THE 20 MOST WANTED COACHES FOR 2009
Head coaching vacancies are on the rise. Who is your next Super Coach?

November 12, 2008
By Todd Helmick

Oh yes, it is that time of year. Not just for conference title races and the BCS National Championship Game, but also the time of year when coaches get fired, step down, retire, move on...take your pick. So far the count for this year’s coaching departures includes nine schools (sure to grow).

Along with all of the coaching departures come the rumors of successors. Before the news of Tyrone Willingham's termination at Washington even hit the Seattle front pages, former NFL coach Lane Kiffin was at the top of a very short list. No one had contacted Kiffin at that point, so where did these rumors start? Maybe in cyberspace, or on a radio talk show…maybe even here at NationalChamps.net.

But the true answer is from the résumé of the person being considered. When you win games, you're available for these hiring discussions. It is as simple as that. Everyone is looking for that “Super Now Coach” as we like to label the search. Everyone who needs a head coach believes someone must exist that can take their team and instantaneously transform them into a conference champ. Not tomorrow, not later today, but NOW! Newsflash: that guy doesn’t exist (nine hirings out of ten). Unfortunately in America, the winning has to have been done now, as in this year for all intensive purposes. Coaches that have a proven track record for winning over the past decade usually don’t qualify unless they have (recent) NFL experience or are winning right now. NOW!

Here are the hottest coaches on the hiring boards for most schools and, maybe even less important, for the internet message board dreamers. Oh, there are others out there being considered and maybe even likely to get the job. This list represents the Most Wanted Coaches for 2009.

 

  LANE KIFFIN - Former Head Coach Oakland Raiders
 
Coaches with NFL experience have become a hot commodity over the past several years. Maybe this train of thought began when Pete Carroll put USC on their current dynasty run. The real answer probably lies in the fact that improved recruiting now elicits higher expectations. In today's information age, too many 17-year old prep prospects expect a chance to bask in the limelight; they and their parents want to know what can be done to get them into the NFL, and who better to answer such a question than someone who has coached there. All this simply means that Lane Kiffin is No. 1 on every school's wish list. And in conjuring the name ‘Kiffin’, we note how Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Jon Gruden has been at the top of many schools’ wish lists for several years, but has repeatedly made it clear he has no intention on leaving the NFL and/or Tampa.
 
  MIKE LEACH - Head Coach Texas Tech
 

Mike Leach is a coaching legend and not just in the state of Texas anymore. Currently sitting undefeated (10-0) at No. 2 in the BCS poll, his Red Raiders continue to put up lofty numbers. The offensive guru has produced the NCAA's leading passer in seven of the past eight seasons. For years now, many consider Leach’s offensive success to be nothing more than a product of their ‘Air Raid’ system…yeah, his system, and that is just what the doctor ordered for some of these current schools with coaching openings. At this point money would likely be a/the deciding factor...the kind of money Alabama put up for Nick Saban should do it. Texas is a hot bed of prep talent, and there’s not much more a coach can do than produce the Lone Star State’s top squad for a No.2 ranking.

 
  JIM GROBE - Head Coach Wake Forest
 

Coach Grobe has taken this school in Winston-Salem - with an undergrad student population of less than 4,500 that was the laughing stock of the ACC for decades - and molded them into a BCS squad (2006 ACC Champions). He has done it with lesser-rated high school recruits who generally wind up spending the full five years playing in the program, making the Deacons a solid, deep veteran club. His offensive knowledge and misdirection ground attack have helped earn current QB Riley Skinner and RB Josh Adams the last two ACC Rookie of the Year nods.

 
  NORM CHOW - UCLA (Offensive Coordinator)
 
Norm Chow has been an offensive coordinator since 1973, never a head coach. At some point in his life most would probably figure he would have a desire to become one. Unfortunately, this occurrence may still be down the road a stretch since he just recently took over the offense at UCLA. The names of the quarterbacks that have prospered under his tutelage run deep - Jim McMahon, Steve Young, Ty Detmer, Philip Rivers, Carson Palmer, and Matt Leinart. If he even hints at dropping his name in the hat, he would be the most wanted coach on this list.
 
  TURNER GILL - Head Coach University of Buffalo
 

Turner Gill may be the hottest young coach on the market. Anyone that can take the Buffalo Bulls program out of its longtime cellar depths has to be considered legit. As an esteemed QBs coach in Lincoln, he managed to take Nebraska's Tommie Frazier and Eric Crouch to the top of many post season award lists. Gill now has made Buffalo a worthy opponent as his current QB, Drew Willy, is the schools all-time passing leader, and his RB, James Starks, is currently the MAC's leading rusher. In today's college world of detailed offenses, Gill fits right in. With the current list of African-American FBS college football head coaches on the short side, Gill is sure to get plenty of interviews. None of this, though, should be the difference; Gill is a dream coach for any program.

 
  GARY PATTERSON - Head Coach TCU
 

Finally, Gary Patterson is getting the recognition he deserves. He is the only coach in school history to record four 10-win seasons. Also, the Horned Frogs have earned a spot in the final AP Top 25 four times prior to this season. One has to believe if the Kansas State job ever became available again (and it just has) he would be atop the Manhattan Project, having already played and coached for the Wildcats. It's only a matter of time before Patterson ends up at the BCS level.

 
  JIM LEAVITT - Head Coach South Florida
 

How Jim Leavitt has yet to be pulled away from his beloved South Florida team leaves some wondering. The USF program is his baby - Leavitt was the schools first ever coach and currently remains as the only man to guide the Bulls since they started playing football in 1996. He grew up in neighboring St. Petersburg, and on October 14, 2007 Leavitt’s squad was sitting at No. 2 in that week's BCS poll. Playing in the Big East affords Coach Leavitt more opportunities for success that deeper conferences (like the SEC) would not. He has turned down opportunities at Alabama and Miami, but how long will he continue to turn down offers that float his way?

 
  GREG SCHIANO - Head Coach Rutgers
 

No ones coaching stock was higher than Greg Schiano's at the end of 2006 after he took Rutgers from a century long bottom dweller and put them into a No. 6 national ranking nine games into that season. Schiano is also the team’s defensive coordinator and carries NFL coaching experience. After being named the 2006 Home Depot Coach of the Year, he decided to stay at Rutgers to see how far he could take the program. Greg’s success has not been quite the same since ‘06, and therefore his stock may not be as hot as it was just two seasons ago. Currently the longest tenured coach in the Big East (in his eighth year), Schiano would still be considered a coup for any school that could steal his services from Piscataway.

 
  CHRIS PETERSEN - Head Coach Boise State
 

While some schools may be looked upon as ‘coaching graveyards’, the one in Boise has to be considered a ‘coaching catapult’. The consistent success of the Broncos continues to open doors apparently for all who coach there, and Petersen is no exception. In his first year as head coach, Petersen led the Broncos to an undefeated regular season and the program's first ever BCS berth (only the second ever by a non-aligned school) where they shocked powerhouse Oklahoma. The university has done all it can to increase his pay scale, but it may not be enough to keep him on the Blue Turf sidelines, now or soon down the road.

 
  KYLE WHITTINGHAM - Head Coach Utah
 

Build it and they will come, Kyle. Utah is currently in the driver's seat to be this year’s version of a BCS Buster, and the bigger programs are therefore looking seriously in Kyle Whittingham’s direction. An in-state legend, he played at BYU and has been on the coaching staff at Utah for the past 14 seasons. Going undefeated in the Mountain West Conference – the nation’s toughest mid-major conference - is still a tall order, and if he is really interested in taking another head coaching position elsewhere, Kyle may have to strike while the iron his hot.

 
CONTINUE TO MOST WANTED COACHES 11-20
 
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