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Taking a look at 20 coaches at non-power conference schools that could take jobs at a Power 4 school if the opportunity arises.
Curt Cignetti's success at Indiana after moving from James Madison has changed college football coaching cycles forever. We saw a lot of coaches lose jobs last year, even ones we thought were untouchable (Brian Kelly and James Franklin). Some coaches were fired for poor performance. Some were fired because the teams were stuck in the same rut. Some were fired because they couldn't beat good teams. The 2025 coaching cycle was wild all the way through the end of the calendar year and into 2026.
With so many firings last year, we should see more stability this year. However, teams that are hanging onto guys hoping that they will take the next step have become less patient because of Cignetti's instant success. Honestly, that's more of an outlier. For every Cignetti, there are a dozen Charlie Strongs or Billy Napiers. Not all of them have happy endings.
Mike Norvell, Luke Fickell, and Lincoln Riley's seats are going to be warm this season. I have my doubts on whether Wisconsin can afford to fire Fickell this year, either, but Norvell's buyout is much more favorable to Florida State if it sticks it out through 2026. These 20 coaches are candidates to replace whoever gets fired in 2026. One notable omission is going to be Air Force's Troy Calhoun, since he's not leaving. He graduated from Air Force and has coached there for 19 seasons. I tried to focus on those who would take a high-profile job.
20. Jeff Monken, Army
Coaching record: 127-79 (89-63 FBS), 89-63 at Army
Army with the funniest *Powerade bath! They had to chase around Jeff Monken and when they finally caught him, they knocked him over & poured it on him 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/HAYknqATtX
— 🜲 🜲 🜲 (@fsh733) December 27, 2025
Monken has worked as the RB coach at Georgia Southern, Navy, and Georgia Tech after spending some time as a high school coach in his native Illinois after his work as a grad assistant at Hawaii and Arizona State in the early 90s.
He took over for Chris Hatcher at Georgia Southern in 2010, leading the Eagles to three FCS playoff appearances in four years. He took over as the head coach at Army in 2014.
Monken was 6-18 in his first two seasons at West Point, but Army's patience paid off. He became the first Army coach to lead the team to three consecutive bowl games (2016-18) and consecutive 10-win seasons (2017-18).
He is also the only head coach to lead Army to an 11-win season (2018) and a 12-win season (2024). All of Monken's work has been with option offenses, so his Power 4 prospects are very limited.
19. Tim Polasek, North Dakota State
Coaching record: 26-3 (FBS)
NDSU head coach Tim Polasek was working as a lumberjack when Craig Bohl called him about coming to work for the Bison.
He had to sell golf clubs to get enough money to drive there for the interview.
Now he's coaching for a national title tonight.https://t.co/9e0f0wzuGo pic.twitter.com/2zzRgN9I3m
— Chris Vannini (@ChrisVannini) January 7, 2025
The last three NDSU coaches all moved on to FBS (Craig Bohl to Wyoming, Chris Kleiman to Kansas State, and Matt Entz to Fresno State). Polasek gets the promotion without having to leave.
Polasek was on the coaching staff at NDSU from 2006-16 before leaving to become the offensive line coach at Iowa. He then took the offensive coordinator job at Wyoming before coming back to Fargo in 2024.
Polasek won the FCS National Championship in 2024 before being ousted in the second round by Illinois State for NDSU's only loss of the 2025 season. None of the other places that hired NDSU coaches have had buyer's remorse.
If the Bison have any success in the Mountain West, one of the big guys will come calling soon enough.
18. Ryan Carty, Delaware
Coaching record: 33-17 (7-6 FBS)
Carty was the starting quarterback at Delaware from 2002-05, but lost his job to someone named Joe Flacco in his senior season of 2006. He worked his way up the coaching ranks at New Hampshire with Chip Kelly from 2007-17. He remained in New Hampshire after Kelly left for Oregon.
Carty returned to his alma mater as the head coach in 2022 after serving as the offensive coordinator at Sam Houston from 2018-21. Carty has never had a losing record with the Blue Hens, leading them to the FCS playoffs in each of his first two seasons.
They would have made it in 2024 as well if they weren't ineligible since they moved to FBS in 2025. Carty's first season in the big time went well with the Blue Hens earning a bowl bid and winning the 68 Ventures Bowl against Louisiana. Don't be surprised if some big school comes after the former Chip Kelly hire.
17. Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State
Coaching record: 146-95, 6-7 at Utah State
Meet the coach who works less than anyone else in major college football.
A safety at Oregon State who never dreamed he'd revolutionize coaching.
Bronco Mendenhall has cracked the code that most coaches miss entirely.
🧵THREAD pic.twitter.com/K9amgXWrTd
— Thad Wells (@ThadWells) May 29, 2025
Mendenhall is best remembered as the longtime coach at BYU from 2005-15. Mendenhall led the Cougars to a bowl game in each of his 11 seasons in Provo, where his father and brother had played.
Mendenhall had expressed an interest in moving on from BYU and its unique restrictions as early as 2011, and finally left for Virginia in 2016 with a 99-43 record at BYU.
He piloted the Wahoos for six seasons, finishing 36-38, and only finishing the season ranked once. Mendenhall was out of coaching until New Mexico hired him in 2024. He was 5-7 in his lone season with the Lobos before moving on to Logan.
He has yet to have any of the successes that he had at BYU, but his work with quarterbacks ranging from Max Hall and Taysom Hill at BYU to Brennan Armstrong at Virginia will make him an intriguing option.
It would have to be the right move for Mendenhall. I would be surprised if he took a job outside of the Rocky Mountains.
16. Ken Niumatalolo, San Jose State
Coaching record: 119-98, 10-15 at San Jose State
Niumatalolo played quarterback at Hawaii from 1986-89. He began his coaching career with the Rainbow Warriors after graduation and was a grad assistant there for five years.
He moved to the mainland with coach Paul Johnson when Johnson took the offensive coordinator job at Navy. Johnson left for Georgia Southern in 1997. Niumatalolo worked as the OC before heading to UNLV in 1999. When Johnson again took the Navy job in 2002, Niumatalolo went back.
Johnson left for Georgia Tech in 2008. This time, Niumatalolo was named the head coach after the offense led FBS in yards per game in four of his five years as coordinator.
Niumatalolo didn't lose to Army in his first nine seasons as head coach. It won the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy five times in his 15 seasons. Navy was 109-83 under Niumatalolo, but was just 11-23 over his final three seasons, resulting in his dismissal.
He joined son Ali'i as an advisor at UCLA for the 2023 season before taking the San Jose State job. The Spartans looked good in Niumatalolo's first season, winning seven games, but stumbled to 3-9 last season.
Some of that is a tough schedule. Niumatalolo's work with quarterbacks can't be questioned. He could get another Power 4 job if he can manage life without Walker Eget and Danny Scudero in the Bay Area.
15. Billy Napier, James Madison
Coaching record: 62-35, 0-0 at James Madison
I know that Napier just got done at a Power 4 school, but Florida was never a good fit for him. Besides, Curt Cignetti and Bob Chesney turned success at JMU into big-time paydays at big schools in a matter of a few years. Napier will be back.
Napier worked at Clemson in several capacities under Tommy Bowden and Dabo Swinney before moving on to Alabama as analyst and WR coach from 2013-16. He was the offensive coordinator at Arizona State with Todd Graham in 2017 before taking his first head-coaching job at Louisiana in 2018.
Napier led the Cajuns to a 40-12 record in four seasons, including three 10-win seasons before Florida hired him in 2022. We can't judge Napier just by Florida. He fixed a lot of the things that were wrong with the program behind the scenes, but the results weren't visible on the field.
He was given a pass in 2024 after a rough start. Switching to DJ Lagway in the middle of the season won some games and saved his job. Lagway's regression in 2025 and a loss to South Florida were the final straws.
I think this can work for JMU
They seemed interested in Kevin Cahill from Lehigh but Napier obviously has the FBS experience
While we now it didn’t work at UF Billy Napier was elite at Louisiana including a 40-12 record and 2x SBC champ
Napier is also a tremendous recruiter https://t.co/j9p0hNDqcB
— Garrett Armbrust (@4thandsaturday) December 4, 2025
Napier has succeeded in arguably a worse situation than JMU when he took over the Louisiana job. He'll have more Power 4 offers after the season if he wants to try it again.
14. Brian Newberry, Navy
Coaching record: 26-12
Newberry played defensive back for Baylor from 1992-96 and entered the coaching ranks as a grad assistant at Southern Arkansas. He was the defensive backs coach at Washington & Lee, Lehigh, and Elon before taking over as the defensive coordinator at Suwanee in 2011.
He moved on to Northern Michigan before quitting coaching with thoughts of becoming a professional photographer. He re-entered the coaching ranks in 2015 as the DC at Kennesaw State before moving to Navy in 2019.
He took over for Ken Niumatalolo after he was fired after the 2022 Army game. Newberry was 5-7 in his first year as the head coach, but the Midshipmen are 21-5 over the last two seasons.
The Middies passed more this year than at any time since Roger Staubach was there. Bo Horvath became a star quarterback. Eli Heidenreich was a Swiss army knife on offense. Newberry's creativity could help him land a job at a major program when one opens.
13. Jim L. Mora, Colorado State
Coaching record: 73-53 college, 31-33 NFL, 0-0 at Colorado State
Mora got into his coaching as a graduate assistant at Washington in 1984, but was following his dad (also Jim Mora, but a different middle name means the younger Mora isn't "Jr.") to the NFL the next year.
He worked with the Chargers, Saints, and 49ers as a DB coach for 19 years before getting a shot as the head man in Atlanta in 2004. Things started well in Atlanta, but he went on a radio show in Seattle in 2006 in which he stated that Washington was his "dream job," and he would take it even if the Falcons were in a playoff run.
Predictably, the Falcons fired him after the season. He then took a job with the Seahawks as the assistant head coach before taking over the team in 2009. Mora was fired after a 5-11 season and went to work for NFL Network.
Mora got his first college job since his GA days at Washington in 1984 with UCLA in 2012. He led the Bruins to consecutive 10-win seasons in 2013 and 2014 for just the third time in school history. A loss in the 2015 Foster Farms Bowl was the beginning of the end.
Incredible hire by Colorado State to get Jim Mora but gutted for UConn.
Complete resurgence of UConn football. Went 3-9 in 2023. They’ve won 18 games in the last two seasons since then.
Averaging 36.9 PPG this season ranking them 15th in the FBS.
Rams got a great one. pic.twitter.com/hX67l6aHqR
— Garrett Armbrust (@4thandsaturday) November 26, 2025
Mora was 9-14 in his final two seasons at UCLA. He then went back to the studios, working for college instead of the pros. Mora took over independent UConn in 2022. After a couple of unimpressive seasons, he led the Huskies to an 18-7 record in 2024-25 before leaving for Colorado State.
Mora's work with quarterbacks Brett Hundley and Josh Rosen at UCLA and Joe Fagnano at UConn should lead to that coveted power job sometime soon.
12. Jason Eck, New Mexico
Coaching record: 35-17 (9-4 FBS), 9-4 at New Mexico
Eck was another late bloomer, working as a grad assistant at Wisconsin and Georgia in the early 2000s. He became the offensive line coach at Idaho, Winona State, Ball State, Hampton, Western Illinois, Minnesota State, Montana State, and South Dakota State before becoming the offensive coordinator for the Jackrabbits in 2019.
Eck took over an Idaho team in shambles back in 2022. The Vandals were riding a streak of five straight losing seasons since being excommunicated from the Sun Belt (and FBS entirely) in 2017.
Eck took over for Paul Petrino and led the Vandals to a 26-13 record and three straight appearances in the FCS playoffs. He took over a gutted New Mexico team that lost its coach (Bronco Mendenhall) and best players (QB Devon Dampier and RB NaQuari Rogers to Utah and RB Eli Sanders to USC).
The Lobos hadn't had a winning season since 2016, and were expected at the bottom of the Mountain West again. Eck led them to nine wins and an overtime loss to Minnesota in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl. One of those big schools will come calling soon enough.
11. Jason Candle, Connecticut
Coaching record: 81-44, 0-0 at Connecticut
Candle stayed at Mount Union as the WR coach following his graduation in 2003. Six years later, Matt Campbell reconnected with him by bringing him to Toledo. Campbell left Toledo for Iowa State in 2016.
Candle ended his 10-year career at Toledo with 81 wins, a school record. Candle built an offensive monster at Toledo. His Rockets teams never finished below .500, and he only missed a bowl game twice in 10 years, once being the 2020 COVID season.
This was one of the 2025 coaching hires that puzzled me a little. Sure, being an independent has a few advantages, but if you're in a situation where your team cannot make the CFP, you get forgotten in a hurry. That's why Mora left to go to Colorado State. At least there you have a chance.
Not everyone who is an independent can get a sweetheart CFP deal as Notre Dame has. I would guess that Candle is firmly on radars by now. I think he would have taken the Iowa State job had it come open normally and not at the last second.
10. Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
Coaching record: 64-35 (FBS), 25-13 at Liberty
Chadwell worked as an assistant at his alma mater (East Tennessee State) and Charleston Southern before taking his first head-coaching job at North Greenville in 2009. He led the Crusaders to a 19-6 record after a 2-8 record in his first season.
He only lasted a year at Delta State before Charleston Southern made him the head coach. The Buccaneers, who went 0-11 in 2011, were 35-14 under Chadwell from 2013-16.
He took the offensive coordinator job at Coastal Carolina in 2017 and was the interim coach when Joe Moglia took a medical leave. The Chanticleers finished 3-9 that season, but lost five of those games by a touchdown or less.
Moglia returned in 2018 but stepped down for good in 2019. The university named Chadwell the head coach. Things went much better that time around. CCU went 11-1 in 2020 and 11-2 in 2021.
After another strong season (9-3), Chadwell was hired by Liberty in 2023. The Flames made it through the regular season undefeated and got an invite to the Fiesta Bowl. The Flames are 12-12 in the two years since then, which has cooled the temperature on Chadwell a bit.
9. Matt Entz, Fresno State
Coaching record: 69-15 (9-4 FBS), 9-4 at Fresno State
Entz is the second current or former North Dakota State coach on this list. He coached under Chris Kleiman at Northern Iowa, and Kleiman brought him to North Dakota State with him in 2014.
Entz took over when Kleiman left for Kansas State at the end of the 2018 season. In five seasons as the head of the Bison, Entz led NDSU to a 60-11 record, including two national championships in 2019 and 2021. Yes, that was the Trey Lance team.
He left NDSU after the 2023 season to become the assistant head coach and LB coach at USC for Lincoln Riley. Not much was expected of Fresno State after Tim Skipper led it to a 6-6 record in 2024, after Jeff Tedford had to leave the team for health reasons.
Fresno moved on from Skipper to Entz, who led Fresno to nine wins in a tough Mountain West Conference and a win in the Arizona Bowl over Miami of Ohio. It's only a matter of time before some bigger school (maybe even USC) comes knocking.
8. Jerry Mack, Kennesaw State
Coaching record: 41-19 (10-4 FBS), 10-4 at Kennesaw State
Mack's first head-coaching gig was at North Carolina Central, where he led the Eagles to a win in the 2016 Celebration Bowl. From there, he went to offensive coordinator at Rice, to RB coach at Tennessee under Josh Heupel, to RB coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2024.
To truly appreciate the job that Mack did in 2025, it's important to assess where Kennesaw was at the time. Kennesaw didn't even have a program until 2015. Brian Bohannon coached Kennesaw all the way into 2024, its first FBS season.
Bohannon was (wrongly) fired after a 1-8 start at the FBS level. Interim coach Chandler Burks led the Owls to a 1-2 record, but Kennesaw was already after someone else.
Mack took over a team that went 2-10 in its first FBS season and was picked to finish last in Conference USA to a conference championship in his first season.
The work Mack did with Amari Odom, RB Coleman Bennett, and WR Gabriel Benyard will get the attention of larger schools, but it's the rags-to-riches story of an infant FBS program in just one season under Mack that really makes others take notice.
7. Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State
Coaching record: 9-5
Kelly may have the closest career path amongst current Group of 6 coaches to Curt Cignetti. Cignetti didn't get his first head-coaching job until he was 50. His first FBS job didn't come until Cignetti was 58 ... the age that Kelly was when he took over the Gamecocks last year.
Kelly has coached everything from running backs to every defensive position to special teams. He is a two-time national champion, once as a special teams coach at Florida State in 2013 and the other as assistant defensive coordinator at Alabama in 2020.
Kelly has coached under Paul Johnson, Jimbo Fisher, Nick Saban, Hugh Freeze, and even Deion Sanders. He has exposure to all sorts of schemes and systems and applied a little of everything in his first season at the helm of the Gamecocks.
The Gamecocks with a MASSIVE first quarter turnover 🐔
📺: @CBSSportsNet @JaxStateFB | #NoLimitsOnUs pic.twitter.com/2LeoIUJ1uV
— Conference USA (@ConferenceUSA) September 6, 2025
He took Cam Cook from a backup at TCU to the leading rusher in FBS last season. Cook is now off to West Virginia (and former Jacksonville State coach Rich Rodriguez).
Some AD looking to catch lightning in a bottle like Indiana did with Cignetti could come sniffing around Kelly if he has another year like 2025.
6. Blake Harrell, East Carolina
Coaching record: 14-5
Harrell's first FBS coaching job was as the defensive coordinator for the Pirates under Mike Houston. At first, the Mike Houston era went well in Greenville. The Pirates went to bowl games in 2021 and 2022.
After a dreadful 2-10 season in 2023 and a 3-4 start in 2024, Houston was replaced by Harrell. Harrell won the first four games, and the interim label was off. He has led the Pirates to two bowl wins.
What bigger schools are taking note of is Harrell's offenses. He replaced Jake Garcia with Katin Houser and turned Houser into a star. Houser left for Illinois after the 2025 season.
Rahjai Harris ran for 1,166 yards and 15 touchdowns in 2024. London Montgomery and Marlon Gunn Jr. ran for 1,344 yards last year.
Star receiver Yannick Smith, who caught 69 passes for 1,017 yards and eight touchdowns in two seasons, left for SMU. It's only a matter of time before someone comes after the coach.
5. Charles Huff, Memphis
Coaching record: 39-25, 0-0 at Memphis
Huff is a rising star in the coaching ranks. He coached running backs under James Franklin at Penn State and spent some time under Nick Saban at Alabama in 2019-20. Najee Harris and Brian Robinson Jr. were at Alabama in those years.
He coached some guy named Saquon Barkley at Penn State. Huff left Alabama to take the head-coaching job at Marshall in 2021. He led the Herd to an upset of eighth-ranked Notre Dame in South Bend in 2022 and led Marshall to the Sun Belt title in 2024.
Charles Huff take a bow.
Takes the 1-11 Southern Miss Eagles from last season to 4-2 this season (2-0 SBC).
He is now 14-5 (9-1 SBC) in his last 19 games including an SBC title with Marshall.
Guy can flat out catch. What a turnaround in Hattiesburg. pic.twitter.com/HVsDmif3KR
— Garrett Armbrust (@4thandsaturday) October 10, 2025
Marshall tried to lowball Huff on a contract extension, so he did what any sensible coach would do in this era. He left for a conference rival and took half the team with him. Huff took over a Southern Mississippi team that was just 4-20 in 2023 and 2024.
He led it to a 7-5 record and a win in the New Orleans Bowl. Memphis hired Huff after Ryan Silverfield left to take the Arkansas job. I have a feeling that Huff won't last long at Memphis, either.
4. Tyson Helton, Western Kentucky
Coaching record: 57-36
If the name sounds familiar, it should. Helton's older brother, Clay, is the former coach of USC and the current Georgia Southern coach.
Helton played quarterback at Houston and began his coaching career under June Jones in Hawaii. While a QB coach at UAB, Helton coached Joe Webb, the first player to have over 2,000 passing yards and 1,000 rushing yards in back-to-back seasons.
Helton coached under Jeff Brohm for the Hilltoppers in his first stint, where Brandon Doughty won the Sammy Baugh Trophy in 2014. He coached on his brother's staff at USC, helping Sam Darnold to the 2016 Rose Bowl MVP. Helton took the Western Kentucky job in 2019.
Helton's only losing season for the Hilltoppers was the 2020 COVID season (5-7), but the Tops have gone to a bowl game every season under Helton, winning five and losing two.
As with many on this list, Helton has a track record of grooming quarterbacks. Bailey Zappe threw for 5,967 yards in the 2021 season. He has gotten similar success out of Austin Reed, Caden Veltkamp, Maverick McIvor, and Rodney Tisdale Jr. in recent seasons.
Some team looking for an innovative offense and QB whisperer could come after Helton soon.
3. Dan Mullen, UNLV
Coaching record: 113-65, 10-4 with UNLV
You all know Dan Mullen. You may not know that he is back to coaching after a short stint in the studio. Mullen was run out of Florida in 2021 after the collapse of the Gators that season, but his overall record speaks for itself.
Mullen was the quarterbacks coach for Urban Meyer at Bowling Green, Utah, and Florida. He left to take his first head-coaching job at Mississippi State in 2009.
Mullen took the Bulldogs to new heights and made them an answer to an obscure trivia question: Which team was the first ever No. 1 team in the CFP rankings? It was Dan Mullen's Bulldogs with Dak Prescott at quarterback.
Mullen returned to Florida as the head coach in 2018 and was 29-9 in his first three seasons before stumbling to 5-6 in 2021. Among the quarterbacks that Mullen has helped launch are Alex Smith, Tim Tebow, Prescott, Kyle Trask, and Anthony Colandrea in his first year in Vegas.
Some power teams with a standout quarterback but struggling players elsewhere will come to Mullen soon enough. The track record is there.
2. Jeff Traylor, UTSA
Coaching record: 53-26
Traylor led UTSA to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2021 and 2022 before the Roadrunners moved to the American Conference. Traylor is still finishing with a winning record in the AAC, which is impressive considering the strength of the conference.
Traylor began his major college coaching journey under Charlie Strong at Texas as the TE coach. He then followed Chad Morris first to SMU, then to Arkansas, before becoming UTSA's third coach in 2019.
Traylor had led UTSA to three straight bowl wins and didn't lose his first conference game at home in the final game of the 2025 season. That's Year 7 for those of you scoring at home.
1. Spencer Danielson, Boise State
Coaching record: 24-8
Danielson has worked at Boise since 2017, when he arrived as a graduate assistant under Brian Harsin. He was the defensive coordinator when Harsin left for Auburn. Danielson served as the Boise State interim coach until Andy Avalos was hired, but he didn't coach a game.
Danielson declined an offer from Harsin to go with him to Auburn. That turned out to be the right decision. Avalos was fired in early November of the 2023 season. Danielson coached Boise to wins in the final two games, but lost the L.A. Bowl to UCLA.
2024 was Danielson's first full season as head coach, and he turned Ashton Jeanty into a horse that he rode into the CFP. Boise lost the Mountain West Championship Game to UNLV last year and lost to Washington.
Boise State beat UNLV 38-21 and won its 3rd straight Mountain West title under head coach Spencer Danielson.
Maddux Madsen came back from injury and threw for 289 yards & 3 TDs with 1 rushing TD.@SSN_BoiseState @BSUsportsreport @1BroncoBelieverpic.twitter.com/ZPXOu8J3Jr
— Colton Pool (@CPoolReporter) December 6, 2025
Danielson's work with Jeanty and push to get Boise into a bowl game in 2023 has him on major college radars. He has maintained Boise's reputation as one of the premier Group of 6 schools out there in his two-plus years as head coach.
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