By: Mike Huesmann
Jim Harbaugh isn’t getting fired, we can put that to bed now. However, that doesn’t mean he’ll be at Michigan in 2024. We played this song and dance last offseason with him courting the NFL, and the time will never be better than right now. He has his best team in years, they’re mired in scandal, and he may just feel like the headache isn’t worth it anymore. If he doesn’t like the NFL again he can always do a Saban or Petrino and come back to college in a couple years with his pick of jobs. Here are ten coaches who could be in the mix for this blue blood job.
Kalen DeBoer, Washington
I have long said DeBoer would be one of my first calls if I was Michigan or any elite program and I stand by that statement. He did wonders at Fresno State and in his first year at Washington. Not to mention his domination at NAIA Sioux Falls including 3 national titles. His tutelage of Michael Penix and high powered offense and proven track record will put him on most lists of elite programs looking for a job. He is making north of $4 million a year, this will easily be doubled by Michigan.
https://twitter.com/sportingnews/status/1721008656995795195
P.J. Fleck, Minnesota
Could we be rowing the boat in Ann Arbor? I’d put Fleck on the list, and so would Vegas. The betting odds have him as the most likely replacement should Harbaugh not be Michigan’s coach in 2024. He led Western Michigan to a 13-1 season in his final year at Western MIchigan. Since coming to Minnesota he has brought stability, culture, and a consistent run game to a team that needed all three. His Minnesota team is down on talent and lousy this year and he’s going to take them to a bowl game, this is one of his best coaching jobs.
https://twitter.com/NadineBabu/status/1719111655320170886
Jesse Minter, Michigan Defensive Coordinator
Minter came to Ann Arbor from Vanderbilt and before that a stretch as an assistant with the Baltimore Ravens. A 2022 finalist for the Broyles Award where the Wolverines had the 4th lowest rate of scoring per drive and trailed only the above-mentioned Hawkeyes and Parker in overall defensive grade, and that’s after replacing Hutchinson, Ojabo, and Hill to the NFL. There will be at least one internal candidate for this job and he seems like the logical choice. If not of the scandal gets back to him, he’s in play for the job.
More Sports News
https://twitter.com/Balas_Wolverine/status/1719878905316745221
Mike Elko, Duke
Elko is doing wonders in his short time at Duke. His defenses have always been stout, having previously served as DC at Notre Dame, Texas A&M, Wake Forest, and Bowling Green. Elko is another guy who is lining himself up for an elite payday soon and would be near the top of my call list. He won’t leave Duke unless it’s for a blue-blood job, but if I was Michigan he’d certainly be a guy I did my homework on and brought in for an interview.
https://twitter.com/ChrisVannini/status/1720270537102888974
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Leipold has both won and improved every school he’s coached at. What he is doing at Kansas is truly impressive and people are noticing. His offenses are very creative and find ways to attack the weaknesses of the defense. At Wisconsin-Whitewater he won 6 national championships and finished runner-up once, in 8 seasons there. He improved Buffalo and went to 3 bowl games in 6 years there. Now in his 3rd year at Kansas, he has won enough and proved himself so much that we may not see a 4th year in Lawrence.
https://twitter.com/ByBerkowitz/status/1720991001194442863
Jedd Fisch, Arizona
Another former Wolverine assistant coach. In 2021 Fisch took over an abysmal Arizona team, went 1-11 in year 1 but has barely set a foot wrong since then. A much improved 5-7 last year has been followed by a team that is 6-3 so far this year and going bowling. Fisch appears to have found his QB in Noah Fifita, has multiple RBs contributing, and top-notch WRs in McMillan and Cowing. That being said, the trenches are where Fisch has built from. Both OL and DL’s are much improved and setting the tone for the squad.
https://twitter.com/RedditCFB/status/1721044754870481396
Jonathan Smith, Oregon State
Smith is an Oregon State guy, he played there and has been an assistant and head coach there. That’s basically all the Beavers have going for them. They pay him a pittance, relatively speaking for a P5 head coach, at 2.4 million a year, they face conference and future insecurity, and they aren’t the attraction he may warrant. Michigan would triple his salary and offer a better recruiting base while allowing him to remain in a P5 conference that is stable.
https://twitter.com/Kay_Breezy22/status/1721194735866372463
Matt Campbell, Iowa State
Campbell has an impressive 86-61 record as a head coach at Toledo and Iowa State. He had been mentioned as a possibility for top-level jobs before. After the Cyclones regressed in 2022 his stock cooled but he’s back to being mentioned for these jobs again. Iowa State had been very consistent with a high ceiling before the 4-8 season this past year, in which they had to replace many longtime contributors. They had been winning between 7 and 9 games a year for a good stretch while playing the brand of football that only a Midwesterner could love. His teams got in street fights, negated opponent advantages, and even in losses always kept the games close.
https://twitter.com/cyclonefanatic/status/1720995057237623050
Deion Sanders, Colorado
I’ve not written about him as much as my co-workers but on a list of ten for this job, his name would at least come up. Michigan does as good of a job at branding and selling its image as any school, this would capitalize on that. You’re guaranteed to make millions in TV, merchandise, etc. You’ll also be able to have great success in recruiting high school students and using the transfer portal. Deion overhauled the roster in Colorado because he had to. He won’t need to do that here but targeting specific positions and finding the best available guy is something he could excel at.
https://twitter.com/SBS_CU/status/1721041317730353413
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri
Not many coaches are using NIL as well as Drinkwitz and it’s showing. In his first three seasons in Columbia, he’s never had more than 6 wins, until now. The 7-2. Brady Cooke is playing well and few receivers, if any, have been as dominant as Luther Burden. Drinkwitz has an impressive resume, is young, and has a good offensive mind. He has no Michigan connections, which may hurt him here but other blue bloods may come calling.
https://twitter.com/NathalieABC17/status/1720947924174016856
