Names to watch in Michigan State's search for a football coach

Michigan State is the most desirable vacant head coaching job on the market as of now. The Spartans are one of two FBS programs with a vacant coaching position (Northwestern), following the official firing of head coach Mel Tucker back in September. There are many quality candidates that Director of Athletics Alan Haller might be actively pursuing.

Before diving into the list of possible candidates, we must first answer the question, 'exactly how prestigious is the Michigan State job?'

1. The Spartans are in a good spot for the future as they are in the Big Ten, one of the two power conferences in college sports, alongside the SEC.

2. Michigan State is No. 18 in the country in average attendance over the last five years. MSU was No. 17 in attendance in 2021 and No. 20 in attendance in 2022.

3. Recent facility renovations also prove that boosters and the athletic department are willing to pour money and provide resources for the program.

4. There will also likely be a significant budget for assistant coaches and support staff.

Is Michigan State a top-10 job? Most likely not.

Is Michigan State a top-25 job? Yes, it typically is.

The one holdup on that answer is the controversy that has surrounded MSU leadership in recent years given past scandals and the current Mel Tucker situation.

Spartans Illustrated contributors Jeremy Dewar, Brendan Moore, and 'Verbose Dutch' have put together a list of candidates to keep an eye on as the coaching search heats up.

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Current job: Arizona head coach

Head coaching experience: Two games as interim head coach at UCLA, currently third season at Arizona (13-22 record)

Age: 47

Fisch has not had an over-abundance of head coaching experience but he is certainly an up-and-coming name to watch. He hasn’t gone down the typical path from playing football at the college level, then getting into coaching. Fisch actually didn’t play football at the high school or college level. He attended the University of Florida hoping to work under Gators head coach Steve Spurrier while also getting a criminology degree. While attending school at Florida, he was the defensive coordinator for a local high school in Gainesville. After graduating, he became the wide receivers and quality control coach for the New Jersey Red Dogs in the Arena Football League.

Then, Fisch returned to Gainesville to work as a graduate assistant under Spurrier for two seasons. Fisch quickly rose through the ranks as he had various assistant coaching stops in the NFL and in college football. His stops included the Houston Texans (defensive quality control coach), Baltimore Ravens (offensive assistant), Denver Broncos (wide receivers coach), Minnesota Golden Gophers (offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach), Seattle Seahawks (quarterbacks coach), Miami Hurricanes (offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach), Jacksonville Jaguars (offensive coordinator), Michigan Wolverines (quarterbacks coach, wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator), UCLA Bruins (offensive coordinator, quarterbacks coach and interim head coach, albeit for two games), Los Angeles Rams (senior offensive assistant and assistant offensive coordinator) and New England Patriots (quarterbacks coach).

He landed his first head coaching job, not counting the interim head coaching gig he had at UCLA for two games, with Arizona ahead of the 2021 season. Fisch took over a team that went 0-5 in the COVID year under Kevin Sumlin. In his first season, Arizona went 1-11. However, in year two under Fisch, the Wildcats saw a big jump up to five wins. This season, Arizona is bowl eligible for the first time since 2017. Fisch also has the Wildcats ranked in the College Football Playoff Top 25.

In addition to on-field success, Fisch is recruiting well for Arizona. The Wildcats currently sit at No. 42 in the Rivals 2024 team rankings. In his first high school recruiting cycle, Arizona was No. 39 (2023). Fisch has also landed significant contributors out of the portal like Justin Flowe (fourth-leading tackler on the team) and Montana Lemonious-Craig (20 receptions). Fisch is a rising star in the head coaching world and a move closer to his New Jersey roots could be in the cards.

-- Moore

Current Job: Wake Forest head coach

Head coaching experience: Five seasons at Fordham, four seasons at Richmond, five seasons at Bowling Green, currently in tenth season at Wake Forest (153-138)

Age: 56

Clawson is a well-established, experienced head coach that’s had success at the power conference school with the lowest enrollment (Wake Forest). Clawson played defensive back at Williams College (Division III) from 1985 to 1988. After his playing career, he was a graduate assistant at Albany for two seasons. Clawson had other assistant coaching stops at Buffalo (defensive backs, quarterbacks and running backs), Lehigh (running backs and offensive coordinator) and Villanova (offensive coordinator) before getting his first head coaching gig at Fordham in the FCS.

In his first season at Fordham, Clawson went an abysmal 0-11, but continued to build the Rams into a formidable program in the Patriot League. He posted records of 3-8, 7-4, 10-3 and 9-3 in his final four seasons with Fordham. He made the Division I-AA Quarterfinal in 2002 in his only playoff appearance. After posting a record of 29-29 at Fordham, he went to Richmond for four seasons. He had two playoff appearances in those four seasons, making the quarterfinals twice and semifinals once. His records were 3-8, 9-4, 6-5 and 11-3 with the Spiders. Clawson got his FBS job with Tennessee as the offensive coordinator for one season and then he was hired for the open Bowling Green head coaching job. In five seasons, he made three bowl games and won a MAC title in 2013.

Wake Forest hired him ahead of the 2014 season. In his first two seasons in Winston-Salem, Clawson had a 3-9 overall record and a 1-7 record in ACC play in both 2014 and 2015. Since then, he’s only had one losing record (2020) at Wake Forest. The year after he had the losing record of 4-5, the Demon Deacons made it all the way to the ACC Championship Game with an 11-3 record. It is important to note that in Clawson’s first few seasons at Wake Forest, the program was dealing with the “WakeyLeaks.” For some context, former Wake Forest quarterback Tommy Elrod was an assistant coach on the Wake Forest staff from 2003-2013 but when Clawson arrived, he decided to let Elrod go. Elrod became a radio commentator for the Demon Deacons and leaked the Deacons' game plans to their opponents.

Clawson’s teams run a unique offense called the slow mesh. It is a heavy run-pass option offense where the quarterback lines up in the shotgun for a majority of the snaps. The quarterback reads the defense while the ball is in the mesh point and decides whether to hand the ball off or pull it and pass. Clawson gets more out of less. He doesn’t recruit at an elite level, however, he doesn’t have the resources to do that at Wake Forest. His offensive style makes opponents think and sometimes gives his teams an edge. The question would remain if that style of offense would be successful at a place where Clawson would have increased access to high-level talent. Clawson would be an underwhelming hire to most, but he’s had success at college football outposts like Wake Forest, despite what his career record says.

-- Moore

Current job: Liberty head coach

Head coaching experience: Three seasons at North Greenville, one season at Delta State, four seasons at Charleston Southern, four seasons at Coastal Carolina, currently in first season at Liberty (107-57 record)

Age: 46

Chadwell has worked his way up from Division II all the way to the FBS. He played quarterback at East Tennessee State from 1995-1999 and began his coaching career with the Buccaneers in 2000, serving as the quarterbacks, running backs and tight ends coach. He then served as the offensive coordinator at Charleston Southern for five seasons before getting his first head coaching gig at North Greenville in Division II. Chadwell had a big jump from year one to year two in his stint with North Greenville as the team went from 2-8 to 9-3. Chadwell followed that up with an 11-3 season before getting hired by Delta State (Division II). He had one poor season at Delta State going 3-7 after a year when the Statesmen won 11 games.

Chadwell returned to winning ways at Charleston Southern as he went 10-3 in his first year with the Buccaneers. He made two appearances in the FCS playoffs in his four seasons with Charleston Southern. Chadwell left the FCS ranks to join Coastal Carolina as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach ahead of the 2017 season. However, Coastal Carolina’s head coach at the time Joe Moglia took a medical leave in July and Chadwell took over as the interim head coach for the 2017 season, going 3-9. Chadwell returned to his role as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in 2018 before becoming the head coach in 2019.

The Chanticleers went 5-7 in 2019 and then shook up the college football landscape by going 11-1 in the COVID season in 2020, winning the Sun Belt Conference title in the process. Chadwell earned six different coach of the year honors for the 2020 season. He followed that up with another 11-win season and a 9-3 season in 20222 before departing for Liberty, where he is currently undefeated in year one of a new job.

Chadwell grew up in Tennessee and played quarterback at East Tennessee State. The furthest north he’s ever coached is at Liberty, which is located in Lynchburg, Virginia. While that shouldn’t be a total turn off, it is still a question if Chadwell would be willing to head north to East Lansing. There is a bit of risk with Chadwell given that he has never coached at the power conference level before. The reward would be that he would bring an innovative, never-before-seen offensive style to the Big Ten. His combination of the triple option with run-pass option elements has resulted in doing more with less throughout his coaching career. How would that translate to the Big Ten and Michigan State, a place where Chadwell would have much better access to talent than at Liberty or Coastal Carolina? It would be intriguing to watch unfold.

-- Moore

Current job: Washington offensive coordinator

Head coaching experience: none

Age: 48

Ryan Grubb has been Kalen DeBoer’s right-hand man for the majority of his coaching career. Grubb started his college coaching career at South Dakota State as a running backs coach in 2005 and as a wide receivers coach in 2006 before being on the same staff as DeBoer at Sioux Falls. Grubb was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator under DeBoer at Sioux Falls for three years. After DeBoer departed Sioux Falls, Grubb became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for the next four seasons.

Grubb and DeBoer reunited at Eastern Michigan. Grubb was the Eagles’ offensive line coach for three seasons while DeBoer was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at the same time. Grubb’s three seasons of experience coaching in the state of Michigan certainly doesn’t hurt his chances of becoming the head man at Michigan State. Grubb and DeBoer left Ypsilanti for Fresno State ahead of the 2017 season. Grubb spent five seasons in Fresno, despite DeBoer departing in 2019 to become Indiana’s offensive coordinator. DeBoer did return to Fresno State in 2020 to become the head coach. While with the Bulldogs, Grubb was the offensive line coach and run game coordinator for two seasons and was an associate head coach and offensive coordinator for three seasons.

Grubb became the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Washington when DeBoer landed the head coaching gig in Seattle prior to the 2022 season. Many Michigan State fans are familiar with Grubb and DeBoer because of the Huskies’ 2-0 record against the Spartans in the past two seasons. Grubb has also coached two great quarterbacks in his last two stops (Jake Haener at Fresno State and Michael Penix Jr at Washington).

The main concern is Grubb’s inexperience as a head coach. Now that DeBoer is in a great situation at Washington and unlikely to leave, Grubb would be without DeBoer at his side. How would he perform without DeBoer? That’s a risk Michigan State has to be willing to take if Grubb is the guy.

-- Moore

Current job: Duke head coach

Head coaching experience: Currently in second season at Duke (15-7 record)

Age: 46

Mike Elko is arguably the hottest name that could land a major Power Five job this cycle. Elko is the current Duke head coach and has turned around the Blue Devils in less than two seasons. In the three years prior to Elko arriving at Duke, the Blue Devils went a combined 10-25. In Elko’s first year at Duke he went 9-4. Elko is now off to a 5-3 start this season, with an impressive win against Clemson in the season-opener.

Elko not only has a solid head coaching resume, despite the small sample size, but he has a defensive pedigree that Michigan State might want in its next head coach. Elko was a defensive assistant/position coach at Stony Brook, Penn, Merchant Marine (where he was also defensive coordinator), Fordham (co-defensive coordinator as well), Richmond and Hofstra (where he also served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator). He was a defensive coordinator for Bowling Green, Wake Forest, Notre Dame and Texas A&M as well before getting the Duke job.

Elko is a defensive guy with a track record of success. He improved the Bowling Green defense from 87th in total defense in 2009 to sixth in total defense in 2012. He also improved Texas A&M’s defense from 34th to ninth in two years.

Elko is only 46 years old and what he has proven as the head man at Duke -- with a talent deficit to some of the major programs -- warrants a consideration for the job at Michigan State.

-- Moore

Current job: Oregon State head coach

Head coaching experience: Currently in sixth season at Oregon State (33-33 record)

Age: 44

Jonathan Smith, like Washington State's Jake Dickert, is the head man of a team that is losing its Power Five affiliation with the dissolution of the Pac-12. Unlike Dickert, Smith has a deeper connection to his current gig as he is an Oregon State alumni (a four-year starter at quarterback in the late 1990s-early 2000s), including an 11-1 season under Dennis Erickson in 2001. This team also featured future NFL stars at wide receiver in Chad Johnson (aka Ochocinco) and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.

Smith graduated and started right away in his coaching career as a graduate assistant (GA) at Oregon State, before moving around as a quarterbacks coach for more than a decade at Idaho, Montana (including offensive coordinator duties), and Boise State. His big step back into the Power Five was when he joined Chris Peterson’s staff at Washington in 2014, eventually becoming a co-offensive coordinator.

In 2017, Smith came home to Corvallis after Gary Andersen had pulled a Gary Andersen, quitting on the team as head coach six games into the season. Oregon State was 12-16 in four seasons prior to Smith’s arrival, and proceeded to go 2-10, 5-7, 2-5 (COVID season in 2020) before breaking through in 2021 as a 7-6 team and a 10-3 team in 2022. As far as analytics go, Smith’s offenses have been steady, from starting 92nd in Bill Connelly’s SP+ in 2018, to then being 42nd, 45th, 43rd and 26th over the next rising years. A steady improvement has been made with a style that leans heavily on the run game to set up a consistent passing attack.

On defense, the Beavers had the top-ranked scoring defense in the Pac-12 in 2022, allowing just 20 points per game. In 2022 they held Washington to the Huskies' lowest scoring output of the season (albeit in inclement weather) and lost by three points to USC. The Beavers closed their 2022 season with a win over in-state rival Oregon.

Oregon State did just remodel its home stadium, with a $161 million project, and Smith is an alum, so it may be really hard to pry him away. However, Oregon State could see a significant revenue loss from the Pac-12 realignment, and Smith's style of play and methodical building shows he could translate very well to East Lansing.

-- Dewar

Current job: Washington State head coach

Head coaching experience: Currently in second season at Washington State (14-14 record)

Age: 40

Jake Dickert is a Wisconsin native who played collegiately as a wide receiver at Division III Wisconsin-Stevens Point. His first job away from his alma mater was with FCS power North Dakota State under Craig Bohl.

He made several stops at small schools in the Midwest and plains states, but once again reunited with Bohl for his first job at the FBS level at Wyoming as the safeties coach and eventually got the defensive coordinator job.

In 2020, Dickert became the defensive coordinator at Washington State under new coach Nick Rolovich. In 2021, Rolovich (and several assistants) were fired for failing to comply with COVID-19 vaccination mandates. Dickert was made the interim head coach halfway through the season in replacement of Rolovich.

Despite being down five coaches, Dickert led Washington State to a 3-2 finish in the last five regular season games and was named the permanent coach after a 40-13 win versus Washington. The following season Wazzu went 7-6, all six losses being to teams that finished in the Associated Press top-25.

So far this season WSU is 4-4, with top-25 wins against Wisconsin and Oregon State as the highlight victories. Though Dickert was a wide receiver in college, he’s always been a defensive coach, primarily with safeties and linebackers. He’s had to deal with constant instability, as both of his first season coordinators left for better jobs (Eric Morris as North Texas head coach; Brian Ward as Arizona State defensive coordinator) after 2022. It should be noted Dickert did not retain the offensive run and shoot system brought in by Rolovich, instead reverting back to an air raid attack that former WSU coach Mike Leach used to great success.

Dickert is young, has Midwest roots, has shown the ability to succeed in extremely difficult situations, is a head coach in the crumbling Pac-12, and his current base salary is under $3 million. His one apparent shortcoming is he does not appear to be a dynamic recruiter, though the schools he’s coached at have not been traditional talent gathering spots.

As this season progresses, information as to whether Dickert is a top-tier candidate for MSU will become available.

-- Dutch

Current job: Ohio State offensive coordinator/wide receivers coach

Head coaching experience: none

Age: 36

Brian Hartline is one of the hottest, young names in the coaching world. He played for Ohio State from 2006 through 2008. Hartline caught 90 passes for 1,429 yards and 12 touchdowns as a Buckeye. He was drafted by the Miami Dolphins and spent six seasons with them and one season with the Cleveland Browns before getting into coaching.

Hartline is known as one of the best recruiters in the nation. Over the past few seasons, Ohio State has had one of the best receiving rooms in the nation thanks to Hartline’s recruiting and talent development efforts.

Hartline has been the wide receivers coach at Ohio State since 2018 and was promoted to offensive coordinator for the 2023 season. He’s coached a number of first round NFL Draft picks, including Chris Olave, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Garrett Wilson.

If Hartline becomes the next Michigan State head coach, he should be able to bring his elite recruiting skill to East Lansing, which could increase the talent level on the roster. If Haller wants to hire a young, elite recruiter, Hartline might be his guy. The one major holdup is Hartline's inexperience as a head coach. Is it worth the risk to land an elite recruiter like Hartline? That's a question Haller has to ask himself, if he considers pursuing here.

-- Moore

Current job: Clemson offensive coordinator

Head coaching experience: none

Age: 34

Garrett Riley, the younger brother of USC coach Lincoln Riley, also is a member of the Mike Leach “air raid” coaching tree.

Riley was a backup quarterback at Texas Tech and in fact was a member of the Red Raiders team that (under interim coach Ruffin McNeill), defeated Michigan State in the 2010 Alamo Bowl. Riley ended up joining McNeil (as did Lincoln) at East Carolina for his first Division I coaching opportunity.

Riley continued to climb the college football ranks by joining the ill-fated David Beaty staff at Kansas, handling a few different offensive personnel positions, followed by a quick stint with Appalachian State as the running backs coach.

Things took off in a massive way when he once again tied himself to the Leach coaching tree and joined Sonny Dykes at Southern Methodist. Riley was the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach for Dykes at SMU for two seasons and then eventually to TCU for what was a magical season in 2022.

Riley was one of the hottest assistants on the market after last season, so much so that Dabo Swinney called him at 7 a.m. the morning after the national championship game loss to hire him for the offensive coordinator position at Clemson. So far Clemson’s offense has been a mixed bag and there’s been some growing pains in 2023.

Overall, Riley appears ripe to be picked as a head coach at the power conference level, considering his background, experiences and influences. His lack of being a head coach at any time being his most noticeable drawback.

-- Dutch

Current job: Colorado offensive coordinator

Head coaching experience: Five seasons at Kent State (24-31 record)

Age: 37

Sean Lewis is a name that has been divisive among the MSU faithful when it comes to his consideration for this open head coaching job.

His record as a head coach at Kent State (24-31) looks unimpressive to someone doing a surface level review of his credentials. However, this undersells how awful the funding is at Kent State, as it may be one of the most underfunded and difficult jobs in all of FBS football. Lewis was a finalist for the Cincinnati opening in 2022 that was filled by Scott Satterfield (I have a feeling they regret this already) and left Kent State to be a well-publicized offensive coordinator under Deion Sanders at Colorado this season.

Lewis, as a player, played for both Barry Alvarez and Bret Bielema at Wisconsin as a tight end. He began his coaching career in 2007 in the Illinois high school ranks and made a steady climb focused in the Midwest: Nebraska Omaha (one year, tight ends), Akron (one year, GA), Eastern Illinois (two years inside wide receivers/tight ends), Bowling Green (one year wide receivers, one year as co-offensive coordinator/quarterbacks).

Lewis took his first Power Five gig with Dino Babers at Syracuse in 2016-2017 as co-offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach prior to being named head coach at Kent State in 2018. He went 2-10 in his first season at Kent State and then 7-6, 3-1 (COVID), 7-7 and 5-7.

With his pedigree, it is obvious to focus on the offenses for Lewis. In his last two seasons, his offenses ranked 37th and 23ed in SP+ (in those seasons, Michigan State was 32nd and 59th) and his high-paced offense, which snaps the ball quicker than any other in FBS in 2022, gave Georgia the most fits of any team on the Bulldogs' run to a repeat national championship.

Lewis is an exciting name that likely needs another stop as a head coach before being able to jump past other names on this list for the Spartans' job, but it really should not be dismissed so easily as a name to watch.

-- Dewar

Current job: South Alabama head coach

Head coaching experience: Currently in third season at South Alabama (19-15 record)

Age: 36

Kane Wommack is one of the hottest names in the Group of Five head coaching world. He’s an up-an- comer at the ripe age of 36. In his playing career, Wommack spent time at Arkansas and Southern Miss as a fullback and tight end.

He got into coaching right after his college playing career ended. He was the quarterbacks coach at UT Martin, defensive line coach at Jacksonville State, safeties coach at Ole Miss, linebackers coach at Indiana, and a defensive coordinator at Eastern Illinois, South Alabama and Indiana (after his stint as a linebackers coach with the Hoosiers in 2018, he took over as defensive coordinator in 2019 and 2020, while still coaching the linebackers).

He has a large amount of coaching experience for his age on both the offensive side and defensive side of the football. Wommack took the head coaching job at South Alabama in 2021. In just his second year in 2022, he led the Jaguars to a Sun Belt West title, going 10-3 in the process.

Wommack is a rare case where he has head coaching experience at the FBS level and is still very young. He has had success in the new era of college sports as well. Wommack landed 21 Power Five transfers over the last two cycles. He has success against Power Five teams on the field as well. Wommack beat Oklahoma State 33-7 this year, and only lost at UCLA by one point last season.

-- Moore

Current job: Troy head coach

Head coaching experience: Currently in second season at Troy (19-4 record)

Age: 41

As a Huntsville, Alabama native coaching in the Sun Belt, I don’t see Jon Sumrall moving this far north, but he should be included because he's a hell of a name to keep an eye on.

The second-year man at Troy is a defensive specialist, and went 12-2 in his first season, with one of the better defenses in the entire country.

Prior to being a head coach, Sumrall served as assistant head coach for Troy for three years under Neal Brown (2015-17, Brown is now the head coach at West Virginia), and was co-defensive coordinator at Kentucky in 2021 on a staff that led the Wildcats to a 10-3 record.

It's hard to envision Sumrall landing a Big Ten job when he likely could be patient and wait a few more years for a SEC job, assuming he continues to be successful at Troy. Sumrall has been at San Diego, Tulane, Troy, Ole Miss and Kentucky, so I don’t see him being a realistic name for a Big Ten job yet, but he is destined for a SEC job in the next two to four years.

-- Dewar

Current job: Kansas head coach

Head coaching experience: Eight seasons at Wisconsin-Whitewater, six seasons at Buffalo, currently in third season at Kansas (161-58 record)

Age: 59

The knock on Lance Leipold when he moved from Wisconsin-Whitewater to Buffalo, was that he had a ridiculous amount of success, but also did it at the Division III level at a school where resources outpaced a lot of the competition. Leipold overcame concerns in year four at Buffalo, winning 10 games and a MAC East title, then following that up with 8-5 record and a COVID-19 shortened 6-1 season in 2020.

Upon arriving to Kansas in 2021, Leipold needed to dig out from a scandalous Les Miles tenure that had no cupboard of talent. Leipold led the program to its first win in 22 months in his debut (a 17-14 win over South Dakota) and the Jayhawks' only other win in the first year was an upset over Texas.

However in 2022 the program took off, running off to a 5-0 start and hosting ESPN's "College GameDay" in Lawrence for a 38-31 loss to eventual national championship runner-up TCU in a game where Kansas played most of the game down its terrific quarterback, Jalon Daniels.

Spartan fans have had more crossover with Kansas in recruiting as Kalon Gervin transferred and has started for the Jayhawks, and the Jayhawks were a finalist for 2024 four-star wide receiver commit Nick Marsh.

Leipold is a program-builder, a gifted football mind, and has made inroads in Michigan recruiting. He may not be the flashiest option and age (59) is a concern, but he should absolutely be a real contender for the opening.

-- Dewar

Current job: Kansas State head coach

Head coaching experience: One season at Loras (DIII), five seasons at North Dakota State, currently in fifth season at Kansas State (108-36 record)

Age: 56

Chris Klieman is a winner. He’s won everywhere he’s been. Klieman bounced around as a defensive assistant for over 20 years before becoming a head coach.

He had stops at Northern Iowa, Western Illinois, Kansas, Missouri State, Loras and North Dakota State before becoming the head man at North Dakota State.

He led the Bison to four FCS national championships and five conference championships. Klieman only spent five seasons at North Dakota State before getting poached by Kansas State. He’s made a bowl game in three of four seasons with the Wildcats. Klieman had his best year in 2022. The Wildcats went 10-4 and won the Big 12 championship, which was his first conference title at the FBS level.

The Spartans will get a proven winner at the Power Five level if they hire Klieman. The guy won four national titles in five seasons at North Dakota State, which is pretty remarkable. His coaching record speaks for itself. His style of play would be well suited for the Big Ten as well. K-State will line up and run the ball down opponents’ throats. The Wildcats have great offensive line play, which is a trait that has helped Michigan win the last two Big Ten titles.

If Michigan State can poach Klieman from Kansas State, and he can bring over his offensive coordinator Collin Klein (age 34), Michigan State fans should be pleased. Of course, Klieman has publicly downplayed the MSU rumors, but that is expected during the season.

-- Moore

Current job: Marshall head coach

Head coaching experience: Currently in third season at Marshall (20-15 record)

Age: 40

A Maryland native, Charles Huff walked-on at Hampton and ended up being the starting center and team captain by his senior season.

He started coaching at another HBCU, Tennessee State, before joining Ralph Friedgen at Maryland as an offensive line assistant in 2009. Huff followed another Friedgen assistant, James Franklin, to Vanderbilt in 2011.

Huff has continuously sought out new challenges, coaching at 10 different stops in 15 years. He spent a season in the NFL as an assistant running backs coach with the Buffalo Bills, a year with PJ Fleck at Western Michigan as running backs coach, three seasons with Franklin at Penn State (running backs/special teams), a single year stop at Mississippi State with Joe Moorhead (assistant head coach/running backs coach/run game coordinator), and then a couple seasons at Alabama as Nick Saban’s assistant head coach and running backs coach.

In 2021, Huff was named Marshall’s head coach, going 7-6 in his first campaign, 9-4 last season, but he is off to a 4-5 start this year. Huff has been around the block, partnering with several notable coaches and is successfully steering his only program. That said, Marshall was a turn-key job, and while Huff has had plenty of success recruiting at some of the bigger schools he's coached at, the Thundering Herd’s recruiting rankings have lagged below expectations.

-- Dutch

Current job: LSU defensive coordinator

Head coaching experience: none

Age: 45

Tough to be writing this after Matt House and his LSU defense gives up 55 points and 706 total yards to Ole Miss earlier this season. The Harrison, Michigan native, and Michigan State graduate would bring a Super Bowl ring to East Lansing, albeit not from a NFL franchise not necessarily known for a stout defense (Kansas City Chiefs).

Last season, House found intriguing ways to get the best freak athlete in football, Harold Perkins, on the field as a true freshman and he was an agent of chaos. The Tigers have not succeeded this year in building off that, and overall, it is fair to say the LSU defense has regressed.

House has worked under some names MSU fans are well used to in Pat Narduzzi (Pittsburgh defensive coordinator 2013-14), Mark Stoops (Kentucky defensive coordinator in 2017-18) and that Kentucky defense was exceptional, ranking in the top-10 in team defense. House checks a few boxes, but really at this time, needs to likely find a Group of Five stop as head coach before making this jump.

-- Dewar

Current job: New England Patriots offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach

Head coaching experience: Two seasons at Penn State, seven seasons at the Houston Texans (69-61 record)

Age: 54

A name that shouldn’t be foreign to anyone is Bill O’Brien, former head coach of the Houston Texans and Penn State Nittany Lions. O’Brien has been a Division I or NFL coach for 30 years.

O’Brien rose to attention when he left his job as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach with the New England Patriots to replace Joe Paterno at Penn State during the height of the scandal that rocked the football program and university. After two successful seasons at PSU, he left for the NFL and was the head coach of the Texans for seven seasons. After being fired at Houston, he was hired as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Alabama, and prior to this season, he returned to the Patriots in the same capacity.

As a coach who has worked in the top levels and in the public eye for over a decade, fans have developed impressions, some strong opinions. There are people of the belief that Bill O’Brien is an unnecessarily angry man who has been given much and squandered too much. O’Brien was given the nickname of "Teapot" by former Spartan and Patriot quarterback Brian Hoyer, along with Tom Brady, as O’Brien’s emotions often boiled over. It should be noted Hoyer wasn’t too put off by O’Brien’s outbursts, as he joined him in Houston as well.

There’s no questioning his credentials, it just depends if O’Brien is your cup of tea or not. Really other than the stated, his only shortcoming would be in recruiting, which he would need to employ adept personnel to carry out those tasks.

-- Dutch

Current job: USC offensive coordinator

Head coaching experience: none

Age: 48

Josh Henson enjoyed a successful playing career at Oklahoma State as a three-year starting offensive lineman who received All-Big 12 honors. After his playing time, he transitioned quickly to coaching, his first college job being a tight ends coach at Oklahoma State.

Despite a head coaching change, Henson was retained by in-coming coach Les Miles as part of his staff. Miles had been Henson’s position coach as a player. Once Miles left to take the LSU job, Henson followed, again handling tight end duties.

In 2009, Henson took the next step up the coaching ladder and was hired by Gary Pinkel as the offensive coordinator at the University of Missouri. Henson was the OC for seven mostly productive and successful seasons. However, in 2015 Pinkel retired and Henson was not retained by the new coach. Henson once again returned to Oklahoma State, this time as the offensive line coach. He left that position to take the same one at Texas A&M in 2019. In 2022, Henson was given the job of offensive line coach and offensive coordinator under Lincoln Riley at USC.

With nearly 25 years of coaching in high-level college football for a series of successful coaches, Henson presents a very knowledgeable coach, though with no head coaching experience of his own. It should be noted he is not the play-caller at USC, but was during his time at Missouri.

Lastly, Henson has shown to be a good recruiter, yes he has recruited to schools like USC, Texas A&M and LSU, but nevertheless his abilities to bring in talent appear more than sufficient.

-- Dutch

Current job: Michigan State interim head coach

Head coaching experience: Seven games as MSU's acting head coach (1-6 record)

Age: 56

Harlon Barnett is someone that Michigan State fans are quite familiar with. Barnett lettered for four years as a safety for Michigan State in the 1980s. He was drafted in the fourth round of the 1990 NFL Draft and spent seven years in the league.

Barnett got into the coaching game in 1998 as the defensive backs coach at Princeton High School in Ohio. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2000. Barnett got his first college job as a graduate assistant at LSU in 2003 under Nick Saban. He was latter hired by former Michigan State head coach Mark Dantonio at Cincinnati in 2004, where he spent three seasons.

He came to East Lansing with Dantonio and has been an assistant at MSU from 2007 through 2017, and again from 2020 to now. He has served as secondary coach, assistant head coach and co-defensive coordinator throughout his years at MSU. Barnett also had a two-year stint as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach at Florida State in 2018 and 2019.

Barnett is the current interim head coach and has a record of 0-6. He has been outscored by opponents 201-68 in his six games leading the Spartans.

While it is unlikely that Barnett gets the head coaching position, he knows what it takes to be a Spartan. Also, Barnett’s head coaching resume is not a true picture of what he is capable of. He took over a tough situation given the off-the-field issues created by Mel Tucker. Barnett is certainly experienced, but hiring him would be underwhelming given the other candidates out there.

-- Moore

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