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Ole Miss Candidates

Ole Miss Coaching Candidates

Multiple media sources are stating that Houston Nutt is out as head coach of Ole Miss. Nutt is currently in his 4th year at Ole Miss and has a record of 24-23. Nutt started his Ole Miss career with plenty of talent recruited by Ed Orgeron and as I predicted 4 years ago he would be able to win early with that talent, but would fail at Ole Miss in the end.   He did win back to back Cotton Bowls with the Rebels, but now has the longest SEC losing streak in school history.

What does this mean for the future of Rebel Football? Ole Miss has paid Houston Nutt to much money over the last 4 years and also must pay a large buyout. Plus, the Rebels are about to start huge facility upgrades that will come with a big price tag. This means the next coaching hire is likely to be a cheap hire and Ole Miss will go after an assistant coach or a coach from a Non BCS Conference.

Typically a school replaces its old coach with someone different. This means you aren't likely to get a coach like Tommy Bowden, Mike Stoops, Phil Fulmer, and Rich Rodriguez. All 3 of those men had worn out their welcome at their previous schools, just like Houston Nutt had at Arkansas. So let's put those kind of coaches to the side for now.

Ole Miss is a SEC job, but right now the program is at an all time low. No matter who the coach is in 2011, the Rebs are likely to be picked near the bottom of the now 14 team SEC.   Given the right coach though, this program can win and be in bowl games more years than not.   The following are realistic candidates for Ole Miss.

1. Hugh Freeze(Arkansas State Head Coach)- Freeze is currently the head coach at Arkansas State and has the Red Wolves at the top of the Sun Belt Conference. His 7 wins so far in 2011 are the most for Arkansas State since they joined the FBS over 20 years ago. Freeze is a former Ole Miss Assistant and knows the area well. Freeze was a very good high school head coach in Memphis, TN, an area Ole Miss needs to recruit strong.

2. Mak Hudspeth(Louisiana Head Coach)- In year 1 with the Rajin Cajuns Hudspeth has a record of 8-2. Prior to taking the job for UL, Hudspeth was an assistant at Mississippi State. He has a 74-23 career record as a head coach and led North Alabama to 4 Division II playoff appearances.

3. Kent Austin(Cornell Head Coach)- Austin is a former Ole Miss QB and was the offensive coordinator for Ole Miss in Houston Nutt's first two seasons. Austin is a former QB in the NFL and made his mark in coaching in the CFL, where he was the head coach for the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

4. Kirby Smart(Alabama Defensive Coordinator)- If Smart were to become the Ole Miss coach he would become the 3rd Nick Saban assistant to coach in the SEC(Muschamp and Dooley being the others). Smart's defense is #1 in almost every NCAA statistic and is probably the hottest defensive assistant in college football right now.

5. Chad Morris(Clemson Offensive Coordinator)- I don't think Gus Malzahn goes to Ole Miss because I believe he wants to take over a job in better status than the Rebels' football program. Morris runs the Malzahn system and has helped to save Dabo's job at Clemson in 2011. His offense has been the reason for Clemson's 8-1 start and top 10 BCS Ranking. Morris is a former Texas High School football coach, who could recruit that region well for the Rebs. It was rumored he was the #1 choice to be head coach at Tulsa after he accepted the Clemson OC job.

6. Skip Holtz(Head Coach South Florida)- With there being so much uncertainty in The Big East its possible Holtz could be looking for another job in 2011. Holtz won 2 Conference Championships at East Carolina and won a bowl game last year at South Florida. Holtz is a former SEC offensive coordinator at South Carolina and helped to build UConn's football program up to the FBS level. Holtz is a proven winner, but would he leave Tampa for Oxford?

7. Mario Cristobal(FIU Head Coach)- Cristobal is the young, energetic type coach that could bring some excitement back to Ole Miss. He took over the worst program in the NCAA and won a bowl game with the Panthers in 2010. Cristobal is a very good recruiter and could open doors up for Ole Miss in South Florida as well as keep recruits instate.

8. Kevin Sumlin(Houston Head Coach)- Sumlin is one of the best offensive minds in the country and currently has Houston at 9-0 and #11 in the BCS. Sumlin has a career record of 32-16 and has over 20 years of coaching experience.   Case Keenum leaves Houston this year and this is likely the hottest Sumlin's name will be if the Coogs finish undefeated. Would he hold out for bigger things or would he take a SEC job opening?

9. Larry Fedora(Southern Miss Head Coach)- Personally, I'd be shocked to see Fedora hired at Ole Miss, but his name is going to be mentioned. Fedora has a 30-18 record at USM and is currently 8-1 and on top of the SEC East. Fedora has done a very good job recruiting the State of Mississippi. He has 3 years of experience in the SEC after being the OC for Florida from 2002-2004.

10. Mike Leach(former Texas Tech Head Coach)- This is the only coach that was let go by another university that I think Ole Miss might consider. Leach wasn't let go by his former University due to W's and L's, he was let go because of the situation with Adam Jones. Leach's name is going to be brought up by every school in the country that has a job opening in 2011. The only issue with his name is that would Ole Miss be more appealing to Leach than a job like Arizona?

Matt Barber
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