November Coaching Carousel

posted November 3, 2017 in CommRadio, Sports by Jordan Kalfon

As we go deeper into this rollercoaster-like college football season, the conversation about the hot seat for major head coaching positions keeps heating up. In this article, we will look into coaches that could be possible candidates to lead some of the most prominent and prestigious programs in the country.

Tennessee:

Volunteer fans have been calling for the replacement of head coach Butch Jones all season and it looks like their request will likely be validated. The Vols currently have a record of 3-5 and are winless in conference play, which does not help Jones’ chances of retaining the head coach position for next season. A possible replacement for Jones could be LSU’s Defensive Coordinator David Aranda. Aranda has improved the Tigers’ defense in his one year in Baton Rouge and has over 20 years of experience coaching on the defensive side of the ball. Tennessee has a long history of producing defensive stars and maybe with Aranda at the helm, the program can return to their former glory.

Texas A&M:

The Aggies came into this season with very high expectations but faced major struggles on offense with freshman quarterback Kellen Mond. Texas A&M started out the season by blowing an almost insurmountable lead to UCLA and have continued mediocre play since then. Head coach Kevin Sumlin has faced tremendous scrutiny and was even called to be ousted by an A&M Regent. If Sumlin ends up leaving Texas A&M, look for the Aggies to try and hire a renowned coach from a major program. One coach that comes to mind is Oklahoma State Cowboys head coach Mike Gundy. Although Gundy has been at Oklahoma State since 2001 (he became the head coach in 2005), this may be the year that Gundy accepts a larger job after a successful year with the Cowboys.

Florida:

The Florida Gators football program is currently in a major state of disarray after the team parted ways with head coach Jim McElwain after he made a questionable claim of receiving death threats after a string of losses. Along with the death threats, McElwain coached a talented team to a very underwhelming 3-4 record, which is unacceptable for a program with winning culture like Florida. One name that may come up during the Gators’ coaching search is Kevin Sumlin. Sumlin has been on the coaching hot seat all season but is widely known around the college football community as one of the best recruiters. If Sumlin parts ways with Texas A&M, expect him to land on his feet with another prominent program.

UCLA:

Jim Mora has been the head man for the Bruins since 2012 and has found great success producing electric players that in some cases are good enough to play in the NFL, but due to an underwhelming 2017 campaign, Mora’s time in Los Angeles may be concluding soon. A darkhorse candidate for the Head Coach position may be Chip Kelly, who is widely known as the former head coach for the University of Oregon. Kelly had two brief coaching jobs in the NFL but is currently out of coaching and serves as an analyst for ESPN. Hiring Chip Kelly makes sense because of his familiarity with the Pac-12 conference, as well as his unorthodox offensive scheme that was very productive at Oregon.

 

Jordan Kalfon is a freshman majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email jmk6801@psu.edu