Nine Candidates To Replace Arizona Football Coach Jedd Fisch
Were you looking forward to seeing Arizona coach Jedd Fisch coach in the Big 12 next season? Well, we’re done with that after Fisch took the Washington job.
The coaching carousel claimed another victim, so to speak, as Fisch opted to head to a Big Ten job (yeah that’s actually a Big Ten job now) instead of sticking it out with the Wildcats.
So Fisch replaces Kalen DeBoer, who replaced Nick Saban at Alabama.
That means, of course, there’s an open head-coaching job. Let’s get the easy part out of the way. I don’t see the Wildcats luring a sitting Big 12 head coach. Fisch has made the Arizona job desirable again and it could lure a sitting Group of 5 coach, an FBS assistant or even an experienced FCS head coach (worked for Kansas State, right?).
Dave Heeke is the athletic director at Arizona, in case you’re wondering. Here are some potential candidates for the job.
Jack Dickert, Head Coach, Washington State
Dickert is in an interesting spot. WSU and Oregon State have possession of the Pac-12’s assets and a partnership with the Mountain West for football scheduling. What he doesn’t have is long-term security. Dickert is only 15-16 in three seasons and that record might not be enticing enough to get him in the mix.
Jamey Chadwell, Head Coach, Liberty
At some point he’ll get another job. He’s only one year into his tenure at Liberty and he took the program to its first New Year’s Six bowl where the Flames lost to Oregon at the Fiesta Bowl. But he’s 112-58 as a head coach and has five 10-win seasons between his time at FCS and FBS. He would be a quality get.
Jeff Traylor, Head Coach, UTSA
Do we really need to have this discussion again? Traylor is a great coach, period. He’s 39-14 in four seasons at UTSA. He’s a Texas guy and I think he really wants to stay in Texas. But Arizona would be a great landing spot. The offensive tools are already there (assuming they stay) and Arizona would love his access to Texas recruits. He’s 55. Clock’s ticking.
Jason Candle, Head Coach, Toledo
Candle has positioned himself using the Matt Campbell template — play at Mount Union, coach at Mount Union, lead the offense at Toledo and then take the head coaching job when the boss leaves (in this case it was Campbell). Candle is 63-35 in eight seasons with two conference titles and seven bowl games. Arizona is building up like ISU was when Campbell arrived. The fit could be perfect.
Brennan Carroll, Offensive Coordinator, Arizona
Shop local, right? The 44-year-old might be ready for a promotion. He has spent most of his coaching career on the west coast, with stints at USC and the Seattle Seahawks between a trip to Miami (FL). For the past three years he’s been the Wildcats’ OC and offensive line coach. He’s considered one of the Pac-12’s top assistants and he could quell a potential transfer portal exodus immediately.
Collin Klein, Offensive Coordinator, Texas A&M
Yes, he just took the Aggies’ OC job, but that was then and this is now. He might be a really good fit for this job. Klein is appealing because he’s been a successful play-caller in the Big 12 and after more than a decade as an assistant he might be ready for a head-coaching job. This would give the Wildcats a chance to get someone on the upswing.
Garrett Riley, Offensive Coordinator, Clemson
Realignment would rob us of some Riley-on-Riley crime, as USC and Lincoln Riley are headed to the Big Ten. But Riley is going to get a head-coaching job at some point and a western school like Arizona would be a great fit for his style of offense. Plus, he knows the Big 12 from his time with TCU. That’s useful to a team getting ready for the Big 12.
Sherrone Moore, Offensive Coordinator, Michigan
Moore did nice work in his three-game stint at Michigan’s interim head coach, enough to get teams interested in him down the line. Michigan’s offense is quite the throwback. The question is whether it’s his vision or if he’s executing Jim Harbaugh’s vision, and if it’s the former, then what exactly is Moore’s offensive vision?
Bobby Hauck, Head Coach, Montana
He did the FBS thing once already and fell flat. But that was at UNLV, which is not resourced like a Power 5 school (he went 15-49 there). If there is a chance for Hauck to get back in the FBS game, it’s now. He just led Montana to the FCS title game and he’s 129-36 in two stints leading the Grizzlies.
You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard.
