Since the Gophers didn't have a football game this past week I thought I'd give a revised list of potential new Gopher football coaches. From the criteria that AD Joel Maturi has laid out (i.e. someone with head coaching experience at the collegiate level, someone who has been successful as a head coach at the collegiate level, someone who has built a program into a winner & someone without baggage) we can eliminate quite a few potential candidates. Gone as candidates are NFL/Pro candidates (Mark Trestman, Leslie Frazier, Scott Linehan, Darrell Bevell, Jim Zorn, Denny Green), top collegiate assistants (Paul Chryst, Kirby Smith, Carl Pelini, Don Treadwell, Chuck Martin, Brent Venables, Luke Fickell, Gus Malzahn, Dana Holgorsen, Mike Markuson, Jim McElwain, Shawn Watson, etc), coaches with some baggage (Mike Leach, Mark Mangino, Dan McCarney, Jim Leavitt), guys who have all but eliminated themselves already (Tony Dungy, Jim Harbaugh, Mike Bellotti), finally I think a few others are also safe to eliminate just because it wouldn't make much sense for them to leave their current positions (Mark Richt, Kyle Whittingham & Gary Pinkel come to mind). So check out the next page for my top 14, in my order of preference.
1 - Gary Patterson - TCU - Patterson was offered the Gopher job when Glen Mason was fired but when he hedged they went with Tim Brewster. Patterson has done a terrific job at TCU, his career record is 96-28, he has had the Horned Frogs in the National Championship running the past 2 years despite TCU still being considered by most to be a Mid-Major. They play a great brand of football at TCU, they are really fun to watch. He's run a clean program too, I can't recall any off field issues. The feeling by many is that he has outgrown TCU and is ready for a move. I would imagine he would like to cash in for his success soon also. Not many negatives around Patterson IMO, he'd be a fantastic choice.
2 - Al Golden - Temple - Golden took over a moribund program in Temple and turned it into winning program. That's no easy task. They play a very fundamentally sound type of football at Temple, they don't beat themselves. Golden is more known for his defense, that probably wouldn't be a bad thing at Minnesota. The general thought is that Golden is holding out for the Penn St job once Joe Paterno retires so that may work against him (I imagine that it wouldn't go over well if he took the Minnesota job only to leave as soon as Joe Pa retires). That being said, money talks and who's to know if he is even on the top of Penn State's list when they do replace Joe Pa. If they're looking for a young coach who has built a winner under tough circumstances, Golden fits the bill.
3 - Chris Peterson - Boise St - I love watching Boise St play football, they play a fun brand of football to watch, that would go over well in Minneapolis. He's young, he's bright, he's a great offensive mind, he's got a great track record, they'd be lucky to get him. That being said, I'm not sure that he can be the one to credit for building that program into what it has become (you could probably make the case that Dirk Koetter and Dan Hawkins layed the foundation for that program). Speaking of Koetter and Hawkins, neither had much success when they left Boise St, that could be a concern to some.
4 - Dan Mullen - Mississippi St - Another top young coach, he took over a very mediocre Mississippi St team and in just 2 years has them turned in the right direction. He learned from a great one in Urban Meyer, working with him at Florida & Utah. Easily one of the top up and coming college football coaches. My only concern would be that he'd use Minnesota as a stepping stone to a better job. You could also maybe argue that he's only been a head coach for 2 years and that's enough of a track record for what Maturi is looking for. I think he'd be a great fit though.
5 - Brady Hoke - San Diego St - the more I find out about Hoke the more I like him. He turned around the Ball State program and has done a very nice job at San Diego St. He also has lots of midwest ties (from his time at Ball State and from his many years as an assistant at Michigan). If you're looking for negatives, he's really not a household name, some people may not be too excited about his hire (and perception is important when you are trying to sell out a stadium). He really wouldn't be a "Tubby-like" hire, still he's a solid football coach with a history of turning programs around, I could live with him as coach.
6 - Bronco Mendenhall - BYU - Probably a long shot, but certainly worthy of interest. Mendenhall has done a nice job at BYU, where they had struggled in the preceding Gary Crowton years, Mendenhall has them back on track. He's a young guy (44), he's had success, he plays an entertaining brand of football, not much not to like IMO. He may be ready for a move to a BCS school. The only thing I could see working against him is that he's another west coast guy and who knows how that would translate to the midwest.
7 - Phil Fulmer - formerly of Tennessee - If you're looking for a "Tubby-like" hire, Phil Fulmer probably fits the bill better than anyone on this list, he's got a great track record (152-52 career record & a National Championship in 1998), he's a big name, he'd bring instant credibility to the program. If you're looking for negatives, he's been out of coaching since 2008, he's 60 years old, and there did always seem to be some off field issues at Tennessee (have you seen the Fulmer Cup, there were never sanctions against him or the program though).
8 - Kevin Sumlin - Houston - Sumlin has the requisite Minnesota connections having served as an assistant coach at Minnesota from 1993-1997, that gives him a unique advantage over the other candidates, he knows of many of the challenges of coaching at Minnesota and in the Big Ten. Sumlin has done a nice job at Houston (23-13), he's one of the hot young coaches who's name will certainly be kicked around whenever there is an opening. My main concern with Sumlin is the lack of defense his teams have exhibited in his tenure at Houston, if you like track meets you'd probably like Sumlin, I just prefer some defense being played.
9 - Troy Calhoun - Air Force - Another of the bright young minds in college football, you hear Calhoun's name mentioned quite a bit whenever there is an opening (including currently at Colorado). He's been successful at a place that has lots of limitations, that alone makes him attractive to a lot of schools. You could argue though that he really can't be credited with building Air Force into a football power (that credit would go to Fisher DeBerry) and that his type of offense (the Wing T) may not translate into the Big Ten (although many would counter that he can run other types of offenses as he is a former NFL Offensive Coordinator).
10 - Mike Stoops - Arizona - Mike Stoops fits all the criteria laid out by Maturi, he took over a team in turmoil and has build a solid football team at Arizona. His teams generally play some good defense and he does have lots of ties to the midwest. Causes for concerns? Much like Glen Mason he likes to schedule a not so difficult non-conference schedule, he seems to struggle much more when he get's to the meat of the PAC-10 schedule. I'm also not a big fan of some of his antics on the sidelines, he certainly doesn't give off an aura of a calm, collective and confident coach at times. Still, your can't argue with his success.
11 - Randy Edsall - UConn - Edsall is a solid, experienced football coach, he has done a nice job building that UConn program from the ground up (they had been a division II program before he got there). He fits the criteria, he'd be a solid hire. That being said, he never have really turned the corner at UConn, they certainly can't be considered an elite program after 12 years, that might be a concern to some.
12 - Greg Schiano - Rutgers - Schiano is much like Edsall, he built a solid program at Rutgers, they had struggled before his arrival, but they seemed to have leveled off some. He's another coach on the short list to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State once he decides to leave. Schiano was much coveted several years ago and turned down several offers to leave Rutgers but some of that hype seems to have faded, he may feel that if he's to cash in, now is the time to do it. He'd be a solid hire.
13- Jerry Kill - Northern Illinois - First off, I love the name (almost as much as Al Golden), secondly Jerry Kill has been pretty successful over a long period of time (125-71 career record). He's probably ready for a bigger challenge than Northern Illinois. He's fairly young (49), he's got lots of midwestern ties and he plays an entertaining brand of football that would probably go over well. Working against him would be that he has had some health related concerns and is probably not the "Tubby-like" hire that would excite many people, he's a sold coach though.
14 - Ken Niumatalolo - Navy - Niumataolo has done a nice job at Navy, they've been to a post season bowl game in all three of his years at Navy, his career record is 26-13 at a school that doesn't have all the advantages that most schools have. Generally considered one of the bright young coaches in college football. Negatives would be that he really didn't build the Navy program into what it is now (Paul Johnson seems to get credit for that), the fact that they run the triple option at Navy ( I'm not sure how that would play at Minnesota) and he also doesn't have many midwestern ties.
14 - Terry Bowden - North Alabama - Bowden has lots of experience (17 years as a head coach), he's had lots of success (128-56-2 career record) and he's got a recognizable name, I have to imagine he's looking for a bigger stage than North Alabama. His name was tarnished a bit at Auburn when they had their pay-for-play scandal but he has been vindicated of wrong doing in that case (that fell on Pat Dye). He's an intriguing candidate.
I really cannot imagine that the coach they pick will not be in this list, the top candidates are all pretty much the same for all schools, it would seem really hard to imagine that another candidate could somehow slide under the radar.
****Sure enough, I forgot a couple, Steve Sarkisian at Washington and Larry Fedora at Southern Mississippi. Both have done good jobs at their respective schools, I think they are both long shots at this point though****
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