Week 2 of the College Football Hot Seat/Coaching Carousel season and we are beginning to see the carousel slowing down but we have some coaches and names to discuss this week so lets get into it!
Firings/Resignations This Week
Ken Niumatalolo/Navy
After 15 seasons at the helm of the United State Naval Academy, Niumatalolo will not be returning as head football coach. Navy lost to Army in double overtime 20-17. Navy had just one winning season over the last 5 years. They are also 11-23 in the past three seasons and is a combined 4-10 over the other service academies the past seven seasons. Niumatalolo has been the face of not only the football program but also the university itself and was said to be “stunned” with the firing. However, he was a frequent flier on College Football Hot Seat reports this year.
He finishes his tenure as the winningest coach in program history with a 109-83 record and defensive coordinator Brian Newberry has been named the interim head coach until his replacement is named.
There appears to be only one name floated for the job right now. That name is Brian Bohannon, the head coach at FCS Program Kennesaw State. He was the WR coach at the Naval Academy under former coach Paul Johnson and went with him to Georgia Tech. Bohannon has seen success at Kennesaw State with a record of 68-24 with three Big South Championships.
Mike Leach/Mississippi State
So tragic to even type this for the article. Mike Leach passed away on Monday after suffering a massive heart attack last weekend at his home. Leach finishes his career at 158-107 as the head coach of Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi St. He was one of the only coaches in FBS that did not play any organized football. Leach was known for his dynamic and innovative “Air Raid Offenses” that were based on deep passing and scoring points in bunches.
Off the field he was known for his daily rants on everything from his hatred of candy corn to his love of pirates. His coaching tree includes the likes of Kliff Kingsbury, Josh Heupel, Lincoln Riley, Dave Aranda and Sonny Dykes. Obviously too early to name candidates at this moment and would imagine this is the last thing on there minds right now.
Job Openings Yet To Be Determined
Kent State
After HC Sean Lewis left the school to be the OC at Colorado with Deion Sanders staff, the school has yet to hire anyone new yet. Lewis finished with 24-31 record but did win the MAC East in 2021 and had the program on an upward trajectory. Kent State was known for playing a tough non-conference schedule to raise money for the athletic department. This year alone they played Washington, Georgia and Oklahoma which paid them out nearly $5 Million. Rumored candidates include: Cincinnati DC Mike Tressel, Ohio State RB Coach Tony Alford, current OC Andrew Sowder, and Toledo DC Vince Kehres.
Which legendary NFL defense would love to resurrect?
1985 Chicago Bears
1976 Pittsburgh Steelers
2000 Baltimore Ravens
2002 Tampa Bay Bucs
1986 New York Giants
2013 Seattle Seahawks
North Texas
Seth Littrell was fired after the C-USA Title game where North Texas lost to UTSA, despite not appearing on too many College Football Hot Seat reports. The school named Jared Mosley (AVP/COO of the university) to athletic director on Saturday. He did fire Littrell as the interim AD last week so he will be tasked with finding a new head coach. It has been fairly quiet on the news front for the coach search but names that make sense are: West Virginia OC Graham Harrell, Former TCU HC Gary Patterson, and TCU OC Garrett Riley.
Navy and Mississippi State are newly open as well, as listed above.
Hirings This Week
Looking at the other end of the coaching carousel, here are the names that hope not to be on the College Football hot seat anytime soon!
Lance Taylor/Western Michigan
The Broncos have hired former Louisville OC Lance Taylor as their 17th head coach. Taylor has coached some big-name players in his career including Christian McCaffery, Bryce Love, DJ Moore and Malik Cunningham. He is an Alabama football alum, and he has also coached at Stanford and bounced around the NFL as well. Most recently at Notre Dame and Louisville. Taylor will retain the current DC to assist in keeping the current players on roster to prevent the losses they have had in portal during the transition.
Troy Taylor/Stanford
The shocker of the week goes to Stanford. All reports led to Greg Roman securing the head coaching job. When that went silent, the other names were former Dallas Cowboys HC Jason Garrett and current FCS School Sacramento State HC Troy Taylor. Stanford AD had both in for an interview and Troy Taylor was hired after Garrett decided to stay at NBC as a studio analyst. Taylor’s offense can be best described as creative and an all out “Air Raid.” In the FCS quarterfinal loss to Incarnate Word last weekend Sac State totaled 63 points, 738 yards of total offense, 48 first downs, and ran 109 plays. He leaves Sac St with a 30-8 record and three Big Sky Conference titles. This will be unlike any offense Stanford has ever seen and it will be exciting to watch in Palo Alto.
Ryan Walters/Purdue
On the surface this appears to be a surprise in West Lafayette but if we delve deeper into this hire, it does make a bit of sense. Purdue has never had an issue with offense as they have always had an offense that can score lots of points. However their issue has been stopping the opposing team as they just try to outscore them. And without a strong defense it will be difficult for Purdue to stop the likes of Michigan and Ohio State. That ends today with Purdue’s hire of Illinois DC Ryan Walters. A Colorado alum that bounced around coaching assistant jobs before settling at on the Missouri with Gary Pinkel.
He ascended his way up to his most recent stint at as Illinois as defensive coordinator on Bret Bielema’s staff. This season Illinois ranked #1 in scoring defense and #2 in total defense. Walters is only 36 years old and will bring a new identity to West Lafayette. Walters will need to find a new OC that keeps with Purdue’s up tempo and wide open offense.
Let us know who would be on your College Football Hot Seat in the comments below!
Main image credit Embed from Getty Images
