Coaching Carousel Rumblings: The latest scuttle around Nebraska, Auburn and elsewhere heading into the final weekend of the 2022 regular season

After a glutenous Thanksgiving, let’s add more meat to the plate heading into the weekend with the latest scuttle and intel surrounding the 2022 coaching carousel. 

Just before the holiday, Kansas head coach Lance Leipold agreed to a contract extension through 2029, per ESPN insider Pete Thamel. 

The Jayhawks are 6-5 this season, going to a bowl game for the first time in 14 years. Leipold had Kansas rolling — 5-0 and ranked — before starting quarterback Jalon Daniels went down with an injury. 

He quickly became a candidate at Nebraska, where he briefly served as an assistant many years ago, and Wisconsin, his home state and place he had strong ties to after winning six national titles at D-II Wisconsin-Whitewater. 

But while the details of the extension have yet to be released, Leipold has essentially removed his name from the chessboard as the structure of the contract is intended to keep him at KU longterm. 

Still, we’ve seen plenty of recent history to suggest these contracts aren’t bulletproof if a school is willing to pay a buyout to get their guy.

Wisconsin already appears to have its search wrapped up — likely promoting interim Jim Leonhard as soon as this weekend following the school’s perfunctory move to publicly post the job — but Leipold was considered a strong candidate for the Cornhuskers. 

Perhaps he still is — agreeing to a contract extension is different than signing said deal — but if Leipold and Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, who also received a raise and extension in the last week, are off the table, where might NU turn?

There’s been plenty of conjecture from folks at this point, but what’s clear is that AD Trev Alberts has kept the search mostly under wraps. 

There have been all sorts of rumors and gossip about Matt Rhule’s interest or disinterest in the job — CBS Sports’ Dennis Dobbs recently reported he outright turned down the opening and the Athletic’s Bruce Feldman reported is former Carolina Panthers’ head coach is likelier to do TV for a year then land in Lincoln. 

And yet, Huskers Online’s Sean Callahan noted Thursday that Rhule remains Alberts top target and an announcement could be made as soon as the weekend.

We’ll see.

If not Rhule, there’s Luke Fickell, but it’s unclear how even attainable Cincy’s head coach is after turning down similar opportunities in years past. NC State’s Dave Doeren, who has prior experience in the Big Ten as a DC at Wisconsin, has constantly been mentioned around the search, too.

Going further down the shortlist, Jeff Monken of Army and Chris Klieman of Kansas State have been two names mentioned by insiders. Former TCU head coach Gary Patterson, now a special assistant at Texas, is a new name that surfaced this week as well. That seems like an odd fit though considering Patterson’s no-so-subtle disgust with NIL. 

THE LATEST ON LANE KIFFIN AND AUBURN

Lane Kiffin remains the frontrunner for the Auburn opening. Even Stevie Wonder can see that. 

But that doesn’t mean it’s a fait accompli that the Portal King moves from Oxford to the Plains. 

On3 Matt Zenitz reported Wednesday evening that Kiffin “told Ole Miss players Wednesday evening that, unless something significantly changes, he’s planning on staying as the head coach of the Rebels.”

Ole Miss went out the next day and lost to Mississippi State 24-22 in a rain-slogged Egg Bowl.

When asked postgame whether he expects to return to Ole Miss next season, Kiffin said, “Yes I do.” In the same breath though, Kiffin was non-committal on when he might sign another extension with the Rebels, saying, “I don’t know.”

“I mean, I’ve signed three. So, does the fourth one mean you’re never leaving? So, I don’t know. I’m much more focused and worried about the game than whether you sign another contract, and I’m not acting ungrateful for that, but, again, everybody thinks you sign a contract, well a year ago you said the same thing. Then, here we are again, so.”

There are obviously several caveats and open windows within the latest report, which is why super-agent Jimmy Sexton will continue to leverage Ole Miss vs. Auburn until the clock strikes zero in the Iron Bowl on Saturday night. Then we’ll see if white smoke emerges from the Plains, or if there’s a freeze in the opening. 

Hugh Freeze remains a viable candidate, but Liberty’s head coach isn’t a slam-dunk backup option if Kiffin says no or Auburn looks elsewhere. Instead, new AD John Cohen might continue to methodically take his time and target the guy he truly wants, according to multiple coaching insiders. 

Cohen is considered a bit of a wild card in the industry and could pivot toward some fish in the water no one is considering. 

Like who?

Well, on a recent Split Zone Duo podcast, coaching insider Steven Godfrey mentioned Cohen’s affinity for TCU’s Sonny Dykes, and woo buddy, that would be a fascinating situation see play out in real time. 

NAMES TO WATCH AT GEORGIA TECH AND COLORADO

At Colorado, the Bronco Mendenhall steam has cooled, per insiders. Then there’s Deion Sanders, but is he truly a candidate or his camp using various schools to promote his name elsewhere?

For now, former Buffs team captain Ryan Walters, the brain trust of Illinois’Top 5 defense this season, is the most popular name around the search at this point. Walters, like his dad, played at Colorado and would be a strong candidate if CU is willing to gamble on handing the job to a first-time head coach. 

Georgia Tech AD J Batt continues to keep his shortlist very close to the vest. 

The most mentioned candidates around the Bees’ search include Alabama OC Bill O’Brien, who has ties to both Batt and as a former longtime assistant at Georgia Tech. The Yellow Jackets could also dip back into its option roots — albeit ones more modern and with spread principles — where Jamey Chadwell and Willie Fritz are both purported targets and would be good fits in Atlanta. 

The Athletic reported interim Brent Key, who has more wins in seven games with the Bees (four) than Geoff Collins ever had in a single season with Tech, is still in consideration for the job, too.

MORE COACHING CAROUSEL RUMBLINGS

On the final weekend of the regular season, the hot seat watchlist includes the likes of Phillip Montgomery at Tulsa, North Texas’ Seth Litrell, Neal Brown at West Virginia, Ryan Silverfield at Memphis, Jake Spavital at Texas State, Tom Allen at Indiana, Dino Babers at Syracuse and Willie Taggart at Florida Atlantic, among others. … Finally, there’s been lots of rumblings around David Shaw at Stanford. The 11-year head coach is deeply engrained at the university, and while most reporting around Shaw has him in no danger of being fired, this could be the right time to explore other opportunities after a couple of rough seasons (3-9, 3-8) in a row.