Insider notebook: Whether latest coach openings are good enough to pull a big name, secret to Navy's success

The insider notebook takes a coaching-centric approach to its Week 9 edition, sparing no amount of copy on the latest openings and a few gigs that are not yet open. There are also some on-field talking points to get to, including something to think about as No. 24 Navy, of all teams, plays a potential CFP elimination game vs. No. 12 Notre Dame at MetLife Stadium.

• It's possible the East Carolina vacancy pulls a big-name offensive coordinator away from a powerhouse program
• We do not expect the same at Southern Miss, which has fallen on harder times than fans may realize
• We have our eyes on Temple and Rice, and don't forget about Fresno State or Utah State, either
• One name that's been mildly popular in the search firm realm: Skip Holtz
• On the field, a positive update on the health of Indiana star QB Kurtis Rourke; the Hoosiers need him as they pursue a Big Ten Championship
• The Navy you watch this weekend vs. Notre Dame won't look like the one you're used to seeing. There's a good reason for that
• BYU is surviving by the skin of its teeth most weeks. Are the Cougars a fluke? We don't think so
• LSU shrugged off a shaky start and is roaring into a true contender thanks to two first-year coordinators

The skinny on coaching jobs, possible candidates

The coaching carousel officially kicked off Sunday when two head coaching jobs (East Carolina, Southern Miss) and two prominent offensive coordinator jobs (Oklahoma, Utah) opened up. We've written in the past why there was less urgency to make coaching changes early this season, but the season is beyond the halfway point. The Band-Aid has been ripped off and there are more to come.

HC vacancies as of Oct. 25

First, let's start with the two head coaching vacancies.

From talking to multiple industry sources, East Carolina is an above-average Group of Five job that has the necessary resources to be in the upper echelon of the American Conference each year. ECU paid the recently fired Mike Houston nearly $2.5 million annually and he was the third-highest paid coach in the AAC behind only South Florida's Alex Golesh and UTSA's Jeff Traylor. Houston went 27-38 over five-and-a-half seasons in Greenville, with the highwater mark coming in 2022 with a 8-5 record and Birmingham Bowl win. 

Further, ECU has real money to spend on assistant coaches and off-field staffers. The Pirates had a salary pool of more than $4.2 million to fill Houston's staff, which separates it from smaller Group of Five schools, according to sources. 

Where could ECU turn? It's important to note that it is extremely early in the process for ECU, which also had presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris on campus in recent days – commanding the attention of important university stakeholders. There is a belief, according to industry sources, that East Carolina is most interested in hiring a coach with a successful offensive background. It's no surprise then that three of the names that industry sources have mentioned as potential candidates are LSU OC Joe Sloan, Clemson OC Garrett Riley and Miami OC Shannon Dawson. 

A few potential candidates at East Carolina

There are -- and will be more -- sitting head coaches who would be interested in ECU, though how much the school wants to spend could impact the candidate pool. One industry source pegged the head coach salary in the low $2 million range while another predicted the school could try to spend less than it did on Houston and try to divert some of the savings toward a salary cap that is expected to come with the House settlement revenue sharing. AAC schools aren't expected to fully fund the more than $22 million revenue share, but an extra $500,000 or $1 million at that level could make a huge difference. 

247Sports' excellent ECU site Hoist the Colours has an updated hot board you should check out. 

It's a different story at Southern Miss, which fired Mississippi native Will Hall after a 14-30 record over three-and-a-half seasons. No school has been left behind worse from conference realignment over the last two decades than Southern Miss. From 1993 to 2011, Southern Miss never had a losing season and flourished under coaches Jeff Bower and Larry Fedora, peaking with a 12-2 record and No. 20 ranking in 2011. 

A lot has changed since that 2011 apex, however, as many of USM's Conference USA peers like Houston, Central Florida and SMU went on to bigger and better things. The problem is much of the fanbase still remembers the glory days. Said one industry source, "Expectations are completely out of whack."

The job is expected to pay less than $1 million annually and comes with practically non-existent NIL resources, according to industry sources. Now in the Sun Belt, USM hasn't found its footing the same way schools like Coastal Carolina and James Madison have. There will always be interest in FBS head coaching jobs and keep an eye out on Auburn offensive coordinator Derrick Nix and Florida State defensive backs coach Patrick Surtain, both school alums, as potential candidates. But multiple industry sources stressed that the combination of limited resources and outsized expectations make this one of the toughest jobs, especially at the Group of Five level. 

There could be change in Houston and Philadelphia

Two other AAC jobs to keep an eye on moving forward in addition to ECU are Rice and Temple. Rice head coach Mike Bloomgren entered the year on the hot seat and the early results this season haven't helped. Bloomgren's Rice Owls are 2-5 this season, including losses to Sam Houston and Charlotte, putting his overall record at 24-51 at Rice. Temple, which is 8-23 in three seasons under Stan Drayton, is another AAC job that industry sources view as a possibility to open.

Could Skip Holtz be worth another look?

As more Group of Five jobs open up, a name to consider is Skip Holtz. The Birmingham Stallions (UFL) coach has been in the mix for multiple jobs in recent years, including finishing runner-up to Trent Dilfer for the UAB job, and has a proven track record of winning at the Group of Five level with schools like ECU, Louisiana Tech and UConn. The 60-year old may never be the sexiest candidate in a coaching search, but multiple industry sources lauded his bonafides and ability to win at a lesser-resourced program. In three years with USFL/UFL, Holtz's Stallions have won every title. 

Some final coach carousel tidbits -- for now

From our colleague Richard Johnson, who did a nice job Thursday uncovering a few status updates at places that haven't drawn much buzz:

At Fresno State: 

Multiple industry sources expect interim head coach Tim Skipper to get a legitimate shot at keeping the job permanently (something that happened last year in the MW with Boise State and Spencer Danielson). Fresno's athletic director, Garrett Klassy, was announced as AD weeks before Jeff Tedford stepped down on July 15, and formally began his tenure in the job eight days later. The Bulldogs are 4-3 with the losses coming to Michigan, UNLV and Washington State. The remainder of their schedule features mostly winnable Mountain West games and flailing UCLA. A strong finish would be huge for Skipper. 

At Utah State:

The Aggies got the coaching cycle started July 2 when athletic director Diana Sabau announced her intent to fire Blake Anderson, which they made official on July 18. But the search process has not started in earnest according to multiple industry sources. Nate Dreiling is the interim coach. 

The secret weapon for Navy heading into matchup with Notre Dame

A year ago, as Navy limped to a 5-7 record in its first year under Brian Newberry, the Midshipmen featured an anemic offense that ranked third-worst in the AAC with an average of just 17.7 points per game.

A lot's changed since that point.

One year later, as Navy enters Saturday's Top 25 matchup against No. 12 Notre Dame, the Midshipmen are 6-0, averaging 27 more points per game than last season – the largest year-over-year FBS increase this CENTURY. 

The primary difference? First-year offensive coordinator Drew Cronic.

Under the 50-year-old Cronic, who left a head coaching job at FCS Mercer to take the job at Navy, the Midshipmen are performing at such a high level offensively that one AAC head coach mentioned unprompted earlier this week that "the best (coordinator) in this conference is the OC at Navy."

After being limited to 18 points or fewer in six of their final seven games last season, the Midshipmen have scored at least 34 points in all six games this year under Cronic.

"He is definitely the best coordinator in the conference," a second AAC coach said. "He has a mastery of his offense and knows how to adjust to whatever the defense gives him. It's pretty impressive."

As a head coach, Cronic was 23-11 his final three seasons at Mercer following a 5-6 finish to his first season. That includes a 9-4 mark last year and a top-20 finish in the FCS rankings.

Before Mercer, Cronic was 25-3 in two seasons as the head coach at Division II Lenoir-Rhyne.

One of the beneficiaries of his presence at Navy has been quarterback Blake Horvath, who's averaging 148 passing yards per game and 78 rushing yards per game with 20 total touchdowns (10 rushing and 10 passing) and only one interception.

The offensive turnaround has contributed to Navy winning each of these first six games by double-digit points, including five by at least 23 points. The closest game was a 56-44 win over Memphis, which is 6-0 outside of its loss to the Midshipmen.

"Honestly, it was the whole team," an opposing team staffer said. "They stayed super disciplined and played with such a high level of effort. Their (offensive line) committed to their assignments and produced at a high level. The ability to pass this year is a bit of a wrinkle that can exploit you. Triple-options cause a ton of problems for undisciplined defenses but also against great defenses when they operate at such a high level like they are now."

Navy's two turnovers are tied with Vanderbilt for the second-fewest in FBS. Arch-rival Army has the least (one). 

Another 5-7 turnaround, nobody sees BYU as a fluke

Like Navy, BYU was 5-7 last year. And like the Midshipmen, the Cougars now, just a year later, enter Week 9 as one of the final nine unbeaten FBS teams.

It's not a fluke either, according to opposing coaches. Not only is this Kalani Sitake-led BYU squad 7-0, the Cougars have beaten two teams that are otherwise undefeated (No. 16 Kansas State and No. 22 SMU). The 38-9 victory over Kansas State was the Wildcats' most lopsided loss since 2020.

BYU is ranked in the top three in the Big 12 in both scoring offense and scoring defense.

"They are a team that's balanced," an opposing coach said. "The quarterback does a good job of extending plays. They did a great job on defense (against us). They force turnovers. And they play well on special teams. It's the same guy from last year (Sitake) but I think they just had an opportunity to grow and develop in the system from what I know about their coaches. They do a great job. I'm not necessarily surprised at the success that they have. I was more surprised that they didn't have success last year."

The Cougars already have double the wins in Big 12 play that they posted in their first season in the conference last year (four compared to two last season). And considering that none of BYU's final five opponents are ranked and three of the five have losing records, it's past time to take the Cougars seriously as a real contender in the Big 12.

"Well-coached and super disciplined," another opposing team staffer said. "Really big and long on defense. They play hard as hell (too)."

When can Indiana expect star QB Kurtis Rourke back?

A few days after No. 13 Indiana (7-0) classified star QB Kurtis Rourke as "out indefinitely" due to the hand injury he suffered last weekend in a blowout win against Nebraska, it's becoming clear this is likely just a short-term absence for the undefeated Hoosiers to manage as they march toward the College Football Playoff. 

A source described Rourke's injury and the outcome of his surgery as the best-case scenario and noted that he's made great progress throughout this week. There's even continued optimism that Rourke may be back as soon as next week's game vs. Michigan State. The source said the chances of him playing in that game are "probably greater than 50-50" at this point. The worst case scenario seems to be that he'd be back the following week for Indiana's game against Michigan.

Either way, Indiana will lean on backup Tayven Jackson for at least this week's game against 4-3 Washington and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick as the Hoosiers try to remain undefeated. 

Remaining games on Indiana 2024 schedule

While it's tough to be without Rourke, who ranks No. 1 nationally in QB rating, there is legitimate confidence at Indiana in Jackson, who started five games in 2023 under the prior Tom Allen regime. The former top-200 recruit, who began his college career at Tennessee, has been described as an "ultra talented guy," has been clocked at 21 miles per hour with the GPS and has the capability to throw the ball 70-plus yards. He's also the younger brother of former Hoosiers basketball star Trayce Jackson-Davis, as Indiana fans already know. 

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound Jackson was 7 of 8 for 91 yards with two touchdown passes after stepping in during the Hoosiers' 56-7 win over Nebraska last week. He also ran for 21 yards on two carries. 

Both of LSU's coordinators drawing acclaim

We wrote about one LSU coordinator Thursday, new defensive coordinator Blake Baker, but he's not the only Tigers coordinator who's been generating buzz around the football world during LSU's 6-1 start.

Multiple administrators have mentioned 37-year-old offensive coordinator Joe Sloan recently as someone they expect to garner interest for head coaching opportunities in the near future, including with the ECU job that opened last weekend when the Pirates fired Mike Houston.

After helping Jayden Daniels progress into a Heisman winner and top-two NFL draft pick as LSU's quarterbacks coach, Sloan now has the Tigers averaging an SEC-best 33 points per game in conference play in his first season as LSU's offensive coordinator. In addition, first-year Tigers starting QB Garrett Nussmeier ranks second in the SEC with an average of 317 passing yards per game.

"His attention to detail is impressive," an LSU source said. "So is his ability to lead and charge a group with a task and then get it done."

Before LSU, Sloan spent nine seasons at Louisiana Tech and interviewed for the team's head coaching job prior to the Bulldogs hiring Sonny Cumbie. It's fair to expect that Sloan would again be a person of interest for Louisiana Tech if the Bulldogs end up now firing Cumbie, who's 9-22 in his three seasons as Louisiana Tech's head coach.

And here's a snippet from what we wrote about Baker and LSU at 247Sports:

Making LSU's defensive turnaround even more impressive is that Baker is doing this even after losing preseason All-American linebacker Harold Perkins and the Tigers' top defensive tackle, Jacobian Guillory, to season-ending injuries during the first four games of the season. Yet, there's a consensus among opposing coaches that LSU has been clearly better even after losing those two and despite being less talented than last year's group that featured three 2024 NFL draft picks, including second-round defensive lineman Maason Smith.

"They're just overall more sound," an opposing team staffer said. "Last year, you saw them miss a whole bunch of tackles and this year they're really sound. And Baker does a really good scheming."

The Tigers play at Texas A&M on Saturday night in a game that has major SEC and CFP implications. 

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