Potential College Head Football Coaches for 2024 are all 'offensively minded'

'CFP' Photo Credit: The United States Army Band via Flickr

The head coaching positions that are considered the most prestigious and lucrative jobs in the college football coaching ranks are in the Power Five Conferences, Four if the Pac 12 dissolves. Current Group of Five head coaches and current Power Five/Four coordinators will fill the majority of head coaching vacancies that pop up at the end of the 2023 season. Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel was hired by the Volunteers after being the head coach for the UCF Knights, who were a Group of Five program at the time. Current USC head coach Lincoln Riley was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma before being promoted to the Sooners’ head coach position when Bob Stoops stepped down in 2016. Both have been very successful as Power Five head coaches. Below is a list of Group of Five head coaches and Power Five/Four coordinators who I feel will be in the mix for Power Five head coach openings at the end of the 2023 season.

1. Charles Huff: Marshall head coach; 20-10 record overall, all three seasons at Marshall. The offense averages 412.3 yards per game with 243.3 passing. Huff was assistant head coach and running back coach at Alabama in 2019 and 2020. He is known to be an elite recruiter and developer of talent. In 2022 the Herd upset Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, 26-21, rushing for 219 yards against the Irish. The Thundering Herd are 4-0 in 2023 and Huff’s name should be at or near the top of any coaching search in the Power 5 for 2024.

2. Jason Candle: Toledo head coach; 58-33 record overall, all nine seasons at Toledo. The Rockets’ offense averages 465.0 yards per game with 223.4 rushing. Candle is good at developing players as eight Rockets have been selected in the NFL Draft since 2017. He also is a very good recruiter as Toledo has finished with the best recruiting class in the MAC five times during his tenure. Toledo has won two MAC Championships, has six bowl appearances and no other MAC team has won more games in the time that Candle has been head coach at Toledo.

3. Sean Lewis: Colorado offensive coordinator; heads one of the best offenses in the country, averaging 444.0 yards per game, 356.8 passing. Previously was the head coach at Kent State for five seasons. In 2021 Kent State averaged 493 yards and 33 points per game. In 2022 the Golden Flashes offensive numbers slipped to 418 yards and 28.4 points per game. The attention Colorado’s offense is getting will assuredly get Lewis mentioned for Power 5 head coaching positions.

4. Willie Fritz: Tulane head coach; 65-53 record overall (10 Years) 47-46 in his eighth year at Tulane. The Green Wave average 389.6 yards per game with 230.6 passing. The obligatory mention of one of the best Group of Five coaches, Fritz’s name has been linked to Power Five jobs in the past few years. If the right job comes along, it may be tough for Fritz to remain at Tulane.

5. Tim Albin: Ohio head coach; 17-14 record overall, all three seasons at Ohio. Offense

averages 324.4 yards per game with 140.0 rushing. 2023 is Albin’s 19th year with the Bobcats and third as head coach. He started his time at Ohio as offensive coordinator under Frank Solich in 2005. Seven of the top 10 season scoring marks in Ohio history have come over the last 10 years with Albin as either offensive coordinator or head coach. Being that Albin has been part of the Ohio staff for 19 years, the right job with the right money will probably be needed to pry him out of Athens, OH. But with his resume, he should be considered for a few Power Five openings.

6. Shawn Clark: Appalachian State head coach; 29-15 record overall, all five seasons at Appalachian State. The offense averages 464.2 yards per game with 204.6 rushing. The Power 5 job to pry him out of Boone, NC will need to be one he desires or one that pays him well enough to scrap the loyalty to his alma mater. Clark was an offensive lineman for the Mountaineers from 1994-1998. He was the offensive line coach at Appalachian State from 2016-2018 before being promoted to head coach. The Mountaineer offense is averaging 42.4 points per game in 2023. The Mountaineers have won at least nine games every year that Clark has been head coach.

7. Jeff Tedford: Fresno State head coach; 123-75 overall (16 years) 41-18 in his fifth season at Fresno State. The Bulldog offense is averaging 425.0 yards per game with 304.8 passing. Tedford has the Bulldogs ranked #24 in both the AP and Coaches Polls. Tedford was the head coach at California from 2002-2012. While his tenure at Cal did not end well, Tedford coached two 10-win teams, won 83 games, and had a bowl record of 5-3 with the Bears. Fresno State has had back-to-back 10-win seasons and is already halfway there in 2023 with a 5-0 record.

8. Ryan Grubb: Washington offensive coordinator; The Washington offense averages 569.4 yards per game with 446.4 passing! Grubb has been an assistant with Huskies head coach Kalen DeBoer for many years and took over the play-calling duties in 2020 when the pair were at Fresno State. Grubb met with Alabama head coach Nick Saban at the end of the 2022 season regarding the offensive coordinator position but chose to stay in Seattle with DeBoer. Look for a Power 5 school looking to bolster their offensive output to take a run at Grubb.

9. Jamey Chadwell: Liberty head coach; 43-22 record overall (6 years) 4-0 in his first year at Liberty. Chadwell rocketed Coastal Carolina into national prominence with his high-powered offenses and back-to-back 11-win seasons in 2020 and 2021. That combination helped land him the Liberty job at the end of the 2022 season. In 2023, the Flames on offense are averaging 501.0 yards per game with 271.3 rushing. Chadwell’s name had previously surfaced in the Vanderbilt search back in 2020 but the Commodores chose Clark Lea, a Vanderbilt alum, as their head coach. Even though Chadwell is only one year into his time at Liberty, if an offer comes along that is too good to pass up it will be difficult for Chadwell to decline his first Power 5 opportunity.

10. Sherrone Moore: Michigan offensive coordinator and offensive line coach; In his first season as Michigan offensive coordinator the Wolverine offense averages 411.4 yards per game with 184.0 rushing. Moore was the tight ends coach at Michigan from 2018-2020 and then the offensive line coach 2021-present. The Michigan offensive line has won the Joe Moore Award in both of Moore’s years as line coach. The Joe Moore Award is an award given to college football’s best offensive line. This is the first time in the award’s history that the same school won the award in back-to-back seasons. If Wolverines’ head coach Jim Harbaugh bolts for the NFL after the 2023 season, look for Moore to be promoted to replace him.