Who’s next? Mid- and low-major men’s college coaches ready for the next step
A year ago at this time, Florida Atlantic’s then-coach Dusty May was the obvious candidate to jump from the mid-major to the high-major level. Charleston’s Pat Kelsey wasn’t far behind. The 2023 cycle had more big names moving around, but in 2022, the contingent of Todd Golden, Matt McMahon, Chris Jans, Dennis Gates and Lamont Paris all went from mid-major programs to the SEC. Most of them moved up in predictable fashion.
Who is in the next crop of mid-major coaches ready to make the leap to the big leagues in 2025? After the exodus of the past few cycles, it’s not as clear. So, we reached out to more than a dozen industry sources involved in the coaching carousel: agents, power brokers, etc. We polled them on the top five names they think are ready to move during the 2025 coaching cycle.
The only criteria: The coaches couldn’t have been at the high-major level previously, and they couldn’t be clients of the voter.
First, a few names you won’t find on the list, including two who will likely be mentioned for several high-major openings.
Will Wade, McNeese: Wade is wrapping up a second consecutive dominant campaign in the Southland, going 36-2 in league play overall. He’ll be linked to nearly every vacancy, given his track record of winning and winning quickly. Wade has led three schools to the NCAA tournament and took the LSU Tigers to the Sweet 16 in 2019. Athletic directors are more likely to overlook his past NCAA baggage at this point.
Richard Pitino, New Mexico: The younger Pitino was linked to the Miami opening before the Hurricanes zeroed in on Jai Lucas, and is also involved in the Virginia vacancy. He will lead the Lobos to their second straight NCAA tournament and their first regular-season championship since 2013. Pitino spent eight seasons as the head coach at Minnesota, going to a pair of NCAA tournaments.
Given both coaches have already been at the high-major level, we excluded them from this exercise. Dayton’s Anthony Grant falls in the same bucket. And, he’s unlikely to go anywhere else anyway.
Craig Smith, who was recently fired by Utah, should garner looks.
Charleston’s Chris Mack was also among those ineligible for the vote.
It’s worth noting the likes of Randy Bennett, Brian Dutcher and Leon Rice received only a couple of mentions, with most respondents saying they didn’t consider the three coaches due to their track record of showing no interest in leaving their current posts at Saint Mary’s, San Diego State and Boise State, respectively.
And, while both are in mid-major leagues, Gonzaga’s Mark Few and Memphis’ Penny Hardaway unsurprisingly didn’t receive any votes, given their schools aren’t considered true mid-majors.
OK, enough waffling, on to the poll rankings. Here are the coaches industry insiders feel are ready to make the jump to the Power 5 level.
This was a fairly unanimous pick for the top spot. He checks nearly every box. He was a high-major assistant at Virginia Tech, led both UMBC and Utah State to the NCAA tournament as a head coach, and has VCU poised to win the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship. He also has an NCAA tournament win under his belt from when he led UMBC to its 16-over-1 upset against Virginia. He has the name, the pedigree and the track record. He has been linked with Virginia and will likely be named as a candidate at Villanova should it open.
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Huss’ head coaching résumé isn’t nearly as long as Odom’s, but he is now 2-for-2 when it comes to winning regular-season championships. He’s 53-14 in two seasons at High Point, going 27-5 in the Big South. He has high-major recruiting experience from his time as the head coach at high school powerhouse La Lumiere, as well as six seasons as an assistant at Creighton. High Point does have a resource advantage over the rest of the league, but the two-year dominance is noteworthy. As one agent said, “He’s playing with pocket aces, but he’s [still] very good.”
“Bucky Ball” nearly took the country by storm last March, when a blown call against 4-seed Kansas in the first round cost Samford a potential upset win. But the longtime high school coach did lead the Bulldogs to back-to-back SoCon regular-season titles and an NCAA tournament appearance in his first four seasons in charge, before notching his fourth straight 20-win season this year. He plays an up-tempo style, and while some have concerns about whether that can translate to a higher level, those were outweighed by the credit many give him for winning at a place where nobody had won in 25 years.
McCollum is one of the more fascinating candidates of this coaching cycle, and a name we’re already seeing linked to potential vacancies in the Big Ten. He was wildly successful at the Division II level at Northwest Missouri State, winning four national championships before leaving last spring to replace Darian DeVries at Drake. McCollum brought most of his Division II team with him and promptly led the Bulldogs to the Missouri Valley regular-season title and a likely NCAA tournament appearance. The only concern from voters was his lack of Division I recruiting experience.
Losing back-to-back games by a combined 44 points recently wasn’t ideal, but Calhoun is likely to take Utah State dancing in his first season at the helm. The Aggies have been an assembly line when it comes to producing high-level coaches the past few years, with Craig Smith, Ryan Odom, Danny Sprinkle and now Calhoun all going to Logan and winning quickly. All that shouldn’t necessarily count against Calhoun, given that he won a league title at Youngstown State in 2023 and won 46 games over his last two seasons with the Penguins.
Medved has a strong résumé at three different schools: He built up the program at Furman before leaving for Drake, turned things around at Drake for a season and then left for Colorado State, where he has gone to the NCAA tournament in two of the past three seasons. This campaign looked lost after 10 games, but the Rams have won 10 of 12 to get back into tourney consideration. It’s Medved’s fifth 20-win season in the past six years.
Turner was a hot name on the carousel a few years ago but is once again an intriguing option after leading the Anteaters to back-to-back Big West regular-season titles — while sitting one game back of UC San Diego this season. Irvine has won seven of the past 11 conference titles under Turner and gone to a pair of NCAA tournaments. He also has plenty of high-major assistant experience at Wake Forest and Stanford and was an assistant for the Golden State Warriors for several seasons.
Siddle has yet to get over the final hump and earn a trip to the NCAA tournament, but he has had consistent success at UNCW since taking over in 2020. An assistant under Kevin Keatts at both UNCW and NC State, Siddle struggled in his first season with the Seahawks but has since rattled off four straight 20-win seasons, winning 96 games and one regular-season championship in the process. If Siddle could guide the Seahawks to a CAA tourney title this season, he could be an interesting name to watch.
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Skinn was part of the George Mason team that went on a historic Final Four run as an 11-seed in 2006, and after several seasons playing professionally overseas and spending time as an assistant at three different high-major programs, he returned to the Patriots in 2023 when Kim English left for Providence. All he has done in the two seasons since is win 20 games in each and position George Mason in the regular-season title race.
Olen has been at UCSD since 2004, spending a decade as an assistant coach and then leading the Tritons in the move from Division II to Division I in 2020. In the Tritons’ first year of eligibility for the NCAA tournament, they have been one of the best mid-major teams in the country, with Olen guiding them to a 26-4 record, the lead in the Big West and a legitimate chance at an at-large bid.
A difficult final month cost Cleveland State the Horizon League regular-season title, but Robinson has now won 20-plus games in each of his three seasons in charge and had a pair of top-two finishes. He also has plenty of high-major experience from two different stints as an assistant coach at Iowa State. If he gets to the NCAA tournament, it’s not hard to see him getting in the mix.
Hodge has a tremendous reputation in the coaching industry, even if he has been a Division I head coach for less than two seasons. The Mean Green went to the NIT last season but are on Memphis’ heels in the AAC standings this season, winning 15 of their past 18 games entering the week. Hodge doesn’t have any high-major experience, but he worked under Grant McCasland at both Arkansas State and North Texas and has strong ties in the Texas area.
Had we done this exercise six months ago, Langel likely would have been much higher on the list. One agent still had him in contention for his No. 1 choice. Prior to this season, Langel had guided Colgate to five Patriot League regular-season championships in the past six years, and each of the past five NCAA tournaments. This season, however, the Raiders are just 13-18 overall and 10-8 in the league. With multiple Big 5 schools expected to open this season, Langel could still make a move. But, as one agent said, “He picked a bad year for a bad year.”
Spradlin’s trajectory is clearly on the way up. After leading Morehead State to two regular-season Ohio Valley championships and two NCAA tournaments in his final four years with the Eagles, Spradlin replaced Mark Byington at James Madison — and immediately won a share of the Sun Belt title. “I don’t know how the best Spradlin was offered the last few years was James Madison,” one agent said. “It’s crazy to me.”
Another name that would have likely been higher on the list had we done this in the preseason, Valentine has actually done a pretty good job this season given the Ramblers’ injuries. Entering the week, Loyola Chicago was tied for third in the Atlantic 10, one year after winning a share of the regular-season title. Valentine also led the Ramblers to the NCAA tournament in his first season at the helm in 2022. He has a lot of positives on his résumé, and it seems like only a matter of time before he makes the jump.
Scott Nagy and T.J. Otzelberger both had it rolling in Brookings, South Dakota, and Henderson has continued the tradition. In the past five seasons, he has led the Jackrabbits to at least a share of four Summit League titles and two NCAA tournament appearances. They finished third in the standings this season, but it was yet another 20-win season. He has also been linked to high-major jobs in the past.
Morrell was a longtime Shaka Smart assistant who made the jump to UNC Asheville in 2018. After going 4-27 in Year 1, Morrell quickly flipped the program and has now rattled off three straight 20-win seasons — including a regular-season title and NCAA tournament appearance in 2023. The Bulldogs finished tied for second this season, despite losing two-time Player of the Year Drew Pember. “This might have been his best year,” one agent said, “to lose Pember and do this.”
Hodgson seems well-suited for the modern era of college basketball, excelling at stockpiling talent in the transfer portal. He was an assistant under Nate Oats at Alabama for four seasons, and he has carried over some of the same offensive principles: pace and shooting 3s. Arkansas State made a run to the league title game last season and won a share of the regular-season title this season, also notching a road win at Memphis in December.
Henderson is another coach who would have likely been higher at this time last year, when Princeton was coming off its third consecutive Ivy League regular-season title, and he was just one year removed from making a Sweet 16 run in the 2023 NCAA tournament as a 15-seed. He’s been at Princeton since 2011, and this will be just the second time he has finished lower than third in the league. He spent 11 years at Northwestern as an assistant and could be a name there if Chris Collins ever left.
Did Richey miss his best chance to jump? That’s a popular concern among industry sources after he went to the 2023 NCAA tournament and beat Virginia in the first round — capping a six-year stretch in which he won at least 22 games five times, earned a share of the 2023 SoCon regular-season title and never finished lower than third in the standings. But he opted to stay at Furman and has now finished fifth in the league in back-to-back seasons. The résumé is still good enough, however.
Others receiving mentions: John Griffin, Bucknell; John Becker, Vermont; James Jones, Yale; Brian Wardle, Bradley; Josh Schertz, Saint Louis; Dustin Kerns, App State; Dan Earl, Chattanooga; Darris Nichols, Radford; Brad Korn, Southeast Missouri State; Mark Schmidt, St. Bonaventure; Pat Skerry, Towson; Talvin Hester, Louisiana Tech; Duane Simpkins, American University; Brian Earl, William & Mary; Chris Markwood, Maine; Steve Smiley, Northern Colorado
Some college athletes are being asked to sign away the rights to their own tattoos. At least one college wants to sell the rights to its players’ dance moves.
NCAA schools are going to contractual extremes when it comes to the name, image and likeness deals that they are now signing in the expected new era of direct college payments to athletes. The deals, which could become effective this summer, are designed to be generous enough so athletes will commit to a school but also stringent enough to stop the constant churn of transfers that has introduced upheaval in college sports.
Along the way, school lawyers are constructing NIL contracts to exert control over athletes without making them official college employees. But experts who reviewed a sampling of more than a dozen NIL contracts obtained by ESPN said the deals bear the hallmarks of employment contracts.
A federal judge is nearing a decision on the NCAA’s $2.8 billion antitrust settlement — a deal that was supposed to dampen a frenzy of litigation surrounding athletes’ demands to share in the profits generated by college sports. Instead, experts say, the contracts now being signed by athletes might actually strengthen a line of attack in court: that these are de facto employment contracts, and if college athletes are employees, they should have collective bargaining rights.
The NCAA and its member schools insist that college athletes should not be considered employees because they are students. Schools are so adamant about establishing a red line on employment status that the NCAA is lobbying Congress for legislation to permanently shut down athletes’ collective bargaining efforts.
The contracts “cross those red lines very clearly,” said Michael LeRoy, a law professor at the University of Illinois who has researched employment law in the context of college sports for more than a decade. “It’s employment on its face. There’s no masking it.”
The documents ESPN obtained include full contracts, memorandums of understanding and templates that the Big Ten and SEC, the country’s two most powerful and wealthy leagues, provided to their members as suggestions for how to craft deals with their players.
The major conferences and schools identified in the contracts declined to comment. An NCAA spokesperson said the association has no influence over how deals are structured but added that the “additional benefits schools are seeking to offer are in line with the terms in the settlement proposal.”
On the schools’ side, people familiar with the contract-drafting process agreed to discuss, without attribution, how they arrived at their contractual terms. They said they are aware of the potential legal challenges but believe the deals do not assert enough control over athletes to meet the definition of employment.
Amid mounting legal pressure in recent years, the NCAA and its schools have ceded considerable ground on their long-held amateurism rules. A pending settlement of three major antitrust lawsuits, including House v. NCAA, is on track to let schools pay their players directly starting this summer.
LeRoy, who reviewed several contracts obtained by ESPN, said the deals meet several key standards in a legal test that federal courts have established to determine if someone is an employee. As they roughly defined, an employee is someone performing services for another party’s benefit in exchange for compensation while under that party’s control.
The contracts viewed by ESPN are structured, in part, as licensing deals where the school is buying the rights to use the athlete’s NIL in promotions. Payments for those rights are separate from the tuition and other academic-related funding athletes receive from their schools.
Many of the contracts explicitly state that athletes are not employees and are not being paid for playing on the team. However, experts say, the fine print might be deemed in a court challenge to contradict those assertions.
Part of the argument, they say, focuses on the amount of control that the schools impose on athletes in this exchange. The transfer portal has emerged as one of the principal ways athletes can leverage their talents to get a better deal, but contractual language seems designed to limit players’ maneuverability.
Several of the contracts and templates require players (or their future teams) to pay a buyout fee if athletes decide to transfer schools before the end of the contract. Most let the school stop paying athletes immediately if they enter the transfer portal — or if they or their agent even express interest in a transfer.
The contract template for SEC schools says athletes and their representatives cannot “initiate, solicit, entertain, negotiate, accept or discuss” any competing offers. Players must immediately tell their school if another team reaches out to express interest in a transfer. If the school discovers that a player failed to report the contact, the school can stop payments. The athlete might not only lose earnings but also might be forced to cover the school’s legal fees.
SEC officials declined to answer questions about the template.
THEN COMES THE QUESTION of whether the athlete’s performance is part of the deal. The Big Ten’s template states that the athlete is not being paid in exchange for his or her “commitment to attend the Institution or participate in the Institution’s Program.” But a footnote to the 10-page document states that, in order to receive their money, players must remain enrolled at the institution and be listed on the team’s active roster.
In bold letters, the contract states the arrangement is not “pay for play,” but it also states that the school may reduce or increase an athlete’s payment depending on the athlete’s playing time or performance.
The schools argue that the value of athletes’ NIL — that is, the product sold in this transaction — is impacted by their performance on the field, according to people familiar with the schools’ contract-drafting process. In other words, the athletes must be playing — and in some cases playing at a certain standard — for their NIL rights to be worth the school’s payment offer.
The sources told ESPN the schools are using that logic to write deals that they believe are only a purchase of NIL rights — not a direct payment for performance, even if the contract requires certain standards of on-field participation.
“They’re really bending over backward to try to thread a needle that I don’t think can be threaded,” said Michael Willemin, a lawyer who is currently representing athletes in Johnson v. NCAA, a federal lawsuit that claims athletes should be employees.
Sports attorney Darren Heitner said he has been struck by how directly the school contracts assert control over athletes.
Multiple contracts from Big 12 schools prohibit the athlete from taking a redshirt year “without the consent of the coaching staff” or from sitting out any game “including postseason competition” when cleared to participate by medical and coaching staff.
The implication is that a player deemed healthy and eligible may not opt out of participating. Such provisions, Heitner said, make it clear that athletes are being paid to play or could suffer financial consequences for failure to play.
The experts consulted by ESPN questioned whether the schools’ argument — that this is not pay-for-play — would hold up in a court challenge.
LeRoy said the contracts remind him of the arrangements between actors and producers in Hollywood — where the actors’ long-term licensing rights and labor are part of the deal. The labor part of those deals, LeRoy said, has long been considered by courts as an employment arrangement. It’s the employer-employee relationship that gives Hollywood actors a right to union representation.
In NFL contracts, players also sign over the right for teams and leagues to use their name, image and likeness in any material promoting the sport. Unlike the college contracts, NFL contracts do not allow the teams to sublicense a player’s NIL for use in any promotions for a commercial product. Unlike college athletes, NFL players are employees with collective bargaining rights.
HEITNER HAS HELPED both athletes and booster collectives craft NIL contracts that have provided legal means for players to receive salaries. Schools are now taking over the contract-drafting role in anticipation of the antitrust settlement being finalized later this year.
The collectives, which often work closely with the schools they support, were very careful to avoid any contract language that tied payments to where or how well an athlete played, Heitner told ESPN. But schools and conferences have steered directly into those types of requirements.
“It feels like all caution has been set aside,” he said. “These are employment agreements based on payment in exchange for play.”
In ESPN interviews and news conferences, many athletic directors and coaches have expressed interest in using the new contracts to slow down athlete transfers. The constant churn has made it difficult to manage their rosters, and they contend that legal challenges have made it hard for the NCAA to enforce many of its rules. If athletes were to obtain employment status, they say, many athletic departments wouldn’t be able to afford the added costs.
Professional sports leagues such as the NFL limit player movement and impose other controls over players — but they do it as employers through their union-negotiated contracts.
LAWYERS AND PLAYER ADVOCATES also say the schools are presenting athletes with one-sided offers that compel players to give up broad rights without a strong guarantee of how they will be paid.
Many of the contracts reviewed by ESPN create financial penalties if players move to break a deal early, yet they allow the schools wide discretion to change the terms of a deal or cancel it fully without penalty.
Lawyers and agents told ESPN they’ve had mixed success in negotiating more player-friendly changes into the initial contract offers, but they fear that many players who are not represented by an experienced agent are signing deals without understanding that they can ask for changes.
Schools construct complicated formulas to discourage transfers. Athletes who switch schools can face hefty buyout penalties on their existing contracts that require repayments of money already paid out. It’s up to the athlete to negotiate with the transfer school to pay the penalty. If not, it’s the athlete left holding a bill that could total many thousands of dollars.
Even if it’s the school that cancels the contract, the athlete could still wind up being stiffed. The contract of one Big 12 school, whose name was redacted from the copy provided to ESPN, offers to pay 50% of the remaining money owed on the deal if the school backs out.
However, the school “shall have no further obligation to pay any buyout” if the athlete subsequently enters the transfer portal — which the vast majority of athletes will do if they are pushed off their current roster by a coach who no longer wants them.
In others, such as a contract offer to a University of Central Florida football player worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, the player would have to repay the entire amount paid in the previous year before the player could sign a new deal with a different school. The school, though, has the right to terminate the agreement without penalty “at any time at its convenience and in its sole and absolute discretion.” By signing, the athlete waives the right to seek recourse.
A UCF spokesperson declined comment, citing confidentiality terms of the contract. “We respect the privacy of our student-athletes and adhere to all contractual obligations regarding confidentiality.”
UCF’s contract states that the player is forbidden from disclosing the terms of the deal, but no language prevents the school from discussing the deal.
“These deals are absolutely worthless to athletes,” Heitner said. “There’s no reason to sign it. You’re giving away rights and there’s no guarantees for you in it.”
Heitner and others said they fear that many athletes are eager to accept the money schools are offering without having a legal representative review the fine print of their contracts.
THE LEVELS OF CONTROL exercised by schools, as outlined in the contracts reviewed by ESPN, extend well beyond what professional contracts typically stipulate. Some contracts forbid players from signing any deal to endorse political organizations. One agreement specifies “candidates, PACs, or related entities” in its ban.
Once athletes have signed away their branding rights, schools are free to use or sell the athletes’ NIL with little or no input from the players. Some of the deals require athletes to sign away rights that go beyond the usual applications of name, image and likeness. The SEC’s template, for example, gives its schools the right to “use, publish, reproduce” and “make derivative works” of an athlete’s “signature, initials, photograph, gifs, visible tattoo artwork, image (actual, drawn, virtual and computer-generated), hologram, avatar, caricature, voice” and “other intellectual property rights.”
Most deals reviewed by ESPN limit the types of endorsements an athlete may sign with other companies, particularly if an endorsement deal could conflict with one of the school’s sponsors.
The Big Ten template prohibits players from endorsing any products related to alcohol, tobacco, e-cigarettes, gambling, adult entertainment or any other product or activity the school “determines will dilute or harm its reputation.” The school is also prohibited from selling the player’s rights to these types of companies.
Contracts from both Big Ten and Big 12 teams also give the school control of a player’s group licensing rights — which means athletes are unlikely to receive direct payments for their likeness being used in video games or to sell jerseys and other merchandise. In professional sports, those rights are usually held by a players’ union, and athletes reap additional payments when they are sold.
“There’s a reason why the NFLPA gets a chance to see any deal that involves five players or more,” said Brandon Copeland, a seven-season NFL veteran who is now the chief executive of Athletes.org — a group vying to represent college athletes as a players’ association. “One, that’s to protect the athletes, and two, is to make sure it’s maximized and the athletes aren’t being taken advantage of.”
THE LEGAL LANGUAGE and length of the contracts obtained by ESPN vary widely. Some exceed 20 pages.
Several agents told ESPN the complexities can make it hard for athletes and their families to understand their options. Some schools are willing to renegotiate the terms, the agents said, while others adopt more of a take-it or leave-it stance.
Several schools have changed their contract structure already based on what other competitors are offering to athletes, according to Jason Bloom, the general manager of A&P Sports Agency.
“They’re changing the contracts constantly,” Bloom said. “A lot of the time, they’re throwing stuff against the wall. Some of it will stick. Some of it will be challenged and it won’t stick.”
Bloom said A&P has negotiated more than 30 contracts worth more than $12 million combined for athletes in the past few months.
If a player is talented enough, A&P co-owner Jacob Piasecki said, schools will be willing to agree to “pretty much whatever you want,” including removing buyout clauses, getting rid of the school’s right to change a player’s payments and other requests.
“For the guys that are not in that position, you’ll get a verbal promise,” Bloom said. “We don’t accept those, but that’s what they try to do.” And the terms are far less negotiable, he added.
ALTHOUGH PLAYERS ARE signing these deals now, every contract reviewed by ESPN said that the deals are contingent upon Judge Claudia Wilken approving the House v. NCAA settlement. Some of the contracts say that any appeals also would need to be finalized before the deals go into effect.
Wilken has scheduled a final hearing on April 7, and a ruling could take weeks more. Several attorneys who have objected to the settlement say they will consider appealing if Wilken approves the deal. In that case, appeals could drag on long after schools are scheduled to start paying their players in July.
Heitner, Bloom and others who have helped athletes negotiate their deals say some schools have agreed to guarantee player payments even if the settlement falls through. In some cases, the school’s booster collective offers to cover the promised money. And in other cases — especially where state laws already provide schools with the legal cover to pay their players directly — the schools have agreed to pay the players no matter how Wilken rules.
Many contracts require players to stipulate that they are not employees of the school. In some, the players are asked to waive any rights to sue their school, its conference or the NCAA in the future on the grounds that they should be treated as employees. In one case, players are required to waive any right to object to the terms of the House settlement during its 10-year lifespan.
LeRoy, the Illinois law professor, said it’s unclear whether those waivers would hold up in a court challenge.
Heitner said judges would be unlikely to uphold “scare tactics” that compel athletes to sign away their right to be recognized as employees.
If a court decides in the future that athletes are employees, multiple contracts stipulate that all of the money provided through these deals would count as the full payment the athletes deserve for their employment.
“That’s talking out of both sides of your mouth,” Willemin said. “It says this is not an employment relationship, but if someone determines that it is an employment relationship, then we’ve paid you for that work. You can’t mix around what you’re paying for.”
Copeland, of Athletes.org, said he expects future court challenges to some of the restrictive clauses in these contracts, adding that the legal peace the NCAA hopes to achieve through its settlement and these new contracts is likely to be short-lived.
“I think next year will be a lot more chaos than there ever has been,” Copeland said. “Eventually people are going to look at this whole system and say: Well, why don’t we just do this thing like pros?”
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1. Ryan Odom, VCU Rams
2. Alan Huss, High Point Panthers
3. Bucky McMillan, Samford Bulldogs
4. Ben McCollum, Drake Bulldogs
5. Jerrod Calhoun, Utah State Aggies
6. Niko Medved, Colorado State Rams
7. Russell Turner, UC Irvine Anteaters
8. Takayo Siddle, UNC Wilmington Seahawks
9. Tony Skinn, George Mason Patriots
10. Eric Olen, UC San Diego Tritons
11. Daniyal Robinson, Cleveland State Vikings
12. Ross Hodge, North Texas Mean Green
13. Matt Langel, Colgate Raiders
14. Preston Spradlin, James Madison Dukes
15. Drew Valentine, Loyola Chicago Ramblers
16. Eric Henderson, South Dakota State Jackrabbits
17. Mike Morrell, UNC Asheville Bulldogs
18. Bryan Hodgson, Arkansas State Red Wolves
19. Mitch Henderson, Princeton Tigers
20. Bob Richey, Furman Paladins
College basketball coaching changes: Miami, Utah waste little time making hires in prep for portal season
March is here and you better believe the carousel’s already spinning.
In fact, we didn’t even get through the first week without two hirings. You can read those stories below:
» Miami has plucked Duke assistant Jai Lucas as its next coach
» Utah alum Alex Jensen is leaving the Mavericks to coach his alma mater
Two down … so, so many to go.
This story/link is where you’ll find our ever-updating men’s college basketball coaching tracker. Over the next month-plus, this piece will get dozens of updates. Carousel intel, sourced info, inevitably debunking some rumors and the latest on what’s happening off the court amid the busiest month of the year in college hoops: you’ll find it all here.
Eleven jobs are set to change as of now; you can peruse the impending vacancies below. We’ll almost definitely hit at least 40 coaching moves in this cycle — and 50-plus wouldn’t be a surprise at all. That said, don’t expect 2025 to hit the levels of absurdity that 2024 did, when there was a record 68 job swaps. Be sure to bookmark this page. It will get a couple of updates over the next week, and then daily (and sometimes multiple refreshes within the same day) by the time high-major conference tournaments are underway.
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| Out: Leonard Hamilton | In: TBD After 22 seasons, Hamilton, 76, is leaving his post in Tallahassee once his contract is up at the conclusion of this season. He won more than 450 games at FSU and molded nine first-round NBA picks. But the program slipped in recent seasons and a reboot is in order. Hamilton is also being sued by five of his former players over disputed non-payments tied to NIL opportunities from the 2023-24 season. The Seminoles took meetings with a variety of candidates in recent weeks. FSU alum/Sacramento Kings assistant Luke Loucks (who played for Hamilton from 2009-12) is regarded as the front runner, per sources. |
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| Out: Mike Woodson | In: TBD The Hoosiers may well play their way into the NCAAs during Woodson’s lame-duck run in Year 4. If IU makes it, that will mark three Big Dance showings in four years under Woodson. Big picture, the program failed to hit the upper echelons of the sport, and thus, IU will be hiring its sixth coach in a quarter century. The candidate pool on Woodson’s replacement is up for debate. Can IU lure a name as big/accomplished as Scott Drew? Hard to see … but not impossible. TJ Otzelberger, Buzz Williams, Greg McDermott and Ben McCollum should all get calls. There’s been some Mick Cronin noise out there, but the buyout is massive. I just don’t see that one at this juncture. |
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| Out: Jim Larrañaga | In: Jai Lucas When Larrañaga retired the day after Christmas, it sent a bad Miami team skidding into trouble full-on off the cliff and into an all-time plunge. The 6-23 Hurricanes are having one of their worst seasons in program history. It’s wild to look back at this program now vs. where it was less than two years ago when it made the Final Four. Lucas will formally be introduced as the next coach on Thursday, according to my sources. He’ll be leaving Duke after the weekend, as a massive roster flip will be underway in Coral Gables, with Lucas getting to work on building a staff. |
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| Out: Craig Smith | In: Alex Jensen Utah AD Mark Harlan’s awkwardly timed firing of Smith didn’t do him any favors in the industry; a lot of people around college athletics panned Harlan for how he handled it. Turns out, that timing enabled him to convince Jensen to take the job and get a head start on the inevitable portal purge. Utah’s NIL situation is near the bottom of the Big 12. Will this hire create a surge of financial support? With fellow former Ute Andre Miller in the mix to join Jensen’s staff, that would only help the cause. More big changes in the Beehive State. |
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| Out: Ron Sanchez | In: TBD Though Virginia hasn’t officially moved on from Sanchez — he’s been the interim after Tony Bennett’s abrupt retirement in October — it’s only a matter of time. Sources said a search firm working on behalf of Virginia has been in touch with multiple candidates. One of them is local and obvious: VCU coach Ryan Odom. The Rams are atop the A-10, and Odom’s father Dave coached in the league (Wake Forest and Virginia for more than 20 years). He’s not the only one in play here, though. Richard Pitino is one to watch, especially given the outstanding job he’s done at New Mexico this season. I’m told UVa expects to have around $7 million to provide in NIL and anticipated revenue sharing for the 2025-26 season. |
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| Out: Fran Dunphy | In: TBD The 76-year-old Philly legend is retiring this month after nearly 50 years in college basketball coaching. Dunphy won more than 600 games and is among the most well-liked and accomplished coaches in the storied history of Philadelphia basketball. La Salle’s program is among the more cash-strapped at the multi-bid-league level. The next guy will be starting from behind, as this is a lower-tier job in the A-10. Landing a sitting head coach at a low-major in the northeast is the candidate pool, sources said. |
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| Out: Bob Marlin | In: TBD After a 15-year run that included two Sun Belt auto bids (2014, 2023), Marlin was fired in December. There’s been a lot of buzz at this one for Houston assistant Quannas White, in addition to LSU assistant David Patrick. |
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| Out: Keith Richard | In: TBD Richard began his time as coach of the Warhawks in the Sun Belt in 2010, but he was never been able to break through and make the NCAAs. Program last made the Big Dance in 1996. |
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| Out: Michael Czepil | In: TBD David Patrick resigned last May (and eventually joined Matt McMahon’s staff at LSU), which led to Czepil being the interim. The Hornets finished the regular season 7-24. |
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| Out: Kyle Keller | In: TBD Keller coached SFA for nearly nine seasons and won 18 or more games in six of those years. He was fired in January. He also was responsible for one of the biggest upsets in college basketball history, when his Lumberjacks team upset No. 1 Duke in November of 2019. |
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| Former coach: Amir Abdur-Rahim | In: TBD A sad inclusion to the tracker, as Abdur-Rahim tragically died in the preseason at 43, leading to Ben Fletcher serving as the interim head coach over the past four-plus months. Abdur-Rahim was a rising star. The American Athletic Conference named Abdur-Rahim its Honorary Coach of the Year for 2024-25. |
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13 names to know as college basketball’s 2025 coaching carousel heats up
Hiring the right coach during the annual spring college basketball coaching carousel can change a program’s fortunes quickly. Last spring, Louisville moved on from Kenny Payne and plucked Pat Kelsey away from Charleston. In just one year, the Cardinals have gone from the ACC cellar to competing with Duke and Clemson for a conference title. Kelsey’s not the only example of a great hire from the last cycle. Dusty May at Michigan and Mark Byington at Vanderbilt are notable coaches who quickly won and turned programs around in year one. The right coach can make all the difference.
The 2024-25 season hasn’t even finished and there are already major openings across college basketball. Florida State, Indiana, Miami, Utah and Virginia are going to be in the market for new coaches. And of course, more jobs will be opening in the coming weeks once conference tournaments conclude.
RELATED: NCAA Tournament bubble teams: What each program needs to punch ticket to March Madness
As we near the end of the season, rumors are starting to fly on who could be the top names for some of the top jobs in college basketball. Let’s take a look at 13 coaches whose names we expect to emerge during this year’s coaching carousel.
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Oklahoma turns to quarterback John Mateer as it enters a pivotal fourth season for coach Brent Venables. The Sooners handed the Washington State transfer a massive NIL deal this offseason in hopes of making the program more competitive in 2025 following a 2-6 record in SEC play during its first season in the conference. The Little Elm (Texas) product said he feels no pressure.
“I’m pretty confident,” Mateer said Wednesday. “Pressure is a privilege. The first day of strength and conditioning workouts, my teammates put me in the front of the line. I really appreciated that. That gave me some confidence. Seeing my teammates willing to come throw with me, work out extra and do those things gives me a lot of confidence in what we can do this year.”
Mateer discussed his growing relationship with the Oklahoma wide receivers and what fans can expect from the new-look offense under coordinator Ben Arbuckle, who came from Washington State as well. He also touched on his relationship with Venables and how he’ll manage tougher competition in the SEC.
RELATED (VIP): Five position battles to track for Oklahoma during spring practices
Here’s everything Mateer told reporters Wednesday:
“I don’t really think about the expectations too much. I don’t put pressure on myself. It’s really important to focus on the daily and in my own process and teach all the guys the new offense that we’re bringing in. We had success last year, and there are a lot of talented guys on this offense. I think we’ll do a good job. …
“I’d say I’m pretty confident. Pressure is a privilege. It’s a little cliché, but it’s true. The first day of strength and conditioning workouts, my teammates put me in the front of the line. I really appreciated that. That gave me some confidence. Seeing my teammates willing to come throw with me, work out extra and do those things gives me a lot of confidence in what we can do this year. I wouldn’t say it’s pressure. I really enjoy it. I love football. I love it. I love being in the building all the time and meeting new people and building relationships.”
“I’ll be honest, I used to struggle with the word ‘fun’ on the field because if I’m not winning, it’s not fun. It’s not fun if you’re not winning. We had a lot of success this past year, so it was fun. People say I have swag. I mean, you should play football. I have the ball in my hand every play. I get the opportunity to do something with it. The camera is on me all the time. So, I guess I have swag. Some people say I have toughness. I just feel like I have an obligation to give everything I have for my teammates. I guess that’s where that comes from.”
“Talking to him, you can just tell he’s a very intelligent individual. He’s really smart. You can tell by the way he talks about my teammates as people, and the coaches and their relationships. Being on his team, I can see just how much he cares and how passionate he is. He knows how to win. I know last season wasn’t super successful, but he’s been on a lot of winning teams, and he knows the formula. I’m just learning from him. I tell him often that I appreciate him and what he’s done in giving me this opportunity. He’s a great man and a great coach.”
“I’ve had a lot of close friends throughout my whole life who are huge Oklahoma fans. One of my good buddies goes to school here. We all hang out. It’s all pretty surreal. I’m the quarterback of the Oklahoma Sooners; it’s wild. I’m here and I feel blessed to do it. It’s close to home, which is great. My family loves it because I’m so close. It’s just a privilege and opportunity to be here and work as hard as I can with all the resources I have and the great teammates I have around me. I want to put my best performance on the field.”
“It’s a spread offense that’s versatile enough to bring big bodies in on plays when we need to and confuse defensive coordinators. We make them have to prepare for a lot of things that we can throw at them, especially because of the running quarterback. You got to add an extra hat in the box. We’re just very versatile, and we can do a lot of things and make a lot of checks to beat what they do. It turns into a really fun chess match.”
“It’s been forming pretty quickly. We throw often. Twice a week, we’ll get out there and throw. It will be more, but it’s pretty taxing, the strength and conditioning, and I don’t want anybody to hurt themselves. It’s been awesome to see. These guys are very good athletes. I’m excited to throw to them. It’s been good. I know the offense and how the routes should be run. Spring ball will be huge, learning and playing against a real defense. This defense is pretty good. I’ve been watching them. It’s a little confusing, but I’ll get it. Throwing routes on air is one thing, but learning each other on the field is another thing. I’m excited to do it.”
“I was in a quarterback competition until the second-to-last week of fall camp last season. This is my first full year being able to embrace the opportunity, and it’s been great. Some of the stuff, I’m just winging it. But leadership is something that I was gifted with. I’m just building relationships with people and showing my teammates that I really care about them. I want them to succeed on and off the field.”
“I’m excited for it. Playing the best defenses is going to show me that I’m capable of doing it or what I need to improve on. The timing is probably a little quicker after watching film. You have to be more detailed because of the players that we’ll be playing against, which is fine. It makes it more fun, even more of a chess match. I’m excited for it. Now, will it be the easiest thing? No. But great atmospheres, great players, great coaches. It’s the place to be.”
“I haven’t talked to Baker (Mayfield) a whole lot since I committed just because I know he’s busy, and I don’t really want to bother him. But I bet if I texted him, he’d be open to it. I’ve heard a lot of advice from different guys. I talked to Dillon Gabriel. He came and talked a little bit. He just told me to embrace the guys and really build relationships because that’s the most important thing. He told me to be a leader, love the fans, the process, the offense and just learning everybody and learning how to win.”
“I have a platform. I have a platform to do a lot of things. I’m sitting here right now and speaking my thoughts and my opinions. If people see me do it, they’ll be inspired to do it, too. It’s important to encourage people to support all the other teams because they do it for us. I don’t think every quarterback has to be pressured into doing this, but I do enjoy it. I like watching high-level sports. You look around, and every sport is ranked, and every sport competes at a high level. I love watching it. I like going to gymnastics on Friday night. We’re the best team in the country. I’m going to go watch the best gymnasts in the country compete because they do at such a high level.”
Spring camp is a more important piece of the college football offseason now than it was even a few short years ago with early enrollees joining their rosters at higher rates and the transfer portal sparking massive roster overhauls. Some teams have more to gain than others from the spring practice slate, and some players have more at stake, too, than their counterparts. True freshmen, returners stepping into bigger roles and prized transfers generally make the most of the offseason session.
All eyes are on the quarterback battles at Michigan, Alabama, Notre Dame and beyond over the next couple of months, but competitions at other positions and on other playoff-contending rosters are just as critical.
Most of the teams inside our preseason top 25 are either already in the opening stages of spring camp or will kick off their practice slate in the near future, so early returns on their prized newcomers and heated position battles are on the horizon.
Get the latest football and recruiting scoop on your favorite college team today.
Here is one player to monitor this spring on each top-25 roster:
25. Oklahoma Sooners: QB John Mateer — There are no questions about Mateer’s fit in the Oklahoma offense given that he already shined under coordinator Ben Arbuckle at Washington State. Whether that leads to improvement for the Sooners, though, is uncertain.
24. Illinois Fighting Illini: WR Hudson Clement — Few teams returned as much starting production as Illinois this offseason, but the receiving corps underwent major turnover. Clement has big shoes to fill with Pat Bryant and Zakhari Franklin gone.
23. Indiana Hoosiers: QB Fernando Mendoza — After he shattered expectations at California, Mendoza arrived in the Big Ten as one of the conference’s top newcomers. If Indiana is to repeat as a surprise playoff contender, he needs to fill Kurtis Rourke’s role at a high level.
22. Texas Tech Red Raiders: EDGE Romello Height — As one of the headliners of Texas Tech’s historic transfer portal class, Height brings immense promise to a roster that may compete for a Big 12 crown. He is a key pickup for a team that will square off against countless high-end quarterbacks.
21. Nebraska Cornhuskers: WR Dane Key — The supporting cast around Dylan Raiola got better this offseason. If he and Key, who amassed 715 yards last year in the SEC, form an immediate connection, the offense should take a much-needed step forward.
20. Auburn Tigers: QB Jackson Arnold — Auburn went all-in with its 2025 recruiting class and found a premier quarterback transfer. Arnold has a chance to hit the ground running this spring with a tremendous receiving unit at his disposal.
19. Ole Miss Rebels: QB Austin Simmons — All of the early offseason buzz at Ole Miss centers around Simmons, who developed behind Jaxson Dart over the last three years. His predecessor gushed over his “elite talent.”
18. Iowa State Cyclones: WR Chase Sowell — Iowa State lost a pair of 1,000-yard receivers and needs a new go-to option for Rocco Becht. Enter Sowell, an experienced target who flew under the radar at East Carolina but has star potential.
17. Kansas State Wildcats: RB Dylan Edwards — Edwards has big shoes to fill after DJ Giddens ran for 1,343 yards last season. He was fantastic in his change-of-pace role in 2024 and could thrive as the primary weapon next to Avery Johnson in a dynamic backfield.
16. Michigan Wolverines: QB Bryce Underwood — Sherrone Moore did not tab a frontrunner in the quarterback battle entering the spring, but as the top recruit in the 2025 class, Underwood has what it takes to compete right out of the gate. He is a special talent who could return the Wolverines to Big Ten title contention as a true freshman.
15. Arizona State Sun Devils: RB Kanye Udoh — Replacing a Heisman Trophy candidate is no easy feat, but Arizona State might have its next great running back in Udoh, who last season crossed the 1,000-yard mark at Army.
14. Miami Hurricanes: S Zechariah Poyser — With Carson Beck on the shelf this spring, the attention is largely on the Miami defense, which has to be better if the Hurricanes are to reach the playoff. Poyser is one of the best fits in the transfer cycle and should uplift a secondary that struggled mightily last fall.
13. Florida Gators: RB Jadan Baugh — Florida needs a strong running game to take pressure off DJ Lagway as he settles into the full-time starting job, and Baugh gives the Gators immense upside on the ground. He was fantastic in a modest freshman role, so this offseason is key as he looks to take a second-year leap.
12. LSU Tigers: EDGE Patrick Payton — The LSU defense is under the microscope again. Payton has a chance to become the instant leader of the unit, but he has to rebound from a letdown year at Florida State. If he is back to his old form, it should be clear this spring.
11. South Carolina Gamecocks: CB Brandon Cisse — South Carolina lost a significant amount of talent from last year’s breakthrough defense, but it plugged a big hole in the secondary with Cisse’s arrival as a blue-chip transfer.
10. SMU Mustangs: OT Dramodd Odoms — Odoms is the face of SMU’s recruiting surge as the highest-rated signee in program history. The five-star freshman does not have a clear path to playing time with both tackles back in the lineup, but it is worth watching whether he can carve out a role.
9. Tennessee Volunteers: CB Boo Carter — Everyone in the Tennessee secondary needs to step up if Jermod McCoy’s knee injury forces him to miss time next season. Carter could shoulder a significant portion of that load after he broke out in the second half of his true freshman campaign.
8. Alabama Crimson Tide: QB Keelon Russell — There is a three-man quarterback battle in Tuscaloosa this spring, and Russell is very much in the mix. The five-star prospect was one of the biggest risers late in the 2025 cycle and turned heads in the early days of his Alabama career.
7. Notre Dame Fighting Irish: QB Steve Angeli — Notre Dame has one of college football’s most intriguing quarterback battles. Angeli is the presumptive favorite given that he holds more experience than CJ Carr, but this is a situation to monitor over the coming months.
6. Clemson Tigers: EDGE Will Heldt — Dabo Swinney finally embraced the transfer portal, and he found a premier newcomer in Heldt, who logged five sacks last year at Purdue and is just what the Tigers need to lift up a defense that struggled in 2024.
5. Oregon Ducks: WR Dakorien Moore — The next superstar freshman receiver in college football might reside at Oregon. Moore is the unquestioned No. 1 wideout in the freshman class and promises to immediately force his way into the lineup.
4. Penn State Nittany Lions: WR Kyron Hudson — Penn State had no greater need entering the offseason than to retool its receiving corps, which vanished in the playoff and was inconsistent at best all year. Hudson arrived through the portal as a promising weapon but has never before been a go-to option. Drew Allar needs him to fill that role in order for the Nittany Lions to make a national championship push.
3. Ohio State Buckeyes: QB Julian Sayin — Sayin is not a lock to win the starting job but is the expected quarterback of the present and future for Ohio State. He is still relatively green, so his first full offseason with the Buckeyes is critical to his development.
2. Georgia Bulldogs: WR Zachariah Branch — Georgia lacked reliability from its wide receivers in 2024 and sought help through the transfer portal. Branch joined the program ahead of spring camp as, perhaps, the answer to that problem. He is as explosive as they come, but time will tell as to whether he can finally emerge as a primary option rather than just an open-field dynamo.
1. Texas Longhorns: WR Kaliq Lockett — Lockett is one of four five-star signees in Texas’ top-ranked recruiting class, and he has a potential lane to a starting job as a true freshman after the Longhorns saw their top pass-catchers depart for the NFL. The in-state prospect holds eventual Day 1 NFL Draft potential.
Washington hosts its junior day Saturday. The Huskies do so with one of their biggest visit days in recent years, from local and national recruits coming up this weekend.
Headed by senior director of player personnel Matt Doherty and his staff that includes director of player personnel Jacob Crawford, assistant director of player personnel Erik Hamburg, director of recruiting Marcus Griffin, director of high school relations Jaleel Wadood and director of recruiting operations Mar Bactol, the Huskies and their revamped personnel staff have a busy weekend on tap.
Two out-of-state quarterbacks are among those expected.
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