Well folks, the Florida State self-imposed deadline of the end of November has come and gone now and the Seminoles have yet to name their new head coach.
Florida State hired a very expensive search firm to assist with the process, and they certainly kicked the tires on some of the best coaches in (and some currently out of) college football, as we outlined in our previous Update at Florida State.
The logical explanation as to why things seem so quiet as the Seminoles deadline has passed is that they're just respectfully waiting for their choice to wrap up their season. If it's Memphis' Mike Norvell, that certainly makes sense. However, one has to wonder if Ole Miss diving into the market has the potential to change the outcome for Florida State.
If that's the case, does this search come down to Notre Dame's Brian Kelly? He's been at Notre Dame since 2010 and has put together three straight double-digit win seasons, including an appearance in the College Football Playoff last year and earned a spot in the BCS National Title game back in 2012. Most people in the profession believe Kelly would prefer to leverage FSU's interest into a (potentially) final extension at Notre Dame. However, what is FSU panics and decides they can't let this search go beyond Brian and offer money ND chooses not to match. Could the job in Tallahassee be the job Kelly leaves South Bend for? Still don't expect this to happen; but stranger things have happened.
Longtime assistant Odell Haggins has been leading the team on an interim basis for the second time in his tenure in Tallahassee, and while there is certainly support for him to earn the permanent role moving forward their 40-17 loss to rival Florida over the weekend wasn't ideal for his pitch to be the Seminoles solution moving forward. Industry insiders believe the only way DHR suggests Haggins is if the other candidates back away from the table.
Stay tuned to The Scoop as this job creeps closer to being crossed off the list of open head coaching jobs in college football.