UCF Head Coaching Replacements For George O’Leary

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Yeah, yeah, yeah, the Miami head coaching job is open.

The UCF gig might be better.

The poor sap who takes over at The U is faced with impossible expectations, an okay infrastructure, a fickle fan base that only shows up when it matters, and demands that he win a national title yesterday.

George O’Leary set an incredibly high standard at UCF, too.

Disgraced after the resume flub after accepting the Notre Dame, job, he ended up taking over a Central Florida program that went 0-11 his first year, and then rocked in Year Two going 8-5 with a Conference USA East title. Along the way, the program became good enough and cool enough to become UCF, O’Leary won four conference championships, a Fiesta Bowl, and with 81 wins in 11 seasons before this year’s disaster.

It’s a giant school with a huge alumni base sitting in the dead center of one of the nation’s most fertile recruiting bases.

More than that, it’s a prime school to potentially be plucked in another round of realignment and conference expansion, with the ACC, SEC and Big 12 all likely to be more than just a little curious into securing the Orlando-Tampa TV markets.

And unlike Miami, no one’s going to be flying a plane with a banner urging you to be fired if you don’t win a national championship right away.

So who are the prime candidates for the gig? Who makes the most sense? Remember, UCF is likely going to be seen as a next-step sort of job, so a lot of the big names talked about in the opening for other jobs like USC, South Carolina and Miami might not necessarily be on the table here.

I’m the one-man search committee. Here are the first five guys I call to check out.

5. Will Muschamp, Auburn defensive coordinator

No one has a bad word to say about the guy, except for Florida fans currently jacked up over what the program is currently doing under Jim McElwain. Yeah, the bloom is off the Muschamp rose a little bit – okay, a lot – considering his Auburn defense isn’t rocking right now, but in a lot of ways, he makes sense. He knows the area, knows Florida high school football, and he knows defense. It might be a tough sell considering the offensive production the school is known for, but right away he’d turn UCF into a defensive powerhouse.

4. Matt Campbell, Toledo head coach

The only question is his age and his ability to step in and learn the Florida recruiting world in a hurry. Already solid when it comes to knowing Florida, he has seven Floridians currently on his Toledo roster including four from Tampa – he wouldn’t be starting from scratch. Turning 36 this football season, he’s very young, very good, and very in demand after a 7-0 start with a win over Arkansas along the way. While he’s rooted in Ohio and spent his playing career on the defensive side, he’s known for his ground game and innovative offense.

3. Doug Meacham, TCU co-offensive coordinator

is he ready to take on a head coaching gig? All he did was combine with co-offensive coordinator Sonny Cumbie to take TCU from 104th in the nation in total offense to fifth in just one season, and turn part-receiver/part quarterback Trevone Boykin into a Heisman caliber star with NFL starting potential. A successful offensive coordinator wherever he’s been, he’s add instant life to the nation’s 127th ranked offense.

2. Dino Babers, Bowling Green head coach

A top-shelf offensive coordinator who worked in the Baylor offensive world before making the step up to Eastern Illinois – taking the Panthers to the FCS playoffs two years in a row – and last year rocking with Bowling Green, taking a rebuilding MAC champion back to the conference title game. This year, his offense is No. 1 in the nation in passing and No. 4 overall, pushing Memphis in a 44-41 loss and beating Purdue and Maryland. 54 years old, he’s ready for that next job.

1. Jeff Brohm, WKU head coach

Here’s the problem – the 44-year-old rising coaching superstar has NFL written all over him. The former Louisville quarterback worked his way up the ladder and earned his stripes, even seeing time in the Florida recruiting world as the Florida Atlantic quarterback coach for a season. He took what Bobby Petrino helped set in motion and ran with it, cranking out one of the nation’s most prolific passing attacks. Getting him would be getting in when the stock is about to explode.