Coaching Search: Intel roundup from around the country
With six days remaining in the search for Mike Gundy‘s replacement as Oklahoma State’s head football coach until Athletic Director Chad Weiberg’s ideal/target announcement date of Sunday, November 30, we spent the morning gathering intel from searches that are affecting OSU’s.
First, we will operate from the assumption that our latest Hot Board is the most accurate you will find. If you haven’t checked it out, now would be a good time to do so. The long and short of it is that OSU and Weiberg have a top two of North Texas head coach Eric Morris and Texas A&M offensive coordinator Collin Klein. A secondary group that includes USF head coach Alex Golesh, Alabama defensive coordinator Kane Wommack and former Cowboy quarterback and current Atlanta Falcons OC Zac Robinson. Robinson in particular is viewed as a very long shot for a variety of reasons, and it would take four “no’s” for him to be a real player again at this point.
Golesh is the most highly sought, with interest from Arkansas, Auburn, Florida and potentially a few others. As it pertains to OSU, we don’t believe he’s told Weiberg no at this point, but may well have blown through a deadline without saying yes. I do suspect there is a limited window where Golesh could jump back into the mix at OSU, but it’s closing fast.
Arkansas is the biggest factor
The search for Sam Pittman’s replacement at Arkansas is by far the other search affecting OSU’s the most. The two schools share Golesh, Morris and Wommack as targets. Where Weiberg’s search has been methodical and therefore pretty clean, the Arkansas search is messy. One good friend that’s an OSU guy but also has pretty solid ties to the U of A told me “the information coming out of Arkansas is pure chaos” last night.
Golesh and Morris have been in the Hogs’ top group for some time. With Golesh, it’s a similar story as with OSU – the other openings that are arguably or definitely better jobs are preventing UA from moving quickly there. Depending on who you talk to and when, Morris might be the odds-on favorite in Fayetteville. For his part, Wommack is said to very much want the Razorback job. Over the weekend, Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell has emerged as possibly a legitimate candidate for Arkansas.
Arkansas is the other opening to watch from an OSU perspective.
Competition for Klein
At present, Colorado State is the other school actively pursuing the former K-State quarterback in addition to OSU. As other openings begin to fill, a cascade effect will occur with the new openings created as current head coaches leave their current jobs to take new ones and I expect Klein will elevate in status pretty quickly as the carousel spins up again.
The above paragraph, plus the fact that a coordinator is much more likely to leave his current team with a College Football Playoff berth looming may well spur Weiberg to move quickly on Klein.
What’s next?
Weiberg needs clarity from Morris (as does Arkansas) of where he stands at present. The same is true for Golesh, if he’s still on Weiberg’s radar in some way. If the answer from either or both is less than “I want the OSU job,” Weiberg might quickly put all focus on Klein. In fact, there’s a chance that has already happened and Weiberg’s stealthy and almost completely silent method of finding coaches is keeping it completely under wraps.
OSU’s season wraps up this Saturday (Nov. 29) and the goal has always been to have a new head coach named before the early National Letter of Intent signing day on Wednesday, December 3rd. It’s an achievable goal still, but the mass firings that occurred after OSU parted ways with Gundy has been a huge factor.
