Brent Key to Clark Lea, one question applies to several top potential coaching candidates: Would they leave their alma mater?
If Florida can’t land Lane Kiffin, Jeff Brohm would be great backup plan.
Kalani Sitake is a great fit for BYU. That doesn’t mean he wouldn’t fit elsewhere.
Another Sunday, another firing. This time, Auburn wrote the buyout check.
Just imagine what Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry would say if he presided in a state where a public institution has forked over millions in failure money three times in the past six seasons.
As poorly as Bryan Harsin and Hugh Freeze fared, I consider Auburn a damaged program but not an irreparable one.
Beyond Lane Kiffin, one question dominates coaching carousel
Two questions loom over this high-stakes spin of the coaching carousel. The first is obvious: To whom will Lane Kiffin award his rose?
The other question major question: How many coaches are willing to leave for their alma mater?
Because, if certain thriving coaches are up for leaving the school where they earned their degree, then the candidate pool just got a lot deeper and better for schools like Florida, LSU, Auburn and Penn State.
Here are five coaches excelling at their alma mater who would make a good hire for a certain SEC or Big Ten school:
Brent Key, Georgia Tech
Key’s been a revelation for his alma mater. His Yellow Jackets are a playoff contender, even after losing to NC State. His teams run the ball well. Can you think of a school that might appreciate that? Perhaps the school where Bo Jackson played?
Would fit great at: Auburn.
If Key isn’t a top target for Auburn, the school’s doing this wrong. Birmingham and Atlanta are pivotal recruiting outposts for Auburn. Key grew up near Birmingham, and his Georgia Tech tenure gives him Atlanta bona fides. He’d restore physicality missing from Auburn’s offensive line. As badly as Auburn needs quarterback improvement, Tigers fans also appreciate a good ground game. Jimbo Fisher couldn’t figure out what to do with quarterback Haynes King. Playing for Key, King became a star.
Jeff Brohm, Louisville
Brohm’s done nothing but win at places where that’s not automatic. He’s responsible for Western Kentucky’s best season in its Bowl Subdivision history, going 12-2 there. At Purdue, he matched the best season of the past 25 years, and he beat Ohio State. Now, he’s beaten Miami and lifted his alma mater into playoff contention.
Would fit great at: Florida.
If Florida can land Kiffin, he’s the obvious choice. If it can’t, then stick a visor on Brohm’s head. Like Steve Spurrier, Brohm’s a former quarterback who knows how to develop the position he played. He’s also built the ACC’s best defense at Louisville. He’s not the Head Ball Coach, but he’s a good ball coach.
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt will enter the second weekend of November as a playoff contender. Alert the College Football Hall of Fame. Lea beat two of the SEC schools hiring, LSU this year and Auburn last year. If he’s smart — and, hey, he went to Vanderbilt — he’s not thinking about anchoring down on the West End. He’s thinking of how to parlay his success with Diego Pavia into a better job.
Would fit great at: Penn State.
Yes, I know, Penn State just fired a coach who came from Vanderbilt, but so what? Is that a reason it should hire Missouri’s Eli Drinkwitz, who recently lost to Vanderbilt, instead of Lea? Vanderbilt ranks second in the SEC in yards per play. Think Penn State couldn’t use some of that offense? Lea also spent a few years running the defense at Notre Dame, which emulates a Big Ten school. If only Pavia could play forever, that’d be a bonus to hiring Lea.
Kalani Sitake, Brigham Young
Rhett Lashlee generates a lot of buzz on hot boards. How quickly we forget Sitake’s Cougars beat SMU — on the road — last season. Sitake beats a lot of teams. BYU got snubbed by the CFP committee last season, but here are the Cougars in contention again, in their third season in the Big 12. Sitake’s on pace to reach 10-plus victories for the fourth time in the past six seasons.
Would possibly fit at: Auburn, Penn State or LSU.
You might be wondering, would a coach born in Tonga and raised in Hawaii who’s a member of the Church of Latter-Day Saints fit in the South or Pennsylvania? Don’t miss the forest for the trees. Sitake earns high acclaim for his leadership and ability to connect with players. He’s an excellent culture builder and a fun personality, the opposite of what Auburn had in Harsin, the stiff it hired the last time it looked west. Heck, Cajuns on the bayou might fall in love with the affable Sitake.
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State
Dillingham does not possess the track record of a veteran winner like Brohm or Sitake. Perhaps it’s fair to wonder whether last year’s 11-win ascent and playoff berth will be remembered as an aberration or the first sign of a star coach. His high-energy persona neatly suits him at his alma mater. Would a moribund program enjoy a shot of Dilly, Dilly?
Would possibly fit at: Auburn.
Dillingham would be a familiar face at Auburn. He got a dose of the Plains as Gus Malzahn’s offensive coordinator in 2019. His roots trace to the desert, but he’s toured the South with stops at Memphis and Florida State, and he built a reputation for being a good recruiter. Auburn went with a past-his-prime coach in Freeze. Dillingham, 35, would be a 180-pivot.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.
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