but not yet convinced the TECH administration has the guts to do so. That said, should a coaching change be in the offing, a good place to start the discussion is the listing of head coaches and salaries published by USA Today a little while back.
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/
This season, Kliff is schedule to make in excess of $3.3 million, 30th in the country. I expect our next head coach will not be brought in for more than that salary, and in fact, I expect TECH will initially pay less for our next head coach. If $3 million were our maximum starting salary, who might be candidates worth taking a look at? My list is as follows, at least where head coaches are concerned. In order to reduce the inevitable freakout factor that comes with posts like these, let me state, THESE COACHES ARE LISTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
http://sports.usatoday.com/ncaa/salaries/
This season, Kliff is schedule to make in excess of $3.3 million, 30th in the country. I expect our next head coach will not be brought in for more than that salary, and in fact, I expect TECH will initially pay less for our next head coach. If $3 million were our maximum starting salary, who might be candidates worth taking a look at? My list is as follows, at least where head coaches are concerned. In order to reduce the inevitable freakout factor that comes with posts like these, let me state, THESE COACHES ARE LISTED IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
- Sonny Dykes: $2.9 million. One of our own, but has had only mediocre success at Cal, admittedly a difficult place to win given culture and academic standards. Might be had at a lower salary in Lubbock, given cost of living differences between Berkeley and Lubbock.
- Kevin Wilson: $2.3 million. In a difficult coaching situation at Indiana, but has managed to make a consistently poor program competitive. IU probably as good as they will ever get given the strength of the Big 10.
- Dave Doeren: $2.2 million. NC State has been highly competitive under him, but I expect he has no intention of moving now, and I don't know TECH could convince the fan base bringing in a 6-6 coach would be a good idea.
- Ken Niumatololo: $2 million. Might be the ultimate "more with less" guy in all of college football. Likely will win AAC West division, consistent winner at Navy. Would be complete departure in terms of system from what TECH has done, but I would expect some adjustments would be made given personnel and strength of conference.
- Larry Fedora: $2 million. UNC has been consistently good under him. He might be underpaid given performance. Good chance they will win the Coastal Division this season and take on Clemson for the ACC title.
- Willie Taggart: $1.7 million. From a 2-10 first season, USF has improved to 9-2 in season 4 with a chance to win the AAC Eastern Division.
- Bryan Harsin: $1.3 million. Boise have not missed a beat under Harsin. Certainly he had a great platform from which to succeed, but he has gotten the job done there and is well acquainted with Texas recruiting.
- Troy Calhoun: $900K. Intended to change the Air Force attack to be more of a conventional attack, but quickly adjusted back to the option attack Air Force has been long known for. Has experience with more pro oriented offensive football given his NFL experience.
- PJ Fleck: $800K. After a brutal 1-11 first season, WMU has gone 8-5, 8-5 and 11-0 in the subsequent 3 seasons. Will get a crack at a Power 5 school probably after this season.
- Jeff Brohm: $800K. 28-10 in three seasons at WKU. He lands at a Power 5 school in short order as well.
