I looked through a FBS coaching list and these are guys I think will be in high demand this year: Group 1- Only moving for top level jobs, of which there will be a handful this year: Manny Diaz- .667 win rate at Duke .608 overall in 51 games Brent Key- .556 at GT/ career in 36 games Jeff Brohm-.724 at Louisville .626 overall in 139 games- going to take a great deal to get him to move Rhett Lashlee- .682 at SMU in 44 games- Could see an Auburn/SMU bidding war Curt Cignetti- .867 at Indiana .842 overall in 38 games- Would take big bucks, but Bama and Florida could come calling Group 2- These are guys that should be open to a conversation to P4 jobs and some will get interest if not offers from P2: Alex Golesh- .571 at USF in 18 games- Hot name but small HC resume. Finish strong and his stock will soar Jon Sumrall- .688 at Tulane .791 overall in 45 games Fran Brown- .733 in 15 games at 'Cuse- Could easily coach himself into the P2, another with a small sample size Kenny Dillingham- .556 at ASU in 27 games- Great year last year. Already in P4, ASU grad making $4mil. can be picky Kalani Sitake- .632 at BYU- May not want to move, but someone should try. Dan Mullen- 3-0 at UNLV .635 lifetime in 167 games- $3mil at cash strapped UNLV Many good years in SEC Spencer Danielson- .800 in 20 games at Boise St Group 3- Guys that should be P4 coaches in the near future if not this year: Jeff Traylor- .676 at UTSA Jamey Chadwell- .786 at Liberty .685 overall in 89 games Bronco Mendenhall- .613 in 167 career games- Even won at UVA! Bob Chesney- .667 in 15 games at JMU Wild cards- Urban Meyer- Who knows if he has interest in coaching again, but could pick his spot (Bama?) Jimbo Fisher- Great resume with a ton of baggage. Just feels MS State to me for some reason. Jon Gruden- See Jimbo- Great resume with ton of baggage minus recruiting experience. Seems to want to coach again Kalen DeBoer- .667 at Bama .770 in 61 games. Is .667 enough at Bama? Needs a very good year. So what should we do? My opinion is request Whit's retirement effective 1/1/26 and start search for a replacement now. Allow Whit to push the BoV for the increased funds, there by securing his "legacy" of Funding the athletics department for the future... Hopefully secure the new AD by early November and have his sole focus being evaluating the football program (team and administration). If a change is deemed necessary by the new AD then I would focus on (Group 1 is most likely not an option for us): 1. Mullen- If his vision is in line with the new AD, this would be the Grand Slam. Hiring a Football focused AD is paramount and this hire must align with his goals. Mullen can't be forced on him. Also this may be a guy we could be in a bidding war for and obviously we lose that against SEC or b1g. 2a. Danielson -Boise- This could be a package deal with their AD if we want to play big boy sports. 2b. Sumrall- Tulane- Proven winner- Probably going P4 soon. 3. Dillingham ASU- A tough pull, but an AD with swagger and an increase budget might pull this off. 4. DeBoer- Who knows if he is available or events wants to coach again soon, but the question should be asked. 5. Chadwell- We can say it was just Coastal, or just Liberty but the guy wins and has done it in our region, 6/7 Golesh/Chesney- Two good coaches with under 20 D1 games under their belt. AD must happen first. If Whit stays for another year, the Pry must as well. The Shane Train is not coming to Blacksburg anytime soon, but may later. Unless your winning Nattys you don't coach long in the SEC. Who are your top guys?