ASU Football Coaching Search

It's official, ASU and Dennis Erickson have parted ways.  ASU is thus in need a new coach.  My take?  I suspect that they will move quickly, I suspect a new coach will be in place within the next 2 weeks.  Given Lisa Love's history, my guess is that they will also be looking to bring in someone with some head coaching experience at the collegiate level.  Arizona's hiring of Rich Rodriguez also puts a little pressure on Love to bring in a top notch coach.

So, here's my Top 10 candidates:

1 - Kevin Sumlin - Houston - He's doing a fantastic job at Houston (they are 12-0 this season), he also coaches a wide open type of  offense that would maximize the current talent at ASU.  He'll no doubt be one of the hot names to watch for a number of schools looking for a new coach. He will be in high demand though, they'd better be willing to open up the pocket book if they want him.  

2 - Larry Fedora - Southern Mississippi - Southern Mississippi has been very good the last two years, Fedora may want to cash in while he can (while moving to the bigger stage of the PAC12 at the same time).  

3 - Dan Mullen - Mississippi St - Even though Mississippi St has struggled some this year, Mullen has done a nice job there.  He was previously the OC for Urban Meyer at Utah & Florida.  He's generally considered one of the bright young coaches in college football.  A move out of the incredibly competitive SEC might be an attractive option for him. 

4 - Chris Peterson - Boise St - Anytime there is an opening you're going to hear Peterson's name thrown around.  ASU would be foolish to not at least send out a few feelers.  Would ASU want to go the Boise State route again though after trying that with Dirk Koetter previously?   Probably a long shot.  Word is that UCLA is targeting him as their number 1 choice to replace Rick Neuheisel. 

5 - Butch Jones - Cincinnati - Jones has followed a similar career path as Brian Kelly whom he worked under at Central Michigan.  When Brian Kelly left Central Michigan for Cincinnati, Butch Jones got the head job at Central Michigan.  When Brian Kelly then got the head job at Notre Dame, Butch Jones got the head job at Cincinnati.  Jones also runs a spread based offense at Cincinnati which would translate well to the talent at hand at ASU.

6 - Mike Leach - formerly at Texas Tech - Outside of his ugly ending at Texas Tech he had a pretty successful run in Lubbock.  He won consistently, he ran a clean program, his players stayed out of trouble and did well academically.  He wants to coach again, he's a big name, he would certainly generate some buzz.

7 - Jim Tressel - formerly of Ohio State - I had to throw this name into the mix, he's easily the biggest name out there.  There are a couple of questions though, a) does he even want to coach again, & b) will the sanctions at tOSU scare ASU away?  It's an intriguing name isn't it?  Very much a long shot. 

8 - Ron English - Eastern Michigan - Former ASU Defensive Coordinator, he still has some ties to the Arizona State Athletic department.  He's known as a good recruiter.  While his overall record at Eastern Michigan is not that impressive, they have improved every year under his tutelage.

9 - Charlie Strong - Louisville - Strong has done a nice job at Louisville.  Before Louisville, he like Dan Mullen, mentored under Urban Meyer at Florida.  He's known as a good recruiter.  The general perception is that he has gotten a lot more out of this years Louisville team than was expected.  

10 - Mark Helfrich - OC @ Oregon - If they go with an assistant coach, I suspect it will be Helfrich.  He has experience running a fast paced, high powered offense, he has lots of west coast ties and he also has some ties to ASU (he worked under Dirk Koetter from 2001-2005).   I suspect that Lisa Love will want someone with some head coaching experience though. I also suspect that the masses will want a bigger name.

AZCentral.com lists their top candidates here.