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Pair of former SEC head coaches listed among potential candidates for Illinois
By Jake Rill
Published:
On Sunday, Illinois announced that it had fired head coach Lovie Smith. Could a former SEC head coach eventually become the new leader of the Fighting Illini?
Smith went 17-39 over five years at Illinois, which included going 2-5 this season. Now, the school will look for a head coach that can lead it to better success in the future.
Pete Thamel of Yahoo Sports listed 12 candidates who could potentially be the next Fighting Illini head coach, and among those names are a pair of former SEC head coaches — Bret Bielema and Joe Moorhead.
Bielema, who was the head coach at Arkansas from 2013-17, is currently an assistant for the New York Giants after spending time on the New England Patriots’ staff the previous two seasons. He went 29-34 during his time leading the Razorbacks.
Moorhead was the head coach at Mississippi State from 2018-19, leading the Bulldogs to a 14-12 record. He is currently the offensive coordinator at Oregon, which is 3-2 this season.
Here are the other names that Thamel listed as potential candidates: Kent State head coach Sean Lewis, Buffalo head coach Lance Leipold, Army head coach Jeff Monken, Notre Dame defensive coordinator Clark Lea, Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun, Wisconsin defensive coordinator Jim Leonhard, Toledo head coach Jason Candle, Nevada head coach Jay Norvell, North Dakota State head coach Matt Entz and Tulane head coach Willie Fritz.
Illinois isn’t the only Power Five school currently with an opening. Vanderbilt is still looking for a new head coach, while Arizona fired Kevin Sumlin on Saturday.
Jake Rill contributes to news coverage for Saturday Down South. He has covered the SEC since 2016.
