Texas A&M Hot Board: 12 candidates to replace Jimbo Fisher as head coach

Texas A&M is set to fire Jimbo Fisher after Fisher failed to elevate the program to the contender status in the SEC. This move will cost the Aggies more than $76 million for Fisher’s buyout alone. By the time the remainder of the staff is bought out and costs associated with hiring the next coach are rolled in, the price tag for this move could top $100 million.

So who might replace Fisher in College Station? Who is capable of giving the Aggies what they’ve desperately sought for so long — a chance to compete for national titles? When you have gobs of oil money to spend, the list can get long.

Mike Elko, Duke head coach

Elko served as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator from 2018-21 before leaving to work miracles in Durham. He won nine games in 2022, and he’s 6-3 this year despite losing his top two quarterbacks to injury. Elko’s success at Texas A&M was not duplicated by successor D.J. Durkin, and Elko’s defenses helped mask some of the Aggies’ offensive deficiencies. Elko has proven to be excellent so far as a head coach.

Dan Lanning, Oregon head coach

The Ducks put a $20 million buyout in Lanning’s deal after losing Willie Taggart and Mario Cristobal in rapid succession, but a school that just agreed to fork over $76 million to fire someone is basically playing with Monopoly money. Lanning was Kirby Smart’s defensive coordinator at Georgia and has learned from Nick Saban and Mike Norvell at previous stops. His pedigree is perfect for this job, as is his recruiting philosophy and experience trying to land the top recruits while in Athens. The problem? With Oregon headed to the Big Ten, he probably already has a better job. The Ducks are built for success now, and Lanning can continue building them into a national title contender. And unlike Texas A&M, Oregon has two national title game appearances since 2010. There is more proof of concept in Eugene.

Mike Norvell, Florida State head coach

Most schools wouldn’t hire the head coach from the same place they got the last guy from, but Fisher and Norvell are in completely different places in their careers. Norvell is very much on the rise, and he’s got an undefeated team to prove it. But QB Jordan Travis is finished after this season, and Florida State’s issues with the ACC and the financial gap between that league and the SEC aren’t going to change anytime soon. If you can’t get Lanning, you might be able to land one of his mentors (who happens to only be 42 years old). Norvell’s method of blending the transfer portal and high school recruiting may become the model everyone else follows. He could build a competitive team quickly in College Station.

Kalen DeBoer, Washington head coach

Had Washington not landed in the Big Ten, DeBoer would have been the hottest candidate for every job opening. Now? It would take something pretty special to get him out of Seattle. Texas A&M could outbid the Huskies, and the Aggies could afford DeBoer’s $12 million buyout. But DeBoer, one of the most respected offensive tacticians in the country, also might draw NFL interest. He will have options, including staying in the excellent job he has.

Lance Leipold, Kansas head coach

Leipold has won everywhere he’s been, but his reclamation of Kansas has been extraordinary. He took over the worst program in the Power 5 at the end of spring practice in 2021 and now has a seven-win team ready to play in a bowl for the second consecutive season. Before Kansas, Leipold made huge improvements at Buffalo. Before moving to the FBS, Leipold went 109-6 and won six Division III national titles in eight seasons at Wisconsin-Whitewater. Leipold also would be an attractive candidate for Michigan State, which fired Mel Tucker in September. Kansas is expected to offer Leipold a massive deal to stay, but Texas A&M could afford to outbid the Jayhawks and/or Spartans if he’s the choice.

Jonathan Smith, Oregon State head coach

Smith, a former Beavers quarterback, has done an incredible job reviving the program at his alma mater. He took over a team that was a mess following the resignation of Gary Andersen, and he slowly built Oregon State into the team no one in the Pac-12 wants to play. The Beavers went 10-3 last year and are 8-2 this season. But following the breakup of the Pac-12, Oregon State’s uncertain conference situation means Smith being an alumnus probably isn’t enough to make him stay if a Big Ten or SEC program came calling.

Jedd Fisch, Arizona head coach

Fisch took over an absolute mess at Arizona and has the Wildcats at 7-3 in his third season. The roster was terribly depleted following the firing of former Texas A&M coach Kevin Sumlin, and Fisch refilled it through the transfer portal and by landing high school players at a level higher than Arizona usually recruits. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan (No. 41 overall in the class of 2022) was the highest ranked signee in Arizona history. Fisch’s 2022 recruiting class already has produced double-digit starters. Now imagine what he could do with a class loaded with four- and five-stars.

Jeff Traylor, UTSA head coach

Traylor has done a great job as the head Roadrunner. He’s 36-13 in three-plus seasons, and UTSA is currently 6-0 in American Athletic Conference play after changing leagues this past offseason. Before entering college coaching as an assistant at Texas under Charlie Strong, Traylor was a four-time Class 4A Texas high school coach of the year. So he has the Lone Star State bona fides, which could pay dividends in recruiting.

Urban Meyer, Fox commentator

Meyer, the former Ohio State, Florida, Utah and Jacksonville Jaguars coach, probably would consider a job at this level. But the question is whether Meyer’s management style would work in this era of college football. He’d probably find a major college job in the NIL era — and the players-as-employees era that likely comes next — to be more similar to his time coaching the Jaguars than his time coaching the Buckeyes. And that Jaguars tenure was a disaster. Unless Meyer can prove he can adapt to a time when players have far more agency than they did even five years ago, he might be happier staying at Fox.

Sherrone Moore, Michigan offensive coordinator

Moore is the one Michigan turned to Saturday when head coach Jim Harbaugh was suspended by the Big Ten. He’s beloved by his players, and his position group (the offensive line) is a huge reason for Michigan’s improvement the past three years. (Insert your own signal-stealing joke here.) If Harbaugh leaves, Moore might be the favorite to succeed him. But given how steadfastly Michigan has defended Harbaugh and the lack of NFL interest the past two hiring cycles, Harbaugh staying certainly feels possible. Would Moore wait? Or would an offer from a school with similar resources (but very different historical results) be enticing?

Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions head coach

He’s probably not taking it because he’s never coached or recruited in college and because he has a roster built to compete in the NFC for years if the franchise can land an adequate successor to QB Jared Goff in the next couple of years. But Campbell is an Aggie, so you at least have to ask if he wants to come home.

Dan Quinn, Dallas Cowboys defensive coordinator

I have no inside information on this, but I’ve told every AD who has asked me about potential coaches that Quinn would make a spectacular college head coach. His players love him. That’s obvious from what we see in the NFL. He also has a personality that would make him a natural recruiter. He can shoot players straight and charm their parents. And in his brief time as Will Muschamp’s defensive coordinator at Florida, Quinn identified and landed multiple future first-rounders. He probably doesn’t want a college job because he’s close to getting his second crack as an NFL head coach, but if you’re a school capable of taking big swings — and Texas A&M is — then it’s worth an ask.