Just thought I'd pass along a few additional notes this AM as I continue to learn more about some of Maryland's top candidates and names that are popping up in numerous searches.
- I wasn't aware of this until this morning, but Missouri AD Mack Rhoades is the one who hired Herman at Houston. I'm told it's likely he's going to make a major push for Herman to join him again, this time in the SEC. It's going to be an all-out battle to land Herman.
- One name that was brought to me by a couple of national folks early on is former Clemson OC and current SMU head coach Chad Morris. He had interest in the Maryland job last time around and his name continues to be floated around. His SMU team is only 1-9 this season, but that team was regularly losing by 40-50 points last season and they are playing competitive football now. Morris interviewed to replace Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech but that job eventually went to Kliff Kingsbury.
- Speaking of Tommy Tuberville, he's a guy that's won everywhere he's been with strong Under Armour ties who's name is being floated for a number of jobs as well. He's currently at Cincinnati and is coming off of back-to-back 9-win seasons and won the American title last season. He was at Auburn where he had an undefeated season as well as Texas Tech (both Under Armour programs) before landing at Cincinnati (also now an Under Armour program). At 61, he appears to be a possible fallback for a few schools if they are to whiff on 1st or 2nd tier guys.
- Staying on guys with a number of ties, one name that checks most boxes except proven winner as a head coach is Colorado State's Mike Bobo. He's a former quarterback and QB coach/offensive coordinator, having played and coached at Georgia. So he has ties to Evans. He is also now the head coach at Colorado State which is an Under Armour program. His Colorado St. team is only 5-5 in his first season replacing current Fla. coach Jim McElwain. But McElwain was a former SEC QB coach/coordinator that used the Colorado St. job as a spring board to the job in Gainesville and he's got the Gators at 9-1 this season.
- Tom Herman and Rich Rodriguez are both represented by ex-NFL player turned agent Trace Armstrong. Armstrong also happens to represent Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer and Penn St. head coach James Franklin.
- Finally, Mike Leach might be a name worth keeping an eye on as a fallback. He's done a tremendous job at Washington St. and his name has popped up with a couple of other jobs. Obviously, everyone thought he was going to be the guy here last time around and he checks all of the boxes. To be clear, I've heard nothing linking him to the Maryland job at this point, but you never know.
- I wasn't aware of this until this morning, but Missouri AD Mack Rhoades is the one who hired Herman at Houston. I'm told it's likely he's going to make a major push for Herman to join him again, this time in the SEC. It's going to be an all-out battle to land Herman.
- One name that was brought to me by a couple of national folks early on is former Clemson OC and current SMU head coach Chad Morris. He had interest in the Maryland job last time around and his name continues to be floated around. His SMU team is only 1-9 this season, but that team was regularly losing by 40-50 points last season and they are playing competitive football now. Morris interviewed to replace Tommy Tuberville at Texas Tech but that job eventually went to Kliff Kingsbury.
- Speaking of Tommy Tuberville, he's a guy that's won everywhere he's been with strong Under Armour ties who's name is being floated for a number of jobs as well. He's currently at Cincinnati and is coming off of back-to-back 9-win seasons and won the American title last season. He was at Auburn where he had an undefeated season as well as Texas Tech (both Under Armour programs) before landing at Cincinnati (also now an Under Armour program). At 61, he appears to be a possible fallback for a few schools if they are to whiff on 1st or 2nd tier guys.
- Staying on guys with a number of ties, one name that checks most boxes except proven winner as a head coach is Colorado State's Mike Bobo. He's a former quarterback and QB coach/offensive coordinator, having played and coached at Georgia. So he has ties to Evans. He is also now the head coach at Colorado State which is an Under Armour program. His Colorado St. team is only 5-5 in his first season replacing current Fla. coach Jim McElwain. But McElwain was a former SEC QB coach/coordinator that used the Colorado St. job as a spring board to the job in Gainesville and he's got the Gators at 9-1 this season.
- Tom Herman and Rich Rodriguez are both represented by ex-NFL player turned agent Trace Armstrong. Armstrong also happens to represent Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer and Penn St. head coach James Franklin.
- Finally, Mike Leach might be a name worth keeping an eye on as a fallback. He's done a tremendous job at Washington St. and his name has popped up with a couple of other jobs. Obviously, everyone thought he was going to be the guy here last time around and he checks all of the boxes. To be clear, I've heard nothing linking him to the Maryland job at this point, but you never know.
