As the college football regular season comes to a close, here’s the latest I’m hearing from the coaching circuit as of Saturday morning.
Texas A&M
Texas A&M has the largest coaching vacancy in the carousel. say sources with direct knowledge of coaching research The athlete There are a few candidates that A&M really likes, but there are some other top coaches that the Aggies are expected to pursue after their games on Saturday.
The Aggies represented Kansas coach Lance Leipold, Duke coach Mike Elko (former defensive coordinator at A&M), and Kansas State coach Chris Klieman. Each of them is seen as a strong leader who knows how to create and build a strong culture. Another name to watch in the A&M search is Kentucky’s Mark Stoops. Although UK is just 6-5 heading into Saturday’s matchup with rival Louisville, the 56-year-old Stoops, a former SEC coach of the year, has led the Wildcats to two 10-win seasons since 2018 in what was previously a season Only one has had 10 wins since 1951.
There’s a big wild card looming here. Don’t be surprised if Texas A&M follows Ryan’s day at Ohio State, those sources said. Today he is 56-6 as a head coach and 39-2 in the Big Ten heading into Saturday’s showdown with Michigan. It came within a last-second field goal in a win over Georgia last year in the College Football Playoff, but the specter of losing back-to-back games to archrival Michigan remains heavy for Columbus. Now, if Day leads the Buckeyes to victory in Ann Arbor on Saturday and the Buckeyes prepare for the CFP race, he probably doesn’t answer that call. But if they lose, he might be more open to hearing A&M’s offer.
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Michigan State
Michigan State has hired Jonathan Smith away from Oregon State to be its next head coach, the school announced Saturday. Smith’s hiring comes after months of a coaching search, and the Spartans have focused all their attention on Smith, sources said. The athlete Saturday before the announcement.
Smith knows all about building a program under a more popular and better-resourced program in-state, similar to what Michigan State faces compared to Michigan State. Smith, the Beavers’ former star QB, has deep ties in Corvallis, and although the Beavers’ conference situation is shaky right now, it wasn’t an easy decision for him to withdraw.
NC State’s Dave Doeren, Kansas’ Leipold and Toledo’s Jason Candle are believed to be in the mix.
Go deeper
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Baylor
There’s another hot seat situation to watch for at Baylor. The Bears are 3-8 and finish against West Virginia on Saturday in Waco. Baylor has lost four straight games, and the pressure is mounting on Dave Aranda. It wasn’t long before Aranda led Baylor to a fifth-place finish with a 12-2 record in 2021, but the Bears are 9-15 since then. Baylor’s administration really likes Aranda, and I’ve been told that if he presents a plan to make some of the major changes they want, he’ll likely be back in 2024.
(Photo by Ryan Day: Jason Morey/Ikon Sportswire via Getty Images)
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