Mizzou football coach wish list: Start with those who’d bring head-coaching experience
Here are some possible candidates to become Missouri’s next football coach, replacing Barry Odom, who was fired Saturday after four seasons and a 25-25 record.
Most of the potential candidates listed here are head coaches, which could be athletic director’s Jim Sterk’s preference. Odom had no head coaching experience when he was hired in 2015.
Troy Calhoun, Air Force head coach
Calhoun’s name is coming up in connection with several openings, as it did at Missouri in 2015 when the Tigers hired Odom. Calhoun is 96-69 in 13 seasons with the Falcons and has taken the program to nine bowl games in his first 12 years. Calhoun, 53, may be approaching that now-or-never stage when it comes to trying something new.
Eliah Drinkwitz, Appalachian State head coach
The first-year head coach will be associated with other openings after leading the Mountaineers to an 11-1 record this season. He had worked as offensive coordinator at North Carolina State, Boise State and Arkansas State before becoming a head coach.
Luke Fickell, Cincinnati head coach
Fickell’s star is rising after leading the Bearcats to their second straight double-digit victory season. He was Ohio State’s head coach in 2011 and finished 6-7. Fickell’s name was associated with the West Virginia and Louiville jobs after last season.
Willie Fritz, Tulane head coach
Something of a local prospective candidate, Fritz played at Pittsburg State, coached at Shawnee Mission Northwest and spent 13 seasons (1997-2009) as Central Missouri’s head coach. He went 97-47 at Warrensburg. Since then, Fritz has had winning tenures at Sam Houston State and Georgia Southern. Tulane is bowl-eligible for the second time in four years under Fritz.
Alex Grinch, Oklahoma defensive coordinator
Say this for Grinch: he knows the territory. Grinch coached Missouri’s safeties from 2012-14 under Gary Pinkel before holding coordinator positions at Washington State, Ohio State and Oklahoma. He was a graduate assistant in Columbia from 2002-04 ... and, by the way, he’s Pinkel’s nephew.
Josh Heupel, Central Florida head coach
Would Heupel return to Missouri? He was the Tigers’ offensive coordinator in 2016 and 2017, helping shape Drew Lock into an NFL quarterback. Heupel left to become Central Florida’s head coach, where he’s 21-4 in two seasons.
Mike Leach, Washington State head coach
Well, the Tigers’ offense would probably improve under this potential candidate. That’s almost certain in a Leach regime. Is he ready to move on from Pullman, where the Cougars have been bowl eligible in six of eight seasons? Leach had winning records in all 10 seasons he spent at Texas Tech before that.
Mike Norvell, Memphis head coach
Norvell took over at Memphis after Justin Fuente left for Virginia Tech, and the Tigers have gotten even better during his tenure. They’re 11-1 this season and 37-15 in Norvell’s four years. He previously had assistant coaching stops at Arizona State, Pittsburgh and Tulsa. Norvell’s name also has surfaced at Florida State and Arkansas.
This story was originally published November 30, 2019 at 12:45 PM.