Where do you want to be 10 years from now? If you'd like to be an FBS head coach, there's good news for you. No matter where you are in the football world, a head coaching gig could be in your future if the stars align themselves just so.
A FootballScoop study of current FBS head coaches found that the current coaching roster found themselves scattered across the landscape in 2005.
To be clear, the secret to securing an FBS head coaching job is to already be a card-carrying member of the club. Nearly a quarter (31 of 128) of the current FBS head coaches were also head coaches a decade ago - 15 in their current jobs and 16 in other jobs. By far the largest place of employment of today's head coaches 10 years ago was the FBS assistant coaching ranks; 54 of them were assistants at this time in 2005. Add in the dozen that were coaching in the NFL and that's 97 of the 128 - a tick above 75 percent - already working inside the Big Football Industrial Complex.
But the remaining 25 percent? They come from all over the place. Ten of them were head coaches at the sub-FBS level, and nine were assistants on sub-FBS staffs. Five were coaching high school teams, and seven weren't coaching at all. Arkansas State's Blake Anderson, Akron's Terry Bowden, Duke's David Cutcliffe and New Mexico's Bob Davie found themselves between coaching stints, Texas Tech's Kliff Kingsbury and Western Michigan's P.J. Fleck were still holding on to the remnants of their respective NFL playing careers.
And then there's Ole Miss head coach Hugh Freeze, the poster child for what can be accomplished in a 10-year span. Ten years ago today Freeze was an assistant athletics director for football external affairs on Ed Orgeron's Ole Miss staff. He moved on the field for the next two seasons as the Rebels' tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator. After Orgeron's staff was dispersed following the 2007 season, Freeze landed the head coaching job at Lambuth, an NAIA school in Jackson, Tenn. A 20-5 mark over the 2008-09 seasons led him to Arkansas State, and one 10-2 season later he was back at Ole Miss as the head coach, serving as his old boss's replacement's replacement. Three years, a 24-15 mark and three raises later and Freeze is in line to earn $4 million in 2015, while Orgeron is an assistant at a division rival.
We in this business most often compare football's hiring-firing season to a carousel, but watch the movement over a long period of time and the process looks more like a tornado. Close your eyes and hang on, because there's no telling where you'll end up.
A few more notes:
- Last week we pointed out that only 13 current coaches have been in their current jobs for a decade straight. So how'd we get 15 coaches in the same jobs they held in 2005? Fate allowed Louisville's Bobby Petrino and Kansas State's Bill Snyder to leave and then reclaim their old jobs all within the past decade.
- The Iron Bowl rivalry may be the epitome of this exercise. Who'd have thought 10 years ago that a sitting NFL head coach and an Arkansas high school lifer would occupy opposite sidelines in the sport's most intense rivalry?
- The Big 12 is the conference of continuity. Nearly half the conference has put in 10 years or longer in their current gigs, and three of the others have a direct link to Mike Leach, a veteran of the Big 12 from 1999-2009.
- The MAC boasts FBS's most eclectic roster, with three sub-FBS head coaches (Pete Lembo, Chuck Martin, Ron Caragher), three sub-FBS assistants (Matt Campbell, Rod Carey, Lance Leipold), two NFL assistants (John Bonamego, Mark Whipple), an NFL player (P.J. Fleck), an out-of-work coach (Terry Bowden), one holdover (Frank Solich) and, amazingly, only one FBS assistant (Dino Babers).
- Four BCS head coaches that now find themselves leading mid-majors: Tommy Tuberville (Auburn to Cincinnati), Larry Coker (Miami to UTSA), Dennis Franchione (Texas A&M to Texas State) and Dan McCarney (Iowa State to North Texas).
Finally, the full list:
ACC Atlantic
Steve Addazio, Boston College: first-year Florida offensive line coach
Dabo Swinney, Clemson: third-year Clemson assistant head coach/wide receivers coach
Jimbo Fisher, Florida State: sixth-year LSU offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Bobby Petrino, Louisville: third-year Louisville head coach
Dave Doeren, N.C. State: fourth-year Kansas co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Scott Shafer, Syracuse: first-year Western Michigan defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach
Dave Clawson, Wake Forest: second-year Richmond head coach
ACC Coastal
David Cutcliffe, Duke: out of coaching
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech: fourth-year Navy head coach
Al Golden, Miami: fifth-year Virginia defensive coordinator
Larry Fedora, North Carolina: first-year Oklahoma State offensive coordinator
Pat Narduzzi, Pittsburgh: second-year Cincinnati defensive coordinator
Mike London, Virginia: first-year Houston Texans defensive line coach
Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech: 19th-year Virginia Tech head coach
Big Ten East
Kevin Wilson, Indiana: fourth-year Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator/offensive line coach
Randy Edsall, Maryland: seventh-year Connecticut head coach
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan: second-year San Diego head coach
Mark Dantonio, Michigan State: second-year Cincinnati head coach
Urban Meyer, Ohio State: first-year Florida head coach
James Franklin, Penn State: first-year Green Bay Packers wide receivers coach
Kyle Flood, Rutgers: first-year Rutgers offensive line coach
Big Ten West
Tim Beckman, Illinois: first-year Ohio State cornerbacks coach
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: seventh-year Iowa head coach
Jerry Kill, Minnesota: fifth-year Southern Illinois head coach
Mike Riley, Nebraska: third-year Oregon State head coach
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern: fifth-year Northwestern linebackers coach
Darrell Hazell, Purdue: first-year Ohio State assistant head coach/wide receivers coach
Paul Chryst, Wisconsin: first-year Wisconsin offensive coordinator
Big 12
Art Briles, Baylor: third-year Houston head coach
David Beaty, Kansas: fourth-year Irving MacArthur (Texas) High School head coach
Bill Snyder, Kansas State: 17th-year Kansas State head coach
Paul Rhoads, Pittsburgh: sixth-year Pittsburgh defensive coordinator
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma: seventh-year Oklahoma head coach
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State: first-year Oklahoma State head coach
Gary Patterson, TCU: sixth-year TCU head coach
Charlie Strong, Texas: third-year Florida asst. head coach/co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Kliff Kingsbury, Texas Tech: first-year New York Jets quarterback
Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia: first-year Texas Tech co-offensive coordinator/inside receivers coach
Pac-12 South
Rich Rodriguez, Arizona: fifth-year West Virginia head coach
Todd Graham, Arizona State: third-year Tulsa defensive coordinator
Mike MacIntyre, Colorado: third-year Dallas Cowboys defensive backs coach
Jim Mora, UCLA: second-year Atlanta Falcons head coach
Steve Sarkisian, USC: first-year USC assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach
Kyle Whittingham, Utah: first-year Utah head coach
Pac-12 North
Sonny Dykes, California: sixth-year Texas Tech co-offensive coordinator/outside receivers coach
Mark Helfrich, Oregon: fifth-year Arizona State quarterbacks coach
Gary Andersen, Oregon State: first-year Utah asst. head coach/def. coordinator/defensive line coach
David Shaw, Stanford: first-year Baltimore Ravens wide receivers coach
Chris Petersen, Washington: fifth-year Boise State offensive coordinator
Mike Leach, Washington State: sixth-year Texas Tech head coach
SEC East
Jim McElwain, Florida: third-year Michigan State wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator
Mark Richt, Georgia: fifth-year Georgia head coach
Mark Stoops, Kentucky: second-year Arizona defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach
Gary Pinkel, Missouri: fifth-year Missouri head coach
Steve Spurrier, South Carolina: first-year South Carolina head coach
Butch Jones, Tennessee: first-year West Virginia wide receivers coach
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt: first-year Ohio wide receivers coach
SEC West
Nick Saban, Alabama: first-year Miami Dolphins head coach
Bret Bielema, Arkansas: second-year Wisconsin defensive coordinator
Gus Malzahn, Auburn: fifth-year Springdale (Ark.) High School head coach
Les Miles, LSU: first-year LSU head coach
Dan Mullen, Mississippi State: first-year Florida offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss: first-year Ole Miss assistant AD for football external affairs
Kevin Sumlin, Texas A&M: third-year Oklahoma special teams coordinator/tight ends coach
American East
George O'Leary, Central Florida: second-year Central Florida head coach
Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati: seventh-year Auburn head coach
Bob Diaco, Connecticut: first-year Central Michigan co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina: third-year Texas Tech assistant head coach/special teams coordinator
Willie Taggart, South Florida: third-year Western Kentucky assistant head coach/quarterbacks coach
Matt Rhule, Temple: first-year Western Carolina offensive line coach/special teams coordinator
American West
Tom Herman, Houston: first-year Texas State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Justin Fuente, Memphis: second-year Illinois State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy: fourth-year Navy offensive coordinator
Chad Morris, SMU: third-year Stephenville (Texas) High School head coach
Curtis Johnson, Tulane: tenth-year Miami wide receivers coach
Philip Montgomery, Tulsa: third-year Houston quarterbacks/running backs coach
Conference USA East
Brad Lambert, Charlotte: fifth-year Wake Forest linebackers coach/special teams coordinator
Charlie Partridge, Florida Atlantic: third-year Pittsburgh defensive line coach
Ron Turner, Florida International: first-year Chicago Bears offensive coordinator
Doc Holliday, Marshall: first-year Florida associate head coach/safeties coach
Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee: first-year South Carolina tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator
Bobby Wilder, Old Dominion: fifth-year Maine assoc. head coach/off. coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Jeff Brohm, Western Kentucky: third-year Louisville quarterbacks coach
Conference USA West
Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech: first-year East Carolina head coach
Dan McCarney, North Texas: 11th-year Iowa State head coach
Todd Monken, Southern Miss: first-year LSU wide receivers coach/passing game coordinator
David Bailiff, Rice: second-year Texas State head coach
Sean Kugler, UTEP: second-year Detroit Lions offensive line/tight ends coach
Larry Coker, UTSA: fifth-year Miami head coach
Independents
Jeff Monken, Army: fourth-year Navy running backs coach
Bronco Mendenhall, BYU: first-year BYU head coach
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame: second-year Central Michigan head coach
MAC East
Terry Bowden, Akron: out of coaching
Dino Babers, Bowling Green: second-year UCLA asst. head coach/running backs/wide receivers coach
Lance Leipold, Buffalo: second-year Nebraska-Omaha assistant head coach/offensive coordinator
Paul Haynes, Kent State: first-year Ohio State defensive backs coach
Mark Whipple, Massachusetts: second-year Pittsburgh Steelers quarterbacks coach
Chuck Martin, Miami (Ohio): second-year Grand Valley State (Mich.) head coach
Frank Solich, Ohio: first-year Ohio head coach
MAC West
Pete Lembo, Ball State: fourth-year Lehigh head coach
John Bonamego, Central Michigan: third-year Green Bay Packers special teams coordinator
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan: fifth-year Wabash (Ind.) head coach
Rod Carey, Northern Illinois: sixth-year Wisconsin-Stout offensive coordinator/offensive line coach
Matt Campbell, Toledo: first-year Mount Union (Ohio) offensive coordinator/offensive line coach
P.J. Fleck, Western Michigan: second-year San Francisco 49ers wide recevier
Mountain West West
Tim DeRuyter, Fresno State: first-year Nevada co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach
Norm Chow, Hawaii: first-year Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator
Brian Polian, Nevada: first-year Notre Dame special teams coordinator/defensive backs assistant
Rocky Long, San Diego State: eighth-year New Mexico head coach
Ron Caragher, San Jose State: third-year Kentucky running backs coach
Tony Sanchez, UNLV: second-year San Ramon California (Calif.) High School head coach
Mountain West Mountain
Troy Calhoun, Air Force: first-year Denver Broncos assistant to the head coach
Bryan Harsin, Boise State: fourth-year Boise State tight ends coach
Mike Bobo, Colorado State: fifth-year Georgia quarterbacks coach
Bob Davie, New Mexico: out of coaching
Matt Wells, Utah State: fourth-year Tulsa tight ends coach/recruiting coordinator
Craig Bohl, Wyoming: third-year North Dakota State head coach
Sun Belt
Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State: third-year Appalachian State quarterbacks coach
Blake Anderson, Arkansas State: out of coaching
Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern: ninth-year Central Missouri head coach
Trent Miles, Georgia State: first-year Washington running backs coach
Paul Petrino, Idaho: third-year Louisville offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach
Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette: fourth-year North Alabama head coach
Todd Berry, Louisiana-Monroe: second-year ULM offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Doug Martin, New Mexico State: second-year Kent State head coach
Joey Jones, South Alabama: tenth-year Mountain Brook (Ala.) High School head coach
Dennis Franchione, Texas State: third-year Texas A&M head coach
Neal Brown, Troy: first-year Delaware wide receivers coach