Joel Klatt ranks USC, Miami jobs against best programs in the country

With several blue-blood jobs open, or likely to become open in the near future, and schools eyeing some of the same coaching candidates, weighing the pros and cons of coaching jobs is a hot topic.

In an appearance on “The Herd with Colin Cowherd,” Fox analyst Joel Klatt discussed two schools with rich histories located on some of the most fertile recruiting grounds in America: USC and Miami.

“I would put USC very close to the top,” Klatt said. “I think it’s a top-five job in college football.”

The USC job has been open since the school fired former head coach Clay Helton in September. Donte Williams has served as interim head coach since Helton’s dismissal, and the Trojans have gone 3-4 under his watch.

After former head coach Pete Carroll left for the NFL in 2009, the Trojans have been an inconsistent mess. Carroll won at least 11 games for seven consecutive seasons from 2002 to 2008 and two national championships (although one of them was later vacated). Since his departure, they have reached the double-digit mark just four times. 

Additionally, the USC athletic department has been ripe with controversies over the last decade, but they appear to be getting back on track under the leadership of athletic director Mike Bohn. Bohn was the first athletic director hired at USC without student-athlete ties since 1993.

Top candidates for the USC job reportedly include Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell and Penn State’s James Franklin.

Will there be an opening in South Florida?

Next, Klatt turned to a school yet to fire their head coach.

“Miami may be a top-20 job,” Klatt added with some hesitation. “Maybe.”

Manny Diaz is still at the helm for the Hurricanes, but they are 5-5 and coming off a loss to in-state rival Florida State.

“It’s really difficult in Miami because I think the competition in your recruiting footprint is more difficult, and you don’t even play on campus,” Klatt added. “You don’t have what they used to have with the old Orange Bowl, which was their identity. It’s a bad stadium, but it’s our bad stadium. … It was difficult to play there. Now you go there and it’s like filled up … kind of … maybe.”

The Hurricanes now play at Hard Rock Stadium, located 24 miles from campus and shared with the Miami Dolphins. The atmosphere is one of the more criticized in college football, as the home-field advantage has become extremely limited in recent years due to low turnout.

As Klatt alluded to, the atmosphere at the Orange Bowl, where Miami played until 2008, was an iconic venue synonymous with a dynasty that reigned over college football for multiple decades beginning in the 1980s.

Further, Miami’s facilities have fallen behind and the administration has seen immense turnover in recent years. They parted ways with athletic director Blake James on Monday, further driving speculation that Diaz’s days may be numbered. James was their third athletic director since 2008, and now Miami will be looking for a fourth in less than 15 years.

While the job has yet to open, Oregon’s Mario Cristobal is a Miami alum and has been thrown around as a person of interest.

Klatt: USC is a better job than Miami

The Fox analyst wrapped up the segment justifying his placement of the schools in relation to one another.

“Because of [USC’s] recruiting footprint and because of the fact that if they are good, they own [the West] Coast. The entire coast,” Klatt added. “You can’t say that about Miami. You can’t even say that they own their state because of Florida and Florida State.”

USC’s biggest competition on the West Coast right now is Oregon, but history shows that if the Trojans are rolling, Southern California recruits love to play for a hometown team.

Both schools sit in a conference currently struggling on the national stage. The ACC has been effectively eliminated from College Football Playoff contention, while the Pac 12’s only hope is an inconsistent Oregon team. 

The positive side of the conference struggles? The door is at least semi-open for new blood to step in and take over, unlike an SEC dominated by Alabama or a Big Ten dominated by Ohio State.