| Ohio State | Jake Diebler | Tony Skinn | Skinn and Pedon are former assistants, which might give Skinn the inside track. However, this time I think Ohio State will look for a hire that is more representative of the elite level this job commands—but they probably won’t find one. Skinn, has been a solid up-and-comer. It would likely take an upper-level job like this to get him to leave his alma mater. | Josh Schertz,
Chris Collins, Jerrod Calhoun, Ryan Pedon |
| Oklahoma | Porter Moser | Bryan Hodgson | Potentially the best SEC job available, and one I think Hodgson would aim for. He was already in west-central Arkansas at Arkansas State and doesn’t seem opposed to working in the region. I think this is the better job at this point than Syracuse which is the other option. | Josh Schertz,
Jerrod Calhoun,
Tony Skinn, |
| Syracuse | Adrian Autry | Josh Schertz | Syracuse will likely move on from the Boeheim era for a true clean break and target Hodgson due to his New York ties. I think they will likely be disappointed with that outcome, and the ACC just isn’t what it once was compared to the SEC. Schertz is probably the better coach and is a New York native. This job seems to be very borderline to open, but I think Syracuse fans will push for it if Autry doesn’t make the Tournament, and it appears he won’t. | Bryan Hodgson, Chris Caputo,
Chris Gerlufsen |
| Pittsburgh | Jeff Capel III | Chris Gerlufsen | I do believe Capel is gone, probably before the end of the season. Athletic directors will look at Golden and see what his understudy is doing at San Francisco—sometimes at an even higher level of consistency—and connect the dots. Gerlufsen will likely be a top candidate for any West Coast job, but he’s actually an East Coast guy, like Russell Turner. Don’t be shocked if he ends up back East in the Northeast as a Pennsylvania native. Gerlufsen hasn’t crushed it this year but he’s done a good job overall. Pitt is a job that can pay top 20 in the nation which should get it some better candidates than you’d think. | Bryan Hodgson, Jerrod Calhoun, Russell Turner,
Tony Skinn,
Josh Schertz,
Travis Steele |
| Cincinnati | Wes Miller | Jerrod Calhoun | He’s a Cincinnati alum and former student assistant from Ohio. This one seems obvious. Chris Mack would also be very fun here, as would even Mick Cronin in a return, given that he seems annoyed with the new UCLA travel setup and has taken on some down seasons recently. He may want a parachute. I think that’s a long shot however. Calhoun is probably the guy. | Chris Mack, Bryan Hodgson, Mick Cronin,
Travis Steele |
| Rutgers | Steve Pikiell | Chris Caputo | I don’t think Caputo is a great coach, but he has had a good season and should try to capitalize by moving to a better job. Rutgers isn’t the same job it was a decade ago. It was paying Pikiell top 35 money and could attract top 5 NBA draft picks as recently as last year. It’s more underachieving and a change is likely needed. | Russell Turner,
Tony Skinn,
Travis Steele,
Eric Olen |
| Georgetown | Ed Cooley | Luke Murray | This is a better job than most assistants usually get as their opportunity. Murray is no normal assistant however as part of back to back national championship teams of which he had a big part. Even top assistants typically have to take a lesser job to get a P5 shot. Murray has been patient and clearly selective, and this could be his break. | Tony Skinn,
Chris Caputo, Russell Turner
Kimani Young,
Eric Olen |
| Kansas State | Jerome Tang | Brett Ballard | Tang started strong but has faded quickly. Kansas State seems to have both money and motivation. Ballard is from Kansas and has coached in the state most of his career, aside from following Danny Manning to Tulsa and Wake Forest. I’d expect him to try for this job. He’s a Kansas graduate, and if he wants a shot at the Kansas job after Self, he needs to reach Division I sooner rather than later. It’s a big jump, but he is 46–4 in Division II over the last two years with two No. 1 teams. | Travis Steele,
Bryce Drew, Kimani Young,
Luke Murray
Russell Turner
Eric Olen |
| Memphis | Penny Hardaway | Travis Steele | One of the hardest jobs to peg. I don’t think Memphis fans will be happy with whatever option they choose. I could see them going with an NBA assistant, but Steele has recruited high-level high school players and rebuilt his image enough that Memphis feels like the kind of job he could end up back in. | Bryce Drew, Kimani Young,
Luke Murray, Kevin Ollie
James Borrego
Eric Olen |
| Arizona State | Bobby Hurley | Bryce Drew | Grand Canyon has strong resources and has moved up to the Mountain West. That said, the fact that Drew has stalled a bit there might push him to move up while he can. This feels like the type of school that would hire a “Moser Doctrine” guy and take a chance on a once-fired coach. If not him I’d think Eric Olen could be in the mix, but he’s only been at New Mexico one year. | Eric Olen
Jerrod Calhoun, Russell Turner,
Chris Gerlufsen, |
| Providence | Kim English | Kimani Young | You could say the same thing here as with Murray. He’s been patient. He also has a bit more personal history that may need to be addressed during interviews, however. I think the Big East will look to UConn’s bench. | Travis Steele, Chris Gerlufsen
Takayo Siddle,
Chris Caputo, Luke Murray
Eric Olen |
| Georgia Tech | Damon Stoudamire | Russell Turner | Turner is the model of consistency, and I could see him coaching anywhere in the country if he ever chose to leave. He is an East Coast guy from Virginia, however. Turner was at Wake Forest for 6 years. If that job opened which it could I would mock him their first. | Eric Olen
Takayo Siddle,
Chris Caputo, Luke Murray
Wes Miller |
| Boston College | Earl Grant | Ed Cooley | It didn’t work out for Cooley at Georgetown, but he could rebound back in the Northeast and get a 2nd chance in a different situation. It’s surprising he did this poorly at Georgetown. | Takayo Siddle,
Chris Caputo, Luke Murray, Jeff Capel,
Jake Diebler, |
| Wichita State | Paul Mills | Ryan Pedon | I went with Pedon because they appear poised to have a strong season. This will likely be a sought-after high-major job. I would also expect Kansas native and Division II coach Brett Ballard to be in play, along with a top assistant like those from UConn if the P5 doesn’t come calling. | Brian Wardle, Luke Murray, Kimani Young,
Brett Ballard
Greg Heiar |
| Utah State | Jared Calhoun | Scott Cross | A Texas guy who probably deserves another shot higher up after the UTA situation. This is the ultimate jump-seat job that often sends low-major up-and-comers to the Power Five. I could see many lower mid major coaches targeting it. | Brian Wardle, Bob Richey,
Kimani Young, |
| Saint Louis | Josh Schertz | Brian Wardle | Wardle is from Illinois, coaches in Illinois, and this is a gettable job nearby that represents an upgrade. He consistently seems to do more with less. | Bob Richey
Brett Ballard
Kimani Young,
Jake Diebler, |
| Grand Canyon | Bryce Drew | Casey Shaw | I’m going with an internal promotion here. A lot of athletic directors operate under the “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” philosophy. That said, this would be a very sought-after, high-mid-major, resource-rich job if it does hit the market. | Luke Barnwell, Luke Murray, Jake Diebler,
Kimani Young |
| Loyola Chicago | Drew Valentine | Porter Moser | I think this is a good opportunity for Moser to come back. It makes too much sense for both parties for him to potentially retire here. | Jake Diebler, |
| USF | Bryan Hodgson | Takayo Siddle | This feels like the level of job Siddle will need to take to move up. Look for a low-level Power Five (Boston College, Seton Hall) or top AAC/A10-type job like this. He reportedly tried for the USF job last year and has never left North Carolina. This job pays well and would also make sense for someone like Ritchie McKay if he ever chose to leave. It’s a well-resourced job, perhaps the best outside the power conferences. | Brian Wardle, Ritchie McKay,
Kevin Keats |
| George Washington | Chris Caputo | Kyle Neptune | It went poorly at Villanova, but he really wasn’t that bad there. I think he’ll find another job in this range back in the A-10, where he started. | Dave Klatsky, Kevin Keats, Kyle Neptune, Steve Pikiell, |
| George Mason | Tony Skinn | Dave Klatsky | Current Florida assistant who took his Division III team to the national title game last year. I expect a short stay in Gainesville given the pedigree. | Kevin Keats, Kyle Neptune, Steve Pikiell |
| Davidson | Matt McKillop | Justin Gainey | Gainey might wait for Rick Barnes to retire, but I don’t think he would get that job. He likely needs to land at an A-10 or AAC job first. | Kevin Keats, Brett Ballard, |
| UTEP | Joe Golding | Luke Barnwell | The former top prep coach was on staff nearby at Texas Tech. This seems like a logical move now, with Iowa poised to have another good year and Texas Tech placing assistants into similar-level head coaching jobs. | Nevada Smith |
| Charlotte | Aaron Fearne | Gregg Marshall | Marshall’s buyout with Wichita State ends this year, and he reportedly looked at Coastal Carolina a couple of years ago. I think he’s going to try to make a comeback this year. Charlotte seems tired of losing, and this job is just 35 minutes from Winthrop, where he spent many years. | Kevin Keats, Brett Ballard, |
| San Francisco | Chris Gerlufsen | Michael Plank | Internal hires have worked out, so I’d expect them to keep going back to the well. | Joe Pasternack |
| East Carolina | Michael Schwartz | Wes Miller | ECU pays well and could provide more resources and conference opportunity. Miller didn’t do a bad job at Cincinnati, but it feels like a break is coming. This job is about two hours north of Greensboro, where he’s from and coached for many years at UNCG. | Gregg Marshall, Kevin Keats,
|
| Fresno State | Vance Walberg | JayDee Luster | A San Diego State and Arizona assistant. Fresno can be a good job with the move to the reformed Pac-12. They make some unconventional hires, but this one makes sense. | Joe Pasternack, |
| Bradley | Brain Wardle | Jake Diebler | Diebler hasn’t been bad at Ohio State, and I think he quickly gets another opportunity. I could see him catching on at a higher level job as well, but this is one of the best jobs in the conference he played and started his coaching career. Likely would have been a more appropriate starter job. | Brett Ballard, Terry Johnson,
Rod Clark,
Dean Oliver |
| Illinois State | Ryan Pedon | Nevada Smith | The former G League and Division III head coach is currently an assistant at Marquette, which makes this a good opportunity at a program that is winning. An internal hire could also happen here. | Brett Ballard, Rod Clark, Jake Diebler, Dean Oliver |
| UNCW | Takayo Siddle | Kevin Keatts | This one seems easy if it opens. Keatts still owns restaurants in Wilmington years later, so the ties are there. Pasternack also interviewed for this job previously. | Joe Pasternack, Earl Grant
Jeff Capel |
| San Diego | Steve Lavin | Joe Pasternack | San Diego is a better job than it currently appears and is in a great place to live. I could see Pasternack moving on after stalling a bit lately. His name also came up for the Louisiana job last season. | — |
| Miami (OH) | Travis Steele | Jonathan Holmes | They have done well enough that I think an internal hire happens here. | — |
| UC Irvine | Russell Turner | Ali Ton | You can win at Irvine, which makes this an attractive situation. Given the sustained success, I would expect an internal promotion. | — |
| Air Force | Joe Scott | Dan Earl | This might be career suicide for Earl, but he could also get a decade-plus at higher pay with very low expectations, even if he doesn’t win much. He has coached at Navy and VMI, so it makes sense culturally. He’s struggled at Chattanooga this year after winning the NIT last season, so this might be the time to jump before it worsens. Air Force lets coaches stay a long time, but they are currently 343rd, which may be too far down. The new Mountain West may treat the next coach better. | — |
| Chattanooga | Dan Earl | Kim English | Former Tennessee assistant who could land back on his feet in the Southern Conference. | — |
| FIU | Jeremy Ballard | Chris Capko | Top SMU assistant who has previously been at FAU and USC. | Dave Klatsky |
| Evansville | Dave Ragland | Terry Johnson | Purdue assistant on a likely No. 1 Seed. He should be in line for a head job if he chooses to leave. | Jake Diebler, Dean Oliver, Paul Mills, Joe Golding |
| Troy | Scott Cross | Rod Clark | Indiana and Tennessee assistant viewed as a rising star. | Paul Mills, Joe Golding, Stan Jones |
| Portland | Shantay Legans | Matt Logie | Montana State coach with prior Division II and Division III success, and a Pacific Northwest native. | — |
| UCSB | Joe Pasternack | Rod Palmer | UCLA and Long Beach State assistant who seems like a fit, especially if Cronin heads east. | — |
| Kansas City | Marvin Menzies | Rodney Terry | Feels like the type of place that hires relatively high-profile retreads. Probably a good bounce-back job for Terry, who wasn’t doing a terrible job at Texas. | — |
| Albany | Dwayne Killings | Jared Grasso | Grasso has probably served his time in the wilderness. He recruited very well at Bryant, though he didn’t always maximize the talent. Buffalo could do worse. | Steve Pikiell, Earl Grant |
| Northern Arizona | Shane Burcar | Jermaine Kimbrough | Arizona State and Loyola Chicago assistant. | — |
| Northern Illinois | Rashon Burno | Mike Rohn | Kansas and Colorado assistant. | Paul Mills, Joe Golding |
| Montana State | Matt Logie | Zach Payne | Internal promotion. | — |
| Cal State Bakersfield | Interim | Mike Scott | Interim coach; I expect him to keep the job. Barnes lost for 15 years, and they didn’t seem to care. | Damon Stoudamire |
