Let’s Speculate! Potential South Florida head football coach candidates
Welcome to Let’s Speculate! on Coaches Database, where we go through programs that are or may soon be looking for a new head coach and speculate who they may hire next.
Today’s program is South Florida, coached for the past 2+ seasons by Jeff Scott (fired on 11/6).
- Tyson Helton – Western Kentucky head coach
- The Florida-native Helton has gotten WKU back into form during his 3+ years at the helm, winning 9 games twice and going to three bowl games (2 wins). The former Houston QB has a long coaching resume, with stints at Tennessee, USC, Cincinnati, UAB, Memphis and Hawaii prior to his time at WKU.
- Kane Wommack – South Alabama head coach
- Another Sun Belt head coach worth a look is Wommack, a Missouri-native who has South Alabama on pace for its best ever record at the FBS level. Prior to taking over, Wommack held a variety of positions including three years at Indiana (two as DC) and two at Ole Miss. He’s a young guy who made need a couple more years of head coaching experience before a bigger program gives him a shot, but the job he’s done already certainly warrants consideration.
- Will Muschamp – Georgia Co-DC
- Currently the co-DC for the #1 Georgia Bulldogs, Muschamp has 8+ years of head coaching experience at Florida (2011-14) and South Carolina (2016-20) and went to six bowl games during that time. He returned to his alma mater last year coaching special teams for the Bulldogs’ team that won the 2021 National Championship (his second, as he was DC at LSU back in 2003). His coaching record may not have met the high standards of the SEC, but USF could get someone with a championship pedigree, tons of experience and name recognition in their more humble AAC world.
- Maurice Crum – Ole Miss Co-DC
- A somewhat outside the box candidate, Crum arrived at Ole Miss this year after five seasons (two as DC) at Western Kentucky. Crum is a native to the Tampa area, having played at Tampa Bay Technical HS before going off to Notre Dame. Now in his first year with the Rebs, he has quickly helped improve the defense for a team that might win 10 games.
- Alex Golesh – Tennessee OC
- Golesh has been with the Vols for two seasons and is a big part of the resurgence of the UT program. Tennessee is currently averaging the most offensive yards and points in all of FBS. Prior to his time in Knoxville, Golesh spent one season as co-OC at UCF. He’s also had stints at Iowa State (2016-19), Illinois (2012-15), Toledo (2009-11), Oklahoma State (2008), Northern Illinois (2006-07) and Ohio State (2004-05).
- Randy Shannon – Florida State Co-DC
- Here’s another outside the box idea, as Shannon has bounced around quite a bit since his last full-time head coaching gig ended in 2010. The Miami-native and member of the Hurricanes’ 1987 national championship team has coached all over the state, including the aforementioned head coaching gig at his alma mater as well as an interim HC stint with the Gators. Currently the co-DC at Florida State, arriving in 2021 after a three-year run at UCF. The connections to the state and the head coaching experience are there, but this might not be a very celebrated hire amongst USF fanbase.
- Scott Frost – former Nebraska, UCF head coach
- Frost is not exactly a “hot” name in college football circles right now, as his tenure at alma mater Nebraska went about as badly as it could have. He was paid a ton of money to miss four-straight bowls, then paid even more for his firing with a 16-31 overall record. But the reason he got the job in the first place was because he took a 6-7 UCF team to the national spotlight, finishing 13-0 with a win over Auburn in the Peach Bowl and a Top 10 national ranking. Maybe a trip back to Florida is what Frost needs to recapture whatever magic he had in 2017.