I don’t know why (maybe because I love sports), but I find the USC open head coaching job fascinating. Here is a traditional powerhouse loaded with talented players and playing like they don’t care. This started under senior leadership mid way through last season and continues now. Being beat by teams with barely a quarter of their talent. USC seems to want someone who is an alumnus, but none are readily available. (Jack Del Rio wants an NFL job only it is said). I think what USC needs is a coach with experience and name recognition who can walk in, take control immediately and be able to handle the alumni and players agents and the rest of the circus down there in the land of the fake. He also has to be someone dedicated to a pro style game as USC isn't a school where gimmicks play well (see Michigan and the short lived Rodriquez era). That also eliminates coordinators taking it as a first time head coaching job. So some of the new up and coming blood (Fitzgerald at Northwestern…) isn't there yet with respect to handling a program like this. I hear Sarkisian (ex USC coordinator) is interested but what good is it to have yet another good recruiter who continuously under coaches his players? Mack Brown and Riley are too old. Stoops is an interesting choice to chase but I suspect he isn’t leaving Oklahoma. Peterson at Boise State is still a lightweight on the national scene. There are a lot of possibilities but I have some that interest me. One you know and one may surprise you. The obvious is Sabin. Before you say 'ain't leaving 'bama', let me make a few points- he often states he isn't leaving somewhere and then does; he has nothing left to prove at Alabama and it's pretty much all downhill from here; he brings instant street cred of epic proportion; if he comes to USC and resurrects another once storied program back to the top he will seal a legend surpassing any college coach that ever lived; and as a bonus he gets to live anywhere in the socal area as well as a blank check from the university. Don’t think his people aren't being wooed and wooed hard. My dark horse candidate is Bobby Petrino. Yeah, he hired a prostitute to service him at Arkansas and I get all that. But, he can flat out coach at the college level and knows how to build and run a program. He has served his time of penance and is ready to get back at it. Two more that I think would get high interest are Mike Belotti and John Gruden. Both may have cushy TV jobs, but the chance to come in and raise the USC sunken vessel seems to be the type of challenge competitors would love to have. Anyway, this hire will tell me all I need to know about Hayden as AD. His bungling of the Kiffen firing is brutal for it's amateurness. We shall see.
Saban at USC is a nightmare. All that talent and a coach who knows how to use it. That's frightening. Of course, it would help the PAC12 gain some more legitimacy and it would hurt the SEC quite a bit, so it wouldn't be all bad.
Sumlin I think can see the writing on the wall at A&M. Once Manziel goes pro next year that program takes a nose dive and USC can offer him a recruiting hot bed and a top five team historically to coach in a major market. I also think USC reaches out to Bob Stoops who I think is bored in Norman now. Truly seeing Stark back at USC wouldn't shock me either though! Other than those 3 they go to the pros for the next coach. Belotti doesn't have the knees for the job.
I see Sumlin taking Texas or USC. He's losing Manziel and Evans this year to the draft and after that he will loose his edge in the SEC. Why not go to a place while the iron is hot? Sumlin would become a benedict arnold in the eyes of TAMU fans, which should be exciting. Saban to either of those places would be scary, but he'd be lacking his prime assistants. Smart will probably succeed Saban at Alabama and Nussmeier could get some offers given he has success everywhere he has had the OC job. But if he comes to USC, it would make PAC-12 the premier conference in CFB. You have Oregon and Stanford in the North, with Washington right below them. Saban would put USC on par with UCLA for tier 1 in the South, with ASU right behind them. In all probabilty, I see Sumlin taking the job, either at USC or Texas. He's not afraid to jump ship when he sees a program loses talent and he has offers on the table(see: Houston to TAMU). If not, then either Petrino or Petersen. Watch out for Mark Richt though. Georgia may want to run him out of town.
Great thought! Never occured to me. The knock on him is that he loses nearly every big game. But he still enough of a coach to get the job.
Interesting for me as well because I'm a Trojan. I like Chris Peterson. A lot. I like him in the same mold as Urban Meier, Nick Sabin etc. I think he can coach. If they can get a hold of him with the kind of talent they have available he would be a great pickup.
I'd rather not be Del Rio. He is capable of getting a job anywhere on the NFL level, why go to college? Saban, Sumlin, Peterson, Richt, Fitzgerald, or James Franklin are the top candidates. Me thinks USC will throw tons of money at Saban.
I don't know why they'd take Sumlin. I could see them tossing a Brink's truck at Saban, and it might be worth it for him to move, especially if he wins this year. I doubt he ever replaces Bear Bryant in Alabama, but he might replace him nation-wide if he brings USC back. Somehow I feel a) that Sark is ok in Seattle, and b) that USC doesn't see him as a Top 3 choice. It's almost like he'd be on the Peterson level. Gruden seems like he'd be a great fit (especially since Tailback U became QB U), but I don't know that he wants to give up what he's got.
The main concern I have with him is if he can recruit well enough. It's a heck of a big jump from Boise State to USC. Essentially he's a small college coach. That said, I think he is a good coach.
My thought on Gruden is that he'd be a great stop gap coach for 3 years and then hand it off. I doubt he wants to be at the college level for too long.
