Much like in the real world, the college football job market is a paradox. The best way to get the job you want is to already have the job you want. Of the 130 FBS head coaches employed in 2020, 36 were FBS head coaches in 2010.
But that still leaves 94 jobs up for grabs.
Mike Norvell was a position coach at a Conference USA school in 2010, and today he's the head coach at Florida State. Chris Klieman was the defensive coordinator at Northern Iowa, and today he's the head coach at Kansas State. The stories go on and on: Matt Wells was the wide receivers coach at New Mexico, Mike Houston was a coordinator at the Division II level, and Ryan Day was a relatively anonymous position coach. Today he's got arguably the best job in college football.
Ten years ago this November, Tom Herman went to Austin and helped lowly Iowa State to a 28-21 win over mighty Texas; today, he's the head coach at Texas.
Before we get to the list, a couple nuggets.
- It should come as no surprise that Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, Dabo Swinney and the 2010 Auburn national championship staffs had multiple future FBS head coaches among their ranks. A few that may surprise you: Baylor (Philip Montgomery and Dino Babers), FIU (Scott Satterfield and Geoff Collins); Kansas State (Dana Dimel and Ricky Rahne); and Hawai'i (Dave Aranda and Nick Rolovich).
- Fourteen head coaches have put in at least a decade of service in their current posts, but 18 hold the same gigs today that they did in 2010. How is that possible? Gary Andersen, Randy Edsall, Brady Hoke and Greg Schiano all left their jobs only to return later.
AMERICAN
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati -- Ohio State co-defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Mike Houston, East Carolina -- Lenoir-Rhyne defensive coordinator
Dana Holgorsen, Houston -- Oklahoma State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Ryan Silverfield, Memphis -- Minnesota Vikings defensive line coach
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy -- Navy head coach
Jeff Scott, South Florida -- Clemson wide receivers coach
Sonny Dykes, SMU -- Louisiana Tech head coach
Rod Carey, Temple -- North Dakota offensive line coach
Willie Fritz, Tulane -- Sam Houston State head coach
Philip Montgomery, Tulsa -- Baylor co-offensive coordinator/offensive backs coach
Josh Heupel, UCF -- Oklahoma quarterbacks coach
ACC
Atlantic Division
Jeff Hafley, Boston College -- Pitt defensive backs coach
Dabo Swinney, Clemson -- Clemson head coach
Mike Norvell, Florida State -- Tulsa passing game coordinator/wide receivers coach
Scott Satterfield, Louisville -- FIU offensive coordinator
Dave Doeren, NC State -- Wisconsin defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Dino Babers, Syracuse -- Baylor wide receivers coach/special teams coordinator
Dave Clawson, Wake Forest -- Bowling Green head coach
Coastal Division
David Cutcliffe, Duke -- Duke head coach
Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech -- FIU defensive coordinator
Manny Diaz, Miami -- Mississippi State defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Mack Brown, North Carolina -- Texas head coach
Pat Narduzzi, Pitt -- Michigan State defensive coordinator
Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia -- BYU head coach
Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech -- TCU co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Big 12
Dave Aranda, Baylor -- Hawai'i defensive coordinator
Matt Campbell, Iowa State -- Toledo offensive coordinator/offensive line coach
Les Miles, Kansas -- LSU head coach
Chris Klieman, Kansas State -- Northern Iowa defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach
Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma -- East Carolina offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State -- Oklahoma State head coach
Gary Patterson, TCU -- TCU head coach
Tom Herman, Texas -- Iowa State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Matt Wells, Texas Tech -- New Mexico wide receivers coach
Neal Brown, West Virginia -- Texas Tech offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Big Ten
East
Tom Allen, Indiana -- Drake defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Mike Locksley, Maryland -- New Mexico head coach
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan -- Stanford head coach
Mel Tucker, Michigan State -- Jacksonville Jaguars defensive coordinator
Ryan Day, Ohio State -- Boston College wide receivers coach
James Franklin, Penn State -- Maryland offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Greg Schiano, Rutgers -- Rutgers head coach
West
Lovie Smith, Illinois -- Chicago Bears head coach
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa -- Iowa head coach
PJ Fleck, Minnesota -- Rutgers wide receivers coach
Scott Frost, Nebraska -- Oregon wide receivers coach
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern -- Northwestern head coach
Jeff Brohm, Purdue -- Illinois quarterbacks coach
Paul Chryst, Wisconsin -- Wisconsin offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Conference USA
East
Will Healy, Charlotte -- Chattanooga wide receivers coach
Willie Taggart, Florida Atlantic -- Western Kentucky head coach
Butch Davis, FIU -- North Carolina head coach
Doc Holliday, Marshall -- Marshall head coach
Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee -- Middle Tennessee head coach
Ricky Rahne, Old Dominion -- Kansas State tight ends coach
Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky -- UAB quarterbacks coach
West
Skip Holtz, Louisiana Tech -- South Florida head coach
Seth Littrell, North Texas -- Arizona co-offensive coordinator/RBs and TEs coach
Mike Bloomgren, Rice -- New York Jets assistant offensive coordinator
Jay Hopson, Southern Miss -- Memphis defensive coordinator/safeties coach
Bill Clark, UAB -- South Alabama defensive coordinator
Dana Dimel, UTEP -- Kansas State offensive coordinator/RBs and TEs coach
Jeff Traylor, UTSA -- Gilmer (Texas) High School head coach
FBS Independents
Jeff Monken, Army -- Georgia Southern head coach
Kalani Sitake, BYU -- Utah defensive coordinator/linebackers coach
Hugh Freeze, Liberty -- Arkansas State offensive coordinator
Doug Martin, New Mexico State -- Kent State head coach
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame -- Notre Dame head coach
Randy Edsall, UConn -- UConn head coach
Walt Bell, UMass -- Southern Miss graduate assistant
MAC
East
Tom Arth, Akron -- John Carroll College assistant coach
Scot Loeffler, Bowling Green -- Florida quarterbacks coach
Lance Leipold, Buffalo -- Wisconsin-Whitewater head coach
Sean Lewis, Kent State -- Nebraska-Omaha tight ends coach
Doug Martin, Miami (Ohio) -- Notre Dame defensive backs coach
Frank Solich, Ohio -- Ohio head coach
West
Mike Neu, Ball State -- New Orleans Saints scout
Jim McElwain, Central Michigan -- Alabama offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan -- Drake head coach
Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois -- Minnesota co-offensive coordinator/RBs coach
Jason Candle, Toledo -- Toledo wide receivers coach
Tim Lester, Western Michigan -- Elmhurst College head coach
Mountain West
Mountain
Troy Calhoun, Air Force -- Air Force head coach
Bryan Harsin, Boise State -- Boise State offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Steve Addazio, Colorado State -- Florida offensive coordinator/offensive line coach
Danny Gonzales, New Mexico -- Out of coaching
Gary Andersen, Utah State -- Utah State head coach
Craig Bohl, Wyoming -- North Dakota State head coach
West
Todd Graham, Hawai'i -- Tulsa head coach
Kalen DeBoer, Fresno State -- Southern Illinois offensive coordinator/WRs coach
Jay Norvell, Nevada -- Oklahoma co-offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach
Brady Hoke, San Diego State -- San Diego State head coach
Brent Brennan, San Jose State -- San Jose State wide receivers coach
Marcus Arroyo, UNLV -- Wyoming offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Pac-12
South
Kevin Sumlin, Arizona -- Houston head coach
Herm Edwards, Arizona State -- Out of coaching
Karl Dorrell, Colorado -- Miami Dolphins wide receivers coach
Chip Kelly, UCLA -- Oregon head coach
Clay Helton, USC -- USC quarterbacks coach
Kyle Whittingham, Utah -- Utah head coach
North
Justin Wilcox, Cal -- Tennessee defensive coordinator
Mario Cristobal, Oregon -- FIU head coach
Jonathan Smith, Oregon State -- Montana offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
David Shaw, Stanford -- Stanford offensive coordinator/running backs coach
Jimmy Lake, Washington -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive backs coach
Nick Rolovich, Washington State -- Hawai'i offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
SEC
East
Dan Mullen, Florida -- Mississippi State head coach
Kirby Smart, Georgia -- Alabama defensive coordinator
Mark Stoops, Kentucky -- Florida State defensive coordinator/defensive backs coach
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri -- Auburn quality control assistant
Will Muschamp, South Carolina -- Texas defensive coordinator
Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee -- Alabama defensive backs coach
Derek Mason, Vanderbilt -- Stanford defensive backs coach
West
Nick Saban, Alabama -- Alabama head coach
Sam Pittman, Arkansas -- North Carolina offensive line coach
Gus Malzahn, Auburn -- Auburn offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Ed Orgeron, LSU -- USC defensive line coach
Lane Kiffin, Ole Miss -- USC head coach
Mike Leach, Mississippi State -- Out of coaching
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M -- Florida State head coach
Sun Belt
East
Shawn Clark, Appalachian State -- Purdue offensive line coach
Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina -- North Greenville University head coach
Chad Lunsford, Georgia Southern -- Auburn director of player personnel
Shawn Elliott, Georgia State -- South Carolina offensive line coach
Chip Lindsey, Troy -- Troy quarterbacks coach
West
Blake Anderson, Arkansas State -- Southern Miss offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Billy Napier, Louisiana-Lafayette -- Clemson offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach
Matt Viator, Louisiana-Monroe -- McNeese State head coach
Steve Campbell, South Alabama -- Mississippi Gulf Coast Junior College head coach
Jake Spavital, Texas State -- Oklahoma State graduate assistant