Pac-12: Beau Baldwin, Offensive Coordinator, California
A coach with a good head coaching resume at the FCS level, who’s offenses are taking a little longer than liked to get up to speed at Cal. This is causing Baldwin’s stock to fade a little. But this could be a good thing for the Rams in that they could avoid a potential bidding war for his services.
Baldwin had a winning record in each of his seasons as a head coach, both at Central Washington and Eastern Washington. In 2010, Eastern Washington had a come from behind win over Delaware for the FCS National Championship. Baldwin is a potential dark horse for the CSU job.
Other Options: Graham Harrell (Offensive Coordinator, USC), Andy Ludwig (Offensive Coordinator, Utah), Andy Avalos, Co-Defensive Coordinator, Oregon
SEC: Pete Golding, Defensive Coordinator, Alabama
Colorado State should probably avoid the SEC for another head coach hire, but if they were to reach into the pot for a third time Golding is a name they should consider. Golding is young, at 35 years old, but he already has 10+ years of experience at the defensive coordinator position.
Each stop Golding has made in his coaching career as resulted in improvement in the defense. Delta State set a school record in turnovers, Southeastern Louisiana had their first ever appearance in the FCS playoffs, Southern Miss had a six win improvement over the previous year, and UTSA set several school records.
Other Options: Bob Shoop (Defensive Coordinator, Missisippi State), Billy Gonzales (Co-Offensive Coordinator, Florida)
G5: Billy Napier, Head Coach, Louisiana
This would basically be an SEC-lite type of hire, but he does have experience outside of the southeast. Even if that experience is only two one year stints, one at Colorado State (assistant head coach/quarterbacks) and Arizona State (offensive coordinator/quarterbacks).
Napier has had a successful stint at Louisiana, He has led them to straight appearances in the Sun Belt. The Ragin’ Cajuns also had eight players named to the preseason all-Sun Belt team. The Rams would need to hire him now, as he most likely wouldn’t be around next time they are looking for a coach.
Other Options: Bob Stitt (Offensive Coordinator, Texas State), Joe Cauthen (Co-Defensive Coordinator, Houston), Mike Sanford (Offensive Coordinator, Utah State)
FCS: Troy Taylor, Head Coach, Sacramento State
Taylor would be the top pick out of the Football Championship Subdivision. Taylor’s teams have set records wherever he has gone. He coached Jake Browning at the high school level to several state and national passing records. He then joined Eastern Washington where they set two all-time FCS records for passing yards (5,160 yards) and total offense (5,766 yards) in a season.
His time at Utah led to offensive improvement and the school’s first Pac-12 Conference south title. He was then hired at Sacramento State, where in his first season he was name Big Sky Coach of the Year an led the Hornets to their first Big Sky conference title.
Other Options: Jay Hill (Head Coach, Weber State), Brian Bohannon (Head Coach, Kennesaw State), John Grass (Head Coach, Jacksonville State)
[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1360]
[protected-iframe id=”c0286d6e1aad69344270e42782a7311d-137729785-105991160″ info=”https://anchor.fm/mwwire/embed” width=”400px” height=”102px” frameborder=”0″ scrolling=”no”]