I don't have a ton of nuggets, but these are quality of quantity. This intel comes mainly from a guy that let's just say is involved with college football coaching across the country. He's a great source.
1. Let's start with where Oregon State is at with the search firm. My source says it hasn't progressed much right now and for obvious reasons. Many of the guys they're interested in have jobs. Barnes and the search firm are currently seeing who is interested in the job (talking to agents) and getting a pecking order of who they want to interview, which I imagine will happen right after the Civil War.
2. The first name I was told by this source that was "definitely in" the coaching search is Washington State defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
3. I'm told that Washington OC and former Fiesta Bowl winning Beaver QB Jonathan Smith will be involved in the search, but my source says he hasn't heard his name pop up yet.
4. In my opinion, this is the most interesting nugget. My source told me that Western Kentucky head coach Mike Sanford "is going to make a move" for the Oregon State head coaching job. And I like this candidate. He checks off basically all of the qualities that OSU should want in their next head coach, such as the ones I wrote in my article on Monday. West coast background, offensive mind, under the David Shaw coaching tree, and he is definitely young and energetic at 35 years old. Definitely pretty young but the guy has some good coaching experience. He was Notre Dame's offensive coordinator for two years before becoming Western Kentucky's head coach for this season. He's currently 5-2 at WKU. Keep an eye on Mike Sanford.
5. My source said that Jim McElwain is a darkhorse candidate as McElwain is a PNW guy and unless he does something big to turn Florida's season around, he is likely out as Florida's head coach.
6. Here's one last potential candidate that my source mentioned: Larry Fedora, North Carolina head coach. UNC is off to a 1-7 start this season and his name is on the hot seat. He's taken UNC bowling the previous four seasons, which includes a 11-3 season in 2015. Not sure how realistic Fedora is but it's an interesting name. Fedora also has a very small buyout at 200k.
1. Let's start with where Oregon State is at with the search firm. My source says it hasn't progressed much right now and for obvious reasons. Many of the guys they're interested in have jobs. Barnes and the search firm are currently seeing who is interested in the job (talking to agents) and getting a pecking order of who they want to interview, which I imagine will happen right after the Civil War.
2. The first name I was told by this source that was "definitely in" the coaching search is Washington State defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.
3. I'm told that Washington OC and former Fiesta Bowl winning Beaver QB Jonathan Smith will be involved in the search, but my source says he hasn't heard his name pop up yet.
4. In my opinion, this is the most interesting nugget. My source told me that Western Kentucky head coach Mike Sanford "is going to make a move" for the Oregon State head coaching job. And I like this candidate. He checks off basically all of the qualities that OSU should want in their next head coach, such as the ones I wrote in my article on Monday. West coast background, offensive mind, under the David Shaw coaching tree, and he is definitely young and energetic at 35 years old. Definitely pretty young but the guy has some good coaching experience. He was Notre Dame's offensive coordinator for two years before becoming Western Kentucky's head coach for this season. He's currently 5-2 at WKU. Keep an eye on Mike Sanford.
5. My source said that Jim McElwain is a darkhorse candidate as McElwain is a PNW guy and unless he does something big to turn Florida's season around, he is likely out as Florida's head coach.
6. Here's one last potential candidate that my source mentioned: Larry Fedora, North Carolina head coach. UNC is off to a 1-7 start this season and his name is on the hot seat. He's taken UNC bowling the previous four seasons, which includes a 11-3 season in 2015. Not sure how realistic Fedora is but it's an interesting name. Fedora also has a very small buyout at 200k.
