The Nebraska football coaching search continues to roll on and nobody seems to really have any idea who might eventually get the Huskers’ head coaching job. There are theories out there of course, about where the Cornhuskers might be looking.
Some think the Cornhuskers are going to open their wallet and pay the next coach whatever his asking price might be. Others think that the Nebraska football team might be helmed by a coach in 2023 who is willing to take an incentive-laden deal.
The reality is that no one really knows who might be the next coach. There’s talk here and there, and that’s the best that anyone can do when it comes to guessing who might get the job when the smoke clears in late November or December.
Nebraska football names that are hot, hot, hot
There was a time when it was thought that Mickey would basically have to win out if he wanted to take the helm of the Nebraska football team on a permanent basis. But there’s very little doubt that fans and members of the media are starting to throw their weight behind the interim head coach.
At this point, he’s the most popular pick among fans. Some members of the media are even claiming they’ve heard he’s basically got the job and it’s all about timing the announcement.
There’s also the fact that an incentive laden deal might be the kind of contract Mickey would take that others wouldn’t. That’s why he’s worked his way to the top of the list.
O’Brien moves up a spot from last week thanks to two factors. The first is that he might be willing to take the rumored incentive-laden deal in order to rejoin the head coaching ranks.
The other factor is that Alabama looked like Alabama again against Mississippi State and it should be pointed out that the Tides’ offense wasn’t the issue in its loss to Tennessee. I think O’Brien is a name people are going to have to pay attention to as we move closer to December.
Bret Bielema might be one of the hottest names in college coaching this year thanks to the job he’s done with the Illinois Fighting Illini. He’s also someone who seems like his ceiling is going to be elsewhere.
It’s possible the Cornhuskers might want to go out and get Bielema, especially since this is the second Big 10 team he’s managed to build into a powerhouse of the Big Ten West. So what made him slide from number one to number three? The talk of not being able to open the wallet certainly contributed.
There’s also the fact that Bielema might not want to start over and build yet another program just when Illinois is rolling right along. With a Big Ten West that doesn’t look great, he might be able to really establish something with the Illini. Or he can come to Lincoln and maybe save the program or maybe become another coach that tried and failed. It feels like the chance of him becoming a Husker is getting smaller by the day.
Thanks to a mini-slide by the Baylor Bears, some thought Dave Aranda was little more than an afterthought as a candidate for head coach of the Nebraska football team. However, he managed to lead his squad to a win over the Kansas Jayhawks that was plenty impressive and suddenly, there’s a bit more talk about the man who worked with Mickey Joseph at LSU.
It’s not a surprise that his name is getting more run these days. Some still think it’s unlikely Joseph gets the head job. Those people are hoping he sticks in some point. Aranda could allow that kind of transition.
He’s also a very good coach who stopped what could have been a slide into irrelevancy.
Lane Kiffin jumps back into the rankings after spending a week as part of “the field” thanks in large part to a couple of different rumors. The first was debunked as nonsense. That was that the Ole Miss coach had actually taken a private jet down to Lincoln to talk to Trev Alberts.
There was also the talk about a coach from a “major program” being very much on the Huskers’ radar. Since Scott Frost was fired, some people were hopping on the “Lane Train” and wanting to see it come down the tracks to Nebraska.
There is one other factor that has fueled talk of him leaving the SEC. His Rebels suffered an embarrassing loss to LSU last weekend. Is it possible that he’s ceiling where the ceiling with Ole Miss is in that conference? It’s possible he might see the grass being greener in the Big Ten.
Whittingham makes his debut anywhere on this thanks to the same rumor that has people thinking there’s a chance that Lane Kiffin could take over the Nebraska football mantle.
The rumors that a coach from a major college program is interested in the job and Alberts is interested in him starting some rumblings about the Utah Utes head coach being the man.
The reasons make sense. He’s done a heck of a job at Utah, going 148-72. However, there’s an even bigger chance that he’s feeling as though there’s a ceiling as to just how much he can accomplish with the Utes.
So why is someone who seems to perfect to be a candidate to come to Lincoln so low on this list? The fact that he’s been at Utah since 2005 is the big one. It’s hard to imagine other teams haven’t come calling before, and it appears he turned them down.
Jim Leonhard – Wisconsin interim head coach
Dave Doeren – Head Coach North Carolina State
Chris Klieman – Kansas State head coach
Gary Patterson – Defensive Analyst Texas (former TCU head coach)
Mark Stoops – Kentucky Head Coach
Matt Campbell – Iowa State Head Coach
Lance Leipold – Kansas head coach
The biggest news in this group is that Lance Leipold and Matt Campbell spent the early part of the season being the odds on favorite and are now hanging out with guys like Chris Klieman. It seems unlikely that any of these guys are going to get the Nebraska football head coaching job. At least if the hire was going to be made today.