Coaching Carousel Rumblings: Where does Matt Rhule fit in the 2022 cycle? Latest at Auburn, and Shaun Aguano gaining support at Arizona State
For the first time since Week 0 of the 2022 college football season, the sun rose and set on Sunday and no head coach lost their job.
The calmness didn’t last long, though.
The NFL shook up the college coaching carousel just a day later, tossing a potential big fish into the water when Matt Rhule was fired by the Carolina Panthers on Monday.
The former Temple and Baylor head coach has $40 million reasons to be ruled out — or is it Rhule’d out? — from any job, as Rhule can be super picky about every opportunity because of his bloated buyout from the Panthers.
Rhule is guaranteed that $40 million — whether he ever coaches again or not. His buyout does, per Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, have offsetting language, so he won’t be double-dipping at his next stop.
So since coaches like to coach, Matt Rhule instantly becomes a hot commodity on the market for the 2022 cycle.
Rhule can and will be patient, especially considering the brass at ESPN reportedly really likes Rhule and he’d be well-positioned to take the Chip Kelly route and spend a season on TV before jumping back into the college game. Still, Rhule makes sense as a candidate at Nebraska, Wisconsin and even Arizona State.
There are rumblings he has interest in Auburn, too, which (more to come on that opening) seems like a very poor fit to me, but the Tigers could do a lot worse.
Rhule is a former Penn State lineman who won at Temple and then resurrected a wheezing Baylor program. He’s a Yankee, but a head coach not limited by region or conference affiliation. He’s a proven talent developer, and his recruiting strategy of hoarding athletes and turning them into football players would be perfect at a place like NU. Rhule will need to adjust to the new world of NIL and the transfer portal, but his resume — despite all the losses in the NFL — make him a candidate to be in high demand in college — this cycle or the next.
Per insiders, Kansas’ Lance Leipold remains the frontrunner for the Nebraska opening, so perhaps Rhule sits out a year and waits for another attractive opening, but either way he will be a name to watch.
THE LATEST AT AUBURN
Bryan Harsin is still the head coach at Auburn after losing to rival Georgia 42-10 over the weekend, but it remains a forgone conclusion that the Tigers will have a top dog in 2023.
The only question right now is when a decision will be made.
Auburn travels to No. 9 Ole Miss this weekend before its open date. A loss to the Rebels would seem like a perfect time to make a move, but per people close to the situation, it isn’t a done deal that Harsin is axed with another loss this weekend.
They’re going to owe him a big buyout check either way.
The Tigers don’t have an athletics director, and while they’ve narrowed their search to a couple of key candidates, their focus, for now, is on that front first — before making a move at head coach. They likely won’t make the new AD fire Harsin, but the moves will likely come as a 1-2 punch.
There’s also some question as to which assistant makes the most sense as the Tigers’ interim head coach. Neither coordinator seem like a fit, as they both are former Boise State assistants with strong ties to Harsin, so in all likelihood, a pair of former Tigers alumni — either secondary coach Zac Etheridge, the likelier choice, or Cadillac Williams, the tailbacks coach, will handle the interim head coach responsibilities. Are either ready for such a job, which is why Auburn may continue to drag out Harsin’s final days.
As for the potential opening at Auburn, three names continue to surface around the job: Lane Kiffin, Baylor offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes, a former OL coach with the Tigers, and Hugh Freeze.
AGUANO GAINING SUPPORT AT ARIZONA STATE?
The Sun Devils stunned then-No. 21 Washington 45-38 last weekend, earning Shaun Aguano his first win as Arizona State’s interim head coach.
If Aguano wins a few more games at ASU, then his interim tag just might be dropped.
After taking over for the departed Herm Edwards three weeks ago, Aguano, a former very successful high school coach who won state titles in Arizona, has quickly won over folks in Tempe, per sources.
The on-field results weren’t there before Saturday (1-2 with all three games against ranked teams), but ASU has been more competitive, organized and unified, per folks in Tempe, all while Aguano has spearheaded a renewed focus on in-state recruiting, too.
After parting ways with Edwards, ASU athletics director Ray Anderson said Aguano would be among the candidates considered for the opening.
But what looked like a long shot then, now seems much more feasible as we creep later into fall.
Following Saturday’s upset win, Aguano received a letter of support from more than 200 coaches in the Arizona Football Coaches Association believing he deserves the job on a permanent basis.
“Coach Aguano is a man of high character we feel will do an outstanding job representing Arizona State in a number of ways. One, in particular, is fostering genuine relationships with high school coaches across the state of Arizona. That has been absent for many years from previous head coaches at ASU. Many of us have known Shaun for decades, from his time at Chandler and the elite program he established around ‘OHANA’ and how important of a pillar that is in his everyday life.
“When you look at coach Aguano, you see charisma, dedication, loyalty, and most importantly, honor. As an association, we want to have a genuine relationship with all our state universities and we believe coach Aguano can establish that rapport with high school coaches around the state just as coach Jedd Fisch and coach Chris Ball have made it a priority in recruiting our state.”
“Obviously, it is up to you to decide if coach Aguano is the man that will ultimately lead ASU into the future, but please know that he has the backing of every single football coach in the state of Arizona.”
Aguano built Chandler into a powerhouse in Arizona, winning four state titles in five years before joining Edwards’ staff as the tailbacks coach in 2019.
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Whoever makes the final decision at ASU has plenty of time to decide if Aguano is truly the guy for the job, but with winnable games against Colorado and Stanford upcoming, the former assistant’s candidacy should be taken seriously now.
And Aguano’s swelling support behind the scenes should be noted, as well.
In today’s landscape of NIL and transfer portal, there’s certainly a case to be made that hiring a former successful high school head coach is a smarter bet than grabbing the best hot-shot coordinator on the market. One understands how to be a CEO and juggle a bunch of different hats versus the other who is simply scheming up great plays.
It’s certainly worked out well for UTSA with Jeff Traylor, and same for Joey McGuire at Texas Tech, and considering the mess that needs to be cleaned up at ASU, Aguano could be just what the Sun Devils need right now.
WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER INTERIM COACHES?
With an upset win over Duke, Brent Key moved to 2-0 as Georgia Tech’s interim head coach.
Bobby Dowd Stadium even had a little life in it too!
Key has quickly instilled a culture of confidence in the 404, saying after Saturday’s win, “We went from trying not to lose and now we’re learning how to win. That’s a valuable lesson that these guys can take to the next game.”
So what are the former Yellow Jackets’ chances to become the permeant head coach for his alma mater?
Unfortunately for Key, an uphill battle — mainly due to circumstances he can’t control.
Key is well-liked by Tech’s administration and he’s a former alum. That at least gives him a chance to get the job. But the Bees must also hire a new athletics director, which makes it very challenging for Key to lose the interim tag.
Typically, new ADs do not want to tie themselves to an interim coach as their first major decision.
Perhaps Key wins so much that he leaves a new AD no choice, but he faces a challenge in earning the full-time job.
Elsewhere, Jim Leonhard got off to a great start at Wisconsin, as the Badgers blasted Northwestern on Saturday. Leonhard is still the HEAVY odds-on favorite to become Wisconsin’s permanent head coach, per sources.
BIG TEN ASSISTANT FIRINGS
While the carousel is spinning fast for head coaches, the churn is also happening already at the assistant level, too.
A pair of Big Ten schools made moves to their respective offensive staffs this past weekend.
Tom Allen fired Indiana offensive line coach and run game coordinator Darren Hiller, who had been with the Hoosiers’ program for six years.
Indiana is among the worst rushing teams in the nation so far in 2022, with only Iowa ranking below the Hoosiers in yards per game among all Power 5 schools. They also can’t protect the passer, with 19 sacks allowed already this season — No. 116th nationally.
Former Temple and Northern Illinois head coach Rod Carey was promoted as Indiana’s new OL coach. Carey played center at Indiana and returned to his alma mater as an off-field analyst following a nine-year run as a FBS head coach.
“Rod is a tremendous football coach and leader of young men. His record as a head coach and offensive line coach speaks for itself. Rod will make an immediate impact and integrate well with our offensive staff,” Allen said in a statement.
Rutgers fired offensive coordinator Sean Gleeson after two-plus subpar seasons from the Scarlet Knights’ offense.
Greg Schiano poached Gleeson from Mike Gundy’s staff at Oklahoma State in 2020, but the move didn’t pan out, as Rutgers ranks in the 100s nationally in scoring offense (22.2 points per game), yards per play ( 5.01) and explosiveness.
Schiano named tight ends coach Nunzio Campanile the team’s interim OC.