Breaking down which candidate fits best at Texas A&M

Texas A&M is the juiciest job opening in college football at the moment. And the Aggies could go any number of directions in hiring a replacement for the ousted Jimbo Fisher.

Be it an established Power 5 head coach, an up-and-comer or even a star-turned coordinator, the candidate the Aggies do elevate to the full-time gig will be handed the keys to one of the most resourced programs in the nation. On3’s JD PicKell and Andy Staples got together to run through some of the main names they think could be prime targets for Texas A&M.

First, there are the big names: Oregon head coach Dan Lanning and Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin.

PicKell was skeptical about swinging big, much like the Aggies did for Fisher, again — especially given the price tag. And Staples thinks in the case of Lanning, at least, it might be a waste of time.

“I don’t think Lanning’s a hype hire. I just don’t think Lanning’s going to leave. I think because Oregon is now a Big Ten job and they have resources and they have proof of concept where they’ve played for the national title twice in 13 years. I don’t think A&M’s a better job than Oregon,” Staples said.

If there isn’t a move to poach someone coaching at a top Power 5 school, PicKell thought of an obvious coach, high on many shortlists for bigger head coaching jobs: Duke’s Mike Elko.

“I like Mike Elko. I think he’s structured. I think he’s done more with less. And I think he’s a differentiator in the sense that he’s been at A&M. Andy you know this, it’s a different thing you’re signing up for if you go be a part of what they’re doing in Bryan-College Station. So I think the fact there wouldn’t be this big acclimation of getting to Texas A&M, I like it,” PicKell said.

Staples posed one concern with Elko: Coaches who have done more with less sometimes don’t do more with more.

But he couched that, too, noting it’s impossible to know until the coach is on the job. And there’s been nothing along the way with Elko to suggest he can’t get things rolling.

Beyond Elko, two up-and-comers in the region stuck out, both in Kansas: Kansas State head coach Chris Klieman and Kansas head coach Lance Leipold.

Either would be a fine choice in PicKell’s eyes, but Staples had a clear preference.

“If I’m going to go guy who has won everywhere, lower level. Leipold is the guy I would go with. And it’s so funny that there are these two great coaches both working in the state of Kansas right now with Klieman and Leipold. But Leipold would be my guy if I wanted to do it that way,” Staples said.

Staples also isn’t sure the time is right for Klieman to leave Kansas State.

“The other thing about Klieman, and I don’t think people think about this as much as they should: When you’ve got a quarterback, you better not leave unless it’s perfect. Because Klieman’s got Avery Johnson right now at Kansas State. And I think Avery Johnson could be a superstar. So you gotta be really careful leaving that behind. And obviously is A&M’s going to dump a bunch of money in your lap, you’re probably going to think about that. But that’s one thing, if I’m Chris Klieman, I’m very selective because I’ve got my quarterback of the future and I don’t know if that’s what I want to do,” Staples said.

The final candidate that came up is from Kansas and played college football at Oklahoma: Michigan offensive coordinator Sherrone Moore.

While Moore doesn’t have on-hand experience at Texas A&M specifically, Staples thinks he has something of equal value: A track record of developing good offensive lines.

“Like Sherrone Moore is ready to be a head coach right now. And being a good offensive line developer travels. I don’t care that he’s not worked in the south, necessarily. He played at Oklahoma. He understands how all this stuff works. I want someone who can develop people on the lines of scrimmage, whether that’s D line, O line I don’t care. I want someone who understands that. And Sherrone Moore absolutely understands that,” Staples said.

It’s also got its own set of advantages, like a potentially cheaper buyout among many. And for those concerned about elevating a coordinator, Staples pointed out that coaches like Georgia’s Kirby Smart, USC’s Lincoln Riley and Ohio State’s Ryan Day have all be elevated from coordinator to head coach and gone on to significant success.

It might not be the splashiest hire, but it could pan out the best.

“In that same vein, from that coordinator hiring train of thought, there would be the immediate feel of ‘Really?’ Because we can go and throw money at the big names we talked about already in the segment in Lane Kiffin and Dan Lanning. But if you hire a coordinator from the right spot, you can strike gold,” PicKell said.