State is gaining legs and looks to be a much more realistic possibility than once thought. 
-Hugh Freeze and Mark Hudspeth look to be the frontrunners for the Ole Miss job.
-Sonny Dykes was well liked in his days as the offensive coordinator at Arizona and looks to be gaining steam in their head coaching search.  I still believe that Mike Bellotti or Manny Diaz hold a bigger shot at landing the job.
-Gus Malzahn looks to be the favorite to get the job at North Carolina.
-Sources have said Florida Atlantic will hire their next head coach on December 5th, with Randy Shannon coming out recently with his high desire to get back into coaching next year, one would believe that Shannon would be the perfect choice to replace Howard Schnellenberger.  Other names to watch include Terry Bowden (North Alabama) and Gary Nord (OC at Purdue).
-Look for Ron Zook to be fired after Illinois' last regular season game next week.

Urban Meyer, Kirk Herbstreit, and Ohio State

A report last night surfaced that Urban Meyer will take the head coaching job at Ohio State bringing along Kirk Herbstreit from ESPN along with him as his quarterbacks coach and bringing in Greg Studrawa from LSU.  Studrawa worked with Urban Meyer at Bowling Green and would probably be interested if this were to happen.  I don't believe there is much truth to Herbstreit becoming an assistant under Meyer at Ohio State nor do I think tOSU or Urban Meyer are far enough along to make an annoucement.  The report also mentioned Luke Fickell would stay on staff.....stay tuned.