Pete Thamel explains how Michigan, Ohio State could battle each other in coaching searches

According to ESPN college sports insider Pete Thamel, Ohio State and Michigan could be competing to fill their recent head coaching voids.

With Juwan Howard out at Michigan, and Chris Holtmann fired midway through the year at Ohio State, the bitter rivals will both be looking for the best options they can while on a bit of a budget, per Thamel.

“Well, as if there isn’t enough animosity between Ohio State and Michigan, they’re now going to be fishing from the same pool of candidates amid this coaching carousel,” he shared on Saturday’s edition of College GameDay.

Thamel explained that the two schools could have trouble financially in finding the best coach possible and will likely avoid candidates with larger buyouts.

“One thing with both these searches is they’re not going to spend $8 million dollars and go get a top, top tier coach. Even with this financial disparity that’s been amplified with these College Football Playoff happenings, they’re both looking for more modest coaching pools. To get Mick Cronin would cost $20 million to buyout, TJ Otzelberger at Iowa State would cost $17 million.”

Per Thamel, you can rule out those two names, because the buyouts are just too high to warrant spending that money. However, he does have one name that is likely on the radar for both programs.

“Look for Dusty May, the Florida Atlantic coach, to emerge as a target for both schools,” reported Thamel. May is also a name that’s been connected with the Louisville opening.

As for OSU and UM, though, Thamel did offer another short list of potential candidates who fall under their radar. Plus, he revealed one option that’s a tad expensive but could be a good get if one of the schools decides to pay up.

“Other names that could emerge: Chris Mack, the former Louisville coach. Anthony Grant, the Dayton coach. Darrian DeVries, who’s done wonderful work at Drake. And, if they did want to spend some buyout money, Porter Moser is $6.5 million at Oklahoma. Obviously, has strong midwest ties.”

Mack left Louisville unceremoniously following a turbulent season off the court more so than on it, but did have a couple of strong years in the Derby City. Grant obviously has a great team this year and was on pace for a 1-seed with Obi Toppin in 2020.

Meanwhile, DeVries just won the MVC Tournament with Drake to get them into this year’s NCAA Tournament, their third appearance in the last four years now. Of course, Moser is in his third year at OU after a very successful run and 2018 Final Four appearance with Loyola Chicago.