A dozen coordinators who could become head coaches soon
A common career path in college football: First, you’re a position coach, then a coordinator, then a head coach. A third of the 18 new coaches this season were coordinators last season.
There are going to be job openings after this season, and these 12 coordinators figure to be in line to get some of them.
(We also have looked at coordinators who face immediate pressure in their new jobs and a handful whose current place of employment might be a surprise.)
Mike Elko, Texas A&M DC
Age: 43, entering fourth season with Aggies
The buzz: Elko has helped transform A&M’s defense from a unit that allowed 415 yards per game in SEC play in 2017 (the year before his arrival) into one that’s now one of better defensive groups in the country. The Aggies led the SEC in total defense last season, holding conference opponents to almost 100 yards fewer (316 yards per game) than that less-than-stellar 2017 number. Elko is a Penn alum who also has been the coordinator at Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Bowling Green and Hofstra. He was among the final group of four for the Kansas coaching job before pulling his name out of the running.
Tony Elliott, Clemson OC, and Brent Venables, Clemson DC
Age: Elliott is 41, entering 11th season with Tigers; Venables is 50, entering 10th season with Tigers
The buzz: Elliott can afford to be choosy, as he might be the hottest coordinator in the nation. He has overseen some powerful offenses, and even when USF coach Jeff Scott was the co-OC, Elliott called the plays. His entire playing and coaching career has been spent in South Carolina; he was at FCS member South Carolina State in 2007, was at FCS member Furman from 2008-10, then moved to Clemson, his alma mater, in 2011. He has been co-OC or OC since 2015. Like former Virginia Tech DC Bud Foster, who seemingly was on the cusp of becoming a head coach for about a decade, Venables annually shows up on these types of lists. But Foster never became a head coach. Venables has worked with big-time defenses at each of his three stops: Kansas State, Oklahoma and Clemson. Venables can be selective with a career decision: In early July, he signed a contract extension through 2026 that makes him the highest-paid coordinator in college football at $2.5 million annually. He has two sons at Clemson: Jake is a junior linebacker and Tyler a sophomore safety.
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame DC
Age: 35, entering first season with Irish
The buzz: Freeman was a star linebacker at Ohio State for Jim Tressel. He was a GA at Ohio State in 2010, then spent two seasons at Kent State and four at Purdue before being named DC at Cincinnati before the 2017 season. His Bearcats defenses were physical and aggressive, and the unit’s play was a primary reason Cincy was the best Group of 5 program nationally last fall. He was pursued for the DC job at LSU before ultimately choosing the Irish. It seems to be a case of “when” and not “if” Freeman becomes a head coach.
Pete Golding, Alabama DC, and Bill O’Brien, Alabama OC
Age: Golding is 37, entering his fourth season with Tide; O’Brien is 51, entering his first season with Tide
The buzz: Despite some ups and downs on defense the past few seasons (by Alabama standards), people around the Crimson Tide have remained consistently high on Golding. One former member of the staff summed him up like this during a recent conversation with On3: “Man, he’s brilliant.” Alabama’s defense bounced back from a rocky start to 2020 and ended up leading the SEC in scoring defense (19.4 points per game). Before Alabama, Golding was the defensive coordinator for two seasons at UTSA, where he guided the Roadrunners to a No. 7 overall ranking nationally in total defense in 2017. O’Brien is one of two new Alabama assistants (offensive line coach Doug Marrone is the other) who was an NFL head coach last season. His work with new starting QB Bryce Young will be a huge storyline all season, and big numbers by Young and the offense could lead to O’Brien becoming a head coach again next season. Before spending seven seasons as Houston Texans coach, O’Brien was Penn State’s coach for two years. He is a Brown alum and spent time as an assistant at his alma mater as well as at Georgia Tech, Maryland and Duke, and with the New England Patriots. In all, he has spent 12 of the past 14 seasons in the NFL.
Alex Grinch, Oklahoma DC
Age: 41, entering his third season with Sooners
The buzz: Grinch was teammates with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell and Toledo coach Jason Candle at Division III powerhouse Mount Union (Ohio) in the early 2000s, and he should join them as a head coach sooner rather than later. He has done a great job rebuilding OU’s defense (the Sooners were 26th in yards per play last season after ranking 102nd in 2018, the season before he took over). Grinch began his college coaching career at New Hampshire; he was an assistant for a time on the same staff that had Chip Kelly as OC. He also has worked at Wyoming, Missouri (where he worked for his uncle, Gary Pinkel), Washington State and Ohio State.
Graham Harrell, USC OC
Age: 36, entering third season with Trojans
The buzz: Harrell has received some entreaties from NFL teams but has opted to stay with USC. He was a standout quarterback for Mike Leach at Texas Tech, and after his pro career ended, he became a full-time college assistant in 2014 at Washington State for Leach. He was a Cougars receivers coach for two seasons, then moved to North Texas as OC for Seth Littrell, who also is off the Leach coaching tree. Harrell moved on to USC in January 2019. His work with talented QB Kedon Slovis figures to get him some looks from ADs looking for a new coach.
Dan Lanning, Georgia DC, and Todd Monken, Georgia OC
Ages: Lanning is 35, entering his fourth season with Bulldogs; Monken is 55, entering his second season with Bulldogs
The buzz: We’re lumping these guys together because — barring a disastrous season — both seem likely to be relatively hot commodities after the season. Lanning was a high school coach in Missouri as recently as 2010 and a GA at Alabama as recently as 2015, but his background as a defensive mind and his recruiting chops will appeal to athletic directors. His first on-field job in the FBS ranks came as linebacker coach at Memphis in 2016; he left for the same role at Georgia in 2018, then was promoted to DC in 2019. Monken, meanwhile, has been a full-time coach since 1993, when he worked at Eastern Michigan. He spent seven seasons at EMU, and since has been an assistant with (take a deep breath here) Louisiana Tech, Oklahoma State (twice), LSU, the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Cleveland Browns, as well as head coach at Southern Miss (2013-15; he took over a winless program and led the Golden Eagles to nine wins in his third season). His five years in the NFL, including serving as OC with the Bucs and Browns, is a selling point, and he could get some NFL attention after the season, too. Monken was in the mix for the UCF coaching job before the Knights hired Gus Malzahn.
Rhett Lashlee, Miami OC
Age: 38, entering second season with Hurricanes
The buzz: At one point, Lashlee seemed tied at the hip to Gus Malzahn, who was his high school coach at Springdale (Ark.) Shiloh Christian. In 2004 and ’05, he worked for Malzahn at Shiloh Christian. In 2006, he was a GA at Arkansas, when Malzahn was the OC. Lashlee was out of coaching in 2007 and ’08, then worked for Malzahn at Auburn in 2009 and ’10 as a GA. He went to FCS member Samford in ’11 as the OC, then became Malzahn’s OC at Arkansas State in 2012; Lashlee followed Malzahn to Auburn as OC in 2013. He struck out on his own by becoming UConn’s OC in 2017, then was Sonny Dykes’ OC at SMU in 2018-19 before being hired by UM before last season. He revved up the Hurricanes’ offense and worked well with QB D’Eriq King last season. In his time away from Malzahn, Lashlee’s offensive thinking has expanded and his background as an offensive coach could make him attractive as a head-coach candidate after the season.
Phil Longo, North Carolina OC
Age: 53, entering third season with Tar Heels
The buzz: Had Malzahn not been hired at UCF, there’s a good chance the job would have gone to Longo. It was one of at least two head coaching jobs that Longo was contacted about in the offseason; he’ll likely get more calls in the coming months, especially with Sam Howell at quarterback to lead the way for Longo’s UNC offense. Under Longo, the Tar Heels’ offense ranked fifth nationally in 2020 (537 yards per game) and played a big part in UNC going from 4-4 in ACC play in 2019 to 7-3 in 2020. Before North Carolina, Longo was the offensive coordinator at Ole Miss for two seasons under Matt Luke after three seasons as the OC at FCS powerhouse Sam Houston State.
(On3 senior reporter Matt Zenitz contributed to this report.)
(Top photo of Alex Grinch: Alonzo Adams/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)