OutKick The Tailgate: Coaching Carousel Continues Around College Football
Jimbo Fisher. James Franklin. Mel Tucker. Dave Clawson. The list goes on and on of head coaches to have received extensions at their respective schools.
As OutKick's Chad Withrow said on OutKick the Tailgate on Saturday morning live from Auburn, splash hires are non-existent in college football this season.
"It's less about moving season and more about raise season," Withrow said. "Dave Clawson's being rumored at multiple jobs, he re-ups at Wake Forest. You got James Franklin being rumored for jobs, re-ups at Penn State. Mel Tucker, same thing. We're gonna see a lot of that this coaching cycle because we all know now, everyone can pay."
As a result of the top names staying put, LSU and Florida, arguably the two best head coach openings in college football, are duking it out for Louisiana-Lafayette's Billy Napier. Napier has led the Ragin' Cajuns to three-straight double-digit win seasons but isn't a splash hire for OutKick's Jonathan Hutton.
"LSU and Florida are battling over Billy Napier right now," Hutton said. "That tells you all you need to know about the college coaching scene across college football right now."
Florida, meanwhile, fired head coach Dan Mullen last Sunday after falling to 5-6 this season with a 24-23 loss to Missouri. Withrow isn't so sure Napier would be an upgrade.
"If you make that call, can you come to bat with Billy Napier as your solution?" Withrow said.
OutKick the Tailgate is live every Saturday morning at the site of the biggest game in the SEC that week. Join Withrow, Hutton, Jill Savage and Clay Travis every Saturday at OutKick.com and on OutKick’s official YouTube page.
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