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Just when we thought the coaching carousel had slowed to a crawl. While everyone is still digesting the shocking news of Urban Meyer's resignation, athletic director Jeremy Foley has to get a new head coach in place to salvage what Scouts, Inc. has rated the No. 1 recruiting class in the nation -- and to maintain the program's elite standards.
There is no shortage of names being thrown about. Pete Thamel of The New York Times, who scored the only print interview with Thamel on Saturday, definitively writes that Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen "will be" the top two candidates. Thamel says that others names to be considered include Boise State's Chris Petersen, Stanford's Jim Harbaugh, Louisville's Charlie Strong and Utah's Kyle Whittingham.
Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun tosses out a pair of seemingly unlikely candidates: Houston's Kevin Sumlin and TCU's Gary Patterson, along with Strong. (Strong apparently has signed a "term sheet" but not an official contract, which might make it relatively easy for him to back out on the Cardinals.)
ESPN.com's Chris Low also mentions Arkansas' Bobby Petrino and man-about-town Mike Shanahan. Low says that when Steve Spurrier resigned in January 2002, Stoops was Foley's top target, but Stoops felt he couldn't leave Norman having only been there for three seasons.
Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel adds Texas Tech's Mike Leach, North Carolina's Butch Davis and everyone's-favorite-candidate Jon Gruden among the many "intriguing possibilities."
UPDATE: Louisville AD Tom Jurich said he would not hold Strong to the $1 million buyout in his term sheet since he's only been with the Cardinals for two weeks. Jurich also sounded worried that Strong's heartstrings might pull him back to Gainesville, noting that Strong has done four separate stints there. But Jurich added that Louisville would do "everything in our power" to hold onto Strong.
UPDATE: Dave Sittler of the Tulsa World, a longtime friend of Stoops, says he doesn't think the OU coach would want the pressure and hassles of following in Meyer's footsteps. If succeeding Spurrier, as Stoops could have done in 2002, was a daunting enough prospect, then succeeding Meyer is downright frightening.
There is no shortage of names being thrown about. Pete Thamel of The New York Times, who scored the only print interview with Thamel on Saturday, definitively writes that Oklahoma's Bob Stoops and Mississippi State's Dan Mullen "will be" the top two candidates. Thamel says that others names to be considered include Boise State's Chris Petersen, Stanford's Jim Harbaugh, Louisville's Charlie Strong and Utah's Kyle Whittingham.
Robbie Andreu of the Gainesville Sun tosses out a pair of seemingly unlikely candidates: Houston's Kevin Sumlin and TCU's Gary Patterson, along with Strong. (Strong apparently has signed a "term sheet" but not an official contract, which might make it relatively easy for him to back out on the Cardinals.)
ESPN.com's Chris Low also mentions Arkansas' Bobby Petrino and man-about-town Mike Shanahan. Low says that when Steve Spurrier resigned in January 2002, Stoops was Foley's top target, but Stoops felt he couldn't leave Norman having only been there for three seasons.
Andrea Adelson of the Orlando Sentinel adds Texas Tech's Mike Leach, North Carolina's Butch Davis and everyone's-favorite-candidate Jon Gruden among the many "intriguing possibilities."
UPDATE: Louisville AD Tom Jurich said he would not hold Strong to the $1 million buyout in his term sheet since he's only been with the Cardinals for two weeks. Jurich also sounded worried that Strong's heartstrings might pull him back to Gainesville, noting that Strong has done four separate stints there. But Jurich added that Louisville would do "everything in our power" to hold onto Strong.
UPDATE: Dave Sittler of the Tulsa World, a longtime friend of Stoops, says he doesn't think the OU coach would want the pressure and hassles of following in Meyer's footsteps. If succeeding Spurrier, as Stoops could have done in 2002, was a daunting enough prospect, then succeeding Meyer is downright frightening.
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