Coaching Carousel Update

We are in the midst of the annual coaching carousel. What we have is a look at what job are open and who the schools in question should try to hire. For those who have hired coaches, we will evaluate the hire and determine if there was a better candidate out there.

Filled Openings

Arkansas St. hired OC Hugh Freeze after Steve Roberts resigned
Good choice? Not really. While Freeze has a decent pedigree, it's generally not a good idea to go with someone within the program when trying a fill a coaching opening at a school that has not been successful.
Who should they have hired? Former East Carolina head coach/Tampa Bay Buccaneers running backs coach Steve Logan. Logan was successful at East Carolina with a big offense and coordinated a good offense at Boston College. He isn't really a major candidate anywhere so a call to check couldn't have hurt.

Colorado hired Washington Redskins TE coach Jon Embree after firing Dan Hawkins
Good choice? Not really, but that is as much the fault of the administration and their policies. Considering the possibilities, Embree or former Colorado running back Eric Bienemy (who is coming as offensive coordinator) were the best options.
Who should they have hired? With the current administrative policy, they did it right. With some changes to the way things are done, Mike Belotti might have gone there.

Indiana hired Oklahoma OC Kevin Wilson
Good choice? This is a slam dunk for this school that is still recovering from the death of coach Terry Hoeppner a few seasons ago. Wilson worked in a similar system to what has been working on offense in Indiana at both Oklahoma and Northwestern and will likely be a big recruiting upgrade over Bill Lynch. Also, his Midwestern ties should mean he sticks around for awhile if he is successful. The best choice possible for a school at Indiana's level.

Minnesota hired Northern Illinois HC Jerry Kill
Good choice? Yes, despite his unpopularity in Minneapolis where they thought they were going to hire a bigger name coach. Kill has won at every level he has been at and improved his team in every year but one of his coaching career (and that one year was still a conference championship season at the FCS level). Minnesota fans need to be realistic here. They weren't stealing someone from a bigger program or better gig like they did with Tubby Smith and the basketball program a few seasons ago. Kill will need time (as would anyone), but he will likely get them back to the level Glen Mason reached early in the 2000s.

North Texas hired Florida DL Dan McCarney
Good choice? Excellent choice. McCarney just wanted to be a head man again after doing a lot with meager resources and talent at Iowa St. He isn't likely to leave for a better job and he will get the team turned around in Sun Belt play.

Jobs open (in order of prestige)

Miami
Who should they hire? The Hurricanes picked a bad year to do this. There doesn't appear to be an Urban Meyer like hot coach out there unless its Mississippi St. coach Dan Mullen and he appears to not be going. If Mullen is out of the picture, the Hurricanes need and offensive coach with head coaching experience if possible. Who that would be if its not Mullen is beyond me. Miami might should just wait for the NFL season to end and see what happens then.

Pittsburgh
Who should they hire? The Panthers need an offensive coach who can run the ball and recruit (and Jim Harbaugh is not coming through the door). The also need someone with a creative offense. Of course that means the obligatory call to Gus Malzahn though I don't think he would go there. Former Boston College coach Jeff Jagodzinski would be a good fit with his recent history of tutoring quarterbacks including Matt Ryan when he was at Boston College.

Vanderbilt
Who should they hire? Considering the academic restraints and the issues with talent, it depends on what Vanderbilt values. The choice should be either fired Miami coach Randy Shannon or Stanford offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

Northern Illinois
Who should they hire? Go get the best FCS coach from the region. It worked well last time and there is plenty to work with at this job.

Ball St.
Who should they hire? If they can get a minority coordinator from a power conference, they should. It will help in recruiting to a place that is very difficult to recruit to. Short of that, this school is up a creek.

Kent St.
Who should they hire? They are in even worse shape than Ball St. At least Ball St. has won fairly recently. They should follow the same plan.

Louisiana-Lafayette
Who should they hire? Go find someone with an innovative offensive mind who might stay awhile since Sun Belt coaches generally don't get better job. Former Auburn and UCLA (current San Diego St.) OC Al Borges might fit the bill. In lieu of that, a call to former Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower to see if he is interested should be pursued.