This is very, early early and these names are just in alphabetical order.
Jamey Chadwell - Chadwell is a popular name on coaching search lists and has had plenty of success over his career. The 47-year old has a career coaching record of 119-61 going from North Greenville to his current destination at Liberty. Chadwell had back-to-back 11 win seasons at Coastal Carolina and then a 9-win campaign before he took the job with the Flames. Since arriving there, Chadwell had a 13-1 season and this year is 8-3. The Tennessee native is compensated at Liberty, but is a name that should at least be considered given his track record of success.
Bob Chesney – Chesney is a Pennsylvania native that got his head coach start at Division III Salve Regina and then moved onto Division II Assumption, FCS Holy Cross and to his current landing spot at James Madison at the FBS level. Chesney has a career record of 119-48 and has led the Dukes to an 8-4 season in his first year atop the program. The 47-year-old has consistently won at every stop he’s been at as a head coach.
Jimbo Fisher – Another name that is going to make this list for obvious reasons is Fisher. The Clarksburg native started his career at his alma mater Samford before moving onto Auburn, Cincinnati, LSU and Florida State serving as the offensive coordinator at the final three on that list. From there, Florida State tabbed Fisher atop the program in 2010 and in eight seasons he amassed an 83-23 record including a 48-16 mark in the ACC. Fisher led the Seminoles to the 2013 National Championship and Florida State won at least 10 games in six of his eight seasons in Tallahassee. Fisher would resign at Florida State for Texas A&M in 2017 and take over the Aggies football program. He spent six seasons there going 45-25 and 27-21 in the SEC with three bowl wins in the Gator, Texas and Orange Bowls. He was fired in November of 2023 and is currently out of coaching largely due to the $77.5 million buyout attached to that decision.
Andy Kotelnicki - The Penn State offensive coordinator has experience in the Big 12 after spending three seasons overtop the Kansas offense prior to joining the Nittany Lions. The 43-year old has served as an offensive coordinator since 2006 at previous stops such as Wisconsin-River Falls, University of Mary, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Buffalo prior to his stops at the power four level. His offenses have been well regarded and the Minnesota native could be ready for the next move up the ladder.
Dan Mullen – Mullen is one of the more experienced names on this list with assistant stints at Wagner, Columbia, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Bowling Green, Utah and Florida before he got his first head coaching opportunity at Mississippi State from 2009-17. There Mullen amassed a 69-46 record including 33-39 in the SEC with three finishes in the top 25 and five bowl wins in his nine seasons atop the program. From there, Mullen became the head coach at Florida and went 34-15 in his four seasons there leading the Gators to three New Year’s Six games and a rankings of 7, 6, and 13 at the end of his first three seasons. His fourth season was 5-6 when the Gators elected to move in a different direction. He has since served as a broadcaster for ABC and CBS, but the Pennsylvania native is still only 52-years-old.
Barry Odom – Odom is a Missouri graduate and was on staff there from 2004-2011 in various roles including defensive coordinator before taking the coordinator job at Memphis from 2012-14. He returned to Missouri in 2015 as the defensive coordinator and was elevated to head coach in 2016 after Gary Pinkel’s retirement due to health issues. He spent four years atop the Tigers football program leading them to a 25-25 record and a 13-19 mark in the SEC but was fired after a 6-6 campaign. Odom would then serve on staff at Arkansas as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator before getting another head coaching opportunity at UNLV. Odom was named Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2023 after a 9-5 season and this year has the Rebels at 10-2 overall and ranked in the polls. A native of Oklahoma, the 47-year-old does have some overlap with Athletic Director Wren Baker who was at Missouri during his tenure.
Rich Rodriguez – The name that everybody expects on this list. Rodriguez doesn’t really need an introduction as is a former West Virginia player that became the head coach in 2001 after rising up the coaching ranks with his last stop before Morgantown being the offensive coordinator at Clemson. Rodriguez was 60-26 during his time atop the Mountaineers including four outright or shared Big East titles. He would lead the program to three consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins and two BCS bowls. Rodriguez would leave West Virginia in 2007 to take a job at Michigan where he only lasted three seasons with a 15-22 record. Arizona would be the next stop as the Grant Town native was 43-35 in six seasons including a ten win campaign in 2014. After time on the staffs at Mississippi and Louisiana-Monroe he would become head coach at Jacksonville State in 2022 and has amassed a 25-10 record including a conference title in his first season. The 61-year old makes sense for a lot of reasons and has a career 186-123-2 record.
Jimmy Rogers - The South Dakota State head coach has spent two seasons with the program and amassed a 25-2 record including an undefeated 15-0 record and the FCS National Championship in his first year there. Rogers started his coaching career with the Jackrabbits and has been there since 2013 as an assistant in some capacity including defensive coordinator. The Arizona native is still just 37-years old.
Glenn Schumann – The current defensive coordinator at Georgia, Schumann is a Georgia native and graduated from Alabama. After serving as a graduate assistant with the Crimson Tide from 2011-14 he moved to Georgia as the inside linebackers coach. From there, the 34-year-old moved up the ladder to become the co-defensive coordinator from 2019-21 and promoted overtop the defense from 2022 on. His units have been very good during his time with the Bulldogs and even interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles for their defensive coordinator job in 2023 before electing to remain at Georgia.
Jon Sumrall – Sumrall was named the head coach of Tulane in December of 2023 after winning back-to-back conference championships at Troy and leading the Trojans to a 23-4 overall record and 14-2 in the Sun Belt. Sumrall then took the Tulane job where he put together a 9-3 campaign and is now 32-7 in his coaching career. The 42-year old Alabama native also spent time as an assistant at Kentucky, Ole Miss, Troy, Tulane and San Diego where he worked predominantly on the defensive side of the ball.
Brent Vigen - The Montana State head coach has gone 44-9 in his four seasons atop the Bobcats football program and won at least 12 games in three of four campaigns. The 49-year old worked under Craig Bohl for most of his career at North Dakota State and comes from a very successful coaching tree. Vigen coached at North Dakota State from 1999-2013 in various roles and then followed Bohl to Wyoming as first the offensive coordinator and then associate head coach. In 2021 he was hired to lead Montana State.
Jamey Chadwell - Chadwell is a popular name on coaching search lists and has had plenty of success over his career. The 47-year old has a career coaching record of 119-61 going from North Greenville to his current destination at Liberty. Chadwell had back-to-back 11 win seasons at Coastal Carolina and then a 9-win campaign before he took the job with the Flames. Since arriving there, Chadwell had a 13-1 season and this year is 8-3. The Tennessee native is compensated at Liberty, but is a name that should at least be considered given his track record of success.
Bob Chesney – Chesney is a Pennsylvania native that got his head coach start at Division III Salve Regina and then moved onto Division II Assumption, FCS Holy Cross and to his current landing spot at James Madison at the FBS level. Chesney has a career record of 119-48 and has led the Dukes to an 8-4 season in his first year atop the program. The 47-year-old has consistently won at every stop he’s been at as a head coach.
Jimbo Fisher – Another name that is going to make this list for obvious reasons is Fisher. The Clarksburg native started his career at his alma mater Samford before moving onto Auburn, Cincinnati, LSU and Florida State serving as the offensive coordinator at the final three on that list. From there, Florida State tabbed Fisher atop the program in 2010 and in eight seasons he amassed an 83-23 record including a 48-16 mark in the ACC. Fisher led the Seminoles to the 2013 National Championship and Florida State won at least 10 games in six of his eight seasons in Tallahassee. Fisher would resign at Florida State for Texas A&M in 2017 and take over the Aggies football program. He spent six seasons there going 45-25 and 27-21 in the SEC with three bowl wins in the Gator, Texas and Orange Bowls. He was fired in November of 2023 and is currently out of coaching largely due to the $77.5 million buyout attached to that decision.
Andy Kotelnicki - The Penn State offensive coordinator has experience in the Big 12 after spending three seasons overtop the Kansas offense prior to joining the Nittany Lions. The 43-year old has served as an offensive coordinator since 2006 at previous stops such as Wisconsin-River Falls, University of Mary, Wisconsin-Whitewater and Buffalo prior to his stops at the power four level. His offenses have been well regarded and the Minnesota native could be ready for the next move up the ladder.
Dan Mullen – Mullen is one of the more experienced names on this list with assistant stints at Wagner, Columbia, Syracuse, Notre Dame, Bowling Green, Utah and Florida before he got his first head coaching opportunity at Mississippi State from 2009-17. There Mullen amassed a 69-46 record including 33-39 in the SEC with three finishes in the top 25 and five bowl wins in his nine seasons atop the program. From there, Mullen became the head coach at Florida and went 34-15 in his four seasons there leading the Gators to three New Year’s Six games and a rankings of 7, 6, and 13 at the end of his first three seasons. His fourth season was 5-6 when the Gators elected to move in a different direction. He has since served as a broadcaster for ABC and CBS, but the Pennsylvania native is still only 52-years-old.
Barry Odom – Odom is a Missouri graduate and was on staff there from 2004-2011 in various roles including defensive coordinator before taking the coordinator job at Memphis from 2012-14. He returned to Missouri in 2015 as the defensive coordinator and was elevated to head coach in 2016 after Gary Pinkel’s retirement due to health issues. He spent four years atop the Tigers football program leading them to a 25-25 record and a 13-19 mark in the SEC but was fired after a 6-6 campaign. Odom would then serve on staff at Arkansas as an associate head coach and defensive coordinator before getting another head coaching opportunity at UNLV. Odom was named Mountain West Coach of the Year in 2023 after a 9-5 season and this year has the Rebels at 10-2 overall and ranked in the polls. A native of Oklahoma, the 47-year-old does have some overlap with Athletic Director Wren Baker who was at Missouri during his tenure.
Rich Rodriguez – The name that everybody expects on this list. Rodriguez doesn’t really need an introduction as is a former West Virginia player that became the head coach in 2001 after rising up the coaching ranks with his last stop before Morgantown being the offensive coordinator at Clemson. Rodriguez was 60-26 during his time atop the Mountaineers including four outright or shared Big East titles. He would lead the program to three consecutive seasons of at least 10 wins and two BCS bowls. Rodriguez would leave West Virginia in 2007 to take a job at Michigan where he only lasted three seasons with a 15-22 record. Arizona would be the next stop as the Grant Town native was 43-35 in six seasons including a ten win campaign in 2014. After time on the staffs at Mississippi and Louisiana-Monroe he would become head coach at Jacksonville State in 2022 and has amassed a 25-10 record including a conference title in his first season. The 61-year old makes sense for a lot of reasons and has a career 186-123-2 record.
Jimmy Rogers - The South Dakota State head coach has spent two seasons with the program and amassed a 25-2 record including an undefeated 15-0 record and the FCS National Championship in his first year there. Rogers started his coaching career with the Jackrabbits and has been there since 2013 as an assistant in some capacity including defensive coordinator. The Arizona native is still just 37-years old.
Glenn Schumann – The current defensive coordinator at Georgia, Schumann is a Georgia native and graduated from Alabama. After serving as a graduate assistant with the Crimson Tide from 2011-14 he moved to Georgia as the inside linebackers coach. From there, the 34-year-old moved up the ladder to become the co-defensive coordinator from 2019-21 and promoted overtop the defense from 2022 on. His units have been very good during his time with the Bulldogs and even interviewed with the Philadelphia Eagles for their defensive coordinator job in 2023 before electing to remain at Georgia.
Jon Sumrall – Sumrall was named the head coach of Tulane in December of 2023 after winning back-to-back conference championships at Troy and leading the Trojans to a 23-4 overall record and 14-2 in the Sun Belt. Sumrall then took the Tulane job where he put together a 9-3 campaign and is now 32-7 in his coaching career. The 42-year old Alabama native also spent time as an assistant at Kentucky, Ole Miss, Troy, Tulane and San Diego where he worked predominantly on the defensive side of the ball.
Brent Vigen - The Montana State head coach has gone 44-9 in his four seasons atop the Bobcats football program and won at least 12 games in three of four campaigns. The 49-year old worked under Craig Bohl for most of his career at North Dakota State and comes from a very successful coaching tree. Vigen coached at North Dakota State from 1999-2013 in various roles and then followed Bohl to Wyoming as first the offensive coordinator and then associate head coach. In 2021 he was hired to lead Montana State.
