Report: Oregon's Joe Moorhead emerges as top candidate for Akron head-coach job
The college football coaching carousel is moving quickly, and news broke Sunday evening that one of Mario Cristobal’s top assistants could be on the move.
According to a report from Pete Thamel of Yahoo! Sports, Oregon offensive coordinator Joe Moorhead has emerged as the top candidate to become Akron’s next head coach.
According to Thamel, a deal could be finalized between Moorhead and the school within the next 24 hours.
Moorhead is in his second season as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Moorhead, 48, was expected to be a highly-coveted figure this offseason due to his success with the Ducks and his previous track record as a power-five head coach.
Moorhead’s ties to Akron make him a particularly interesting candidate there. He spent 2004-2008 working as an assistant at Akron and was its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach during his final three years there.
The Zips are in the process of replacing previous head coach Tom Arth, who went 3-24 over three seasons at Akron.
At Oregon, Moorhead earns $1.15 million annually and his current contract runs through Jan. 2023.
According to a report from The Oregonian/OregonLive earlier this year, Moorhead would owe the University of Oregon 25% of his annual salary if he were to leave the school before Feb. 28, 2022 — unless he did so to become an FBS head coach, NFL head coach, NFL offensive coordinator with play-calling responsibilities, or if he were stripped of his play-calling duties at Oregon.
