1 SEC head coach already being mentioned as candidate at FSU
Shortly after news spread that Willie Taggart was fired at Florida State on Sunday, a list of potential replacement candidates was developed.
A name that’s been mentioned for this job in the past quickly surfaced. Kentucky coach Mark Stoops, a former Florida State defensive coordinator from 2010-2012, was among those believed to be in consideration.
David Hale of ESPN mentioned a list would be Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, Stoops, Memphis coach Mike Norvell and Clemson offensive coordinator Tony Elliott. “Campbell is Dabo approach with some proven results in a tough place to win. Stoops knows the lay of the land and can recruit, build a D. Norvell is offensive guru. Elliott steals from competition.”
John Clay of the Lexington Herald-Leader also agreed with the Stoops connection.
“With news that Florida State has fired Willie Taggart as football coach, look for Mark Stoops to be on media lists of possible candidates for FSU job,” Clay tweeted.
Stoops is known as having one of the more coach-friendly contracts in the country. In Stoops’ current contract, he’s guaranteed a one-year extension each time he leads Kentucky to a seven-win season, and he’s guaranteed a two-year extension each time he leads the program to a 10-win season.
At FSU, Stoops had a successful run.
He inherited a unit a unit ranked 108th in the nation in total defense and turned it into one of the nation’s best. In the 2012 season, the Seminoles were second in the nation in total defense, allowing 254.1 yards per game, and sixth nationally in scoring defense at 14.7 points per game. FSU was third in the country in rushing defense and led the nation in pass defense. FSU led the ACC in seven defensive categories. Stoops also coached the defensive backs under head coach Jimbo Fisher.
I could see this going either way. FSU is a much easier and realistic path to a title in perhaps the best recruiting state in the country. Conversely, UK can pay him more at this point and his job security here is infinitely greater than it is there. In the past, he has spoken of his fondness for what Frank Beamer did at VT, building up a moribund program into a consistent presence. I hope that leads to him staying.
For FSU, obviously this would be a very good hire, though I’m not sure it would be a slam dunk. FSU fans expect to win, but they also expect to do it a certain way. I’d expect them to go after someone like Norvell first, although I’d love to see the Lane train roll into Tallahassee.
Stoops is not a good fit for the snobs of FSU. His no nonsense, no flair approach would not endear him to the high society fans. They would be idiots but …. if the shoe fits. I wonder if he might go to Michigan when coach khaki goes back to the NFL or gets run off.
That job has gotten toxic and Clemson has the ACC on lockdown right now. The only choice for them right now is to give it to a young coach that has the energy to turn that dumbster fire around.
Agree. The FSU job is pretty much a tear-down at this point. From what we’re told of “Jimbo leaving a mess” (I’m always skeptical of mess-leaving narratives), they’re going to need an entirely new roster.
I’ve thought the Michigan job might be where he winds up as well. He wouldn’t be their first choice but I could see a scenario where he gets an offer as their third.
I think Michigan would be a perfect place for him. He’d have to beat Ohio St at some point, of course, but Michigan is a lot closer to Ohio St than FSU is to Clemson right now.
Any coach would have to think very carefully about going to a school that fires a guy after a season and a half.
Hell….. if you got paid the 17 million plus that he’ll get, who cares?
I agree its not like he’s not gonna get paid a heck of a lot more than what a college coach should make, go be a coordinator at a P5 or head coach at a G5 school.
Wonder if a white coach would have been fired in 1.5 seasons with such a hefty buyout? Honest question…
Granted as a Gator fan I enjoyed the woes FSU was going through since we had gone through the same thing with McElwain and especially the fact he refused to fire his incompetent offensive coordinator after 3 years of craptastic offense.
I would have thought Taggert deserved at least to the end of this season to show some signs of improvement, make staff changes as needed, etc.
He’s been horrible since arriving nothing to do with race. In this politically charged climate that definitely would not be the reason.
He failed to recruit a QB in either of his recruiting classes, was 0-5 and uncompetitive against rivals, his teams were very undisciplined, they struggled against mid-tier opponents, and no objective or subjective signs of improvement had been made. He clearly wasn’t the right hire and nothing is gained by waiting to fire him. Arkansas should do the same. At least Pruitt had two big upsets last year and has definitely turned things around this season enough to warrant additional time. Firing before two complete seasons is a bad look, yes, but there appears to be a number of jobs potentially opening up this season so you might as well get first pick.
Very low expectations at KY. Give Stoops a raise and let him stay safe for as long as he wants. FSU, hire a pro assistant who can go back to. NFL after FSU chews him up.
Exactly.
Maybe they’re just smart enough to see when something isn’t working.
Does this mean that Taggart will soon be an analyst at Alabama?
That guy is worse than Butch Jones that’s saying something. At least Jones coached in a real conference unlike Taggart who is in the absolute worst P5 conference.
Im hoping Florida shoves a thumb in the nulls eye and hires Willie to do coffee and ham sammich runs.
Nah. He’ll take a year off then maybe enter Nick Saban’s Fired College Head Football Coach Rehab Program. Butch Jones is about to graduate, so there will be a spot available.
haha. Awesome comment. You win the internet for tonight
Calm down Kentuckyz they will go after Good Stoops first.
You guys can have Moorhead. Please!
What, Rutgers isn’t biting on him?
They will.
Taggart’s buyout is $18 million and I believe Stoops’s is somewhere close to $20 million. I won’t underestimate FSU booster’s ability to gather money, but that’s quite a chunk of change.
Wait wait, how in the world does Stoops have a buyout anywhere close to $20 million at Kentucky…
Mark Stoops’ buyout at Kentucky is $1.75 million.
That makes way more sense.
Yeah, sorry. A lot of sites I read were reporting the wrong number. If he gets fired, he is owed close to $20 million.
I really hope Arkansas drops Morris so they can hire Norvell before someone else tries to.
FSU is going to want a flashy big name Coach. Stoops is a ground and pound / play great defense type of Coach. Rumors in Lexington are that his family loves the community. If offered by FSU I think Stoops uses the opportunity to leverage the AD for more $.
Why would anyone leave Kentucky to coach at a school who has only won THREE national championships? Not to mention 18 conference championships?
If FSU comes after ‘our version of Stoops’ will they guarantee a $500.000 year raise for the next three years?
Look for Miracle Mitch tear up the recent contract, get ‘our version of Stoops’ to sign on for a cool $1,000,000 annual raise until he the highest paid college football coach in America.
Anything to avoid a coaching search.
Go MITCH!
Stoops would not be a ground and pound kinda guy if he had some elite athletes. He can win at FSU. UK is never the final destination of any FB coach unless he is near retirement (thin Rich Brooks).
Matt Campbell has reached the ceiling at Iowa State. That program will never be elite. Tallahassee vs. Ames? Get real.
What about P.J. Fleck? Yeah, he says he loves Minnesota. Every coach always says they love whoever is paying them.
Yeah, considering Kentucky total offense is 101 in the NCAA stats and 118 in passing offense.
I think they should make it a condition of his contact at FSU he has to bring Eddie Gran with him.
Mitch will grumble because he will want to keep Gran as his new head coach so he doesn’t have to do a coaching search.
You say that Stoops wouldn’t be a ground-and-pound guy with elite recruits, but that bucks against everything he’s ever said and did (also was the whole point of spread offenses to even things out for the middle class against the mighty ground-and-pound power schools?). Anyways, Kirby’s still ground-and-pound at UGA and I’d bet Stoops would double-down on it at a bigger school. I think it’s important to note that as the talent has increased at UK, the offense has gotten more ground-and-pound after starting with an Air Raid.
“It’s something you don’t want to address during the season,” Stoops said.
I think we all know how to interpret that one…
Yep. That was a big non-answer from him. I don’t know how strong his ties to FSU are other than doing good things as their D Coordinator, but almost anywhere is an upgrade over UK.
Ever since the orchestrated “blame Jimbo” stuff started coming out, I’ve been saying FSU is going through at least a decade of irrelevance. They’ve already wasted $32 million on the failed Taggart experiment (and people had a cow over Jimbo’s Aggie contract). It’s a dumpster fire that is set to burn for a while.
Stoops would be a fool to take that job, it really does need a “Lane Kiffin” bigger than life.
Only thing about Lane Kiffin that’s “bigger than life” is his ego.
Really, I just don’t get fans’ continual infatuation with him. Sure, he can call plays & make an offense with talented players wirk. But as a head coach he’s accomplished next to nothing. Every job he’s had, he’s left bitterness &/or wreckage in his wake. At every stop of his career, he’s shown himself to be an immature brat as well as a 1-man distraction machine. Why any AD in his right mind would want this guy to lead his school’s football program is beyond me.
As a Clemson fan, I’m so thankful we didn’t hire him back in 2008 when we had a head-coaching vacancy. (His name was getting tossed around in the rumor mill right after we canned Tommy Bowden 6 games into the season.) It isn’t hard to imagine how we’d have ended up.
LOL @ “1-man distraction machine“
Truth right there
I’ve always believed Taggart was a “recruiting placeholder,” a lot like Ron Zook at Florida, who was an outstanding recruiter but was not big-time program head coach material. Taggart was considered a very good recruiter, but with the losing, their recruiting has fallen way off.
Taggart’s buyout is probably payable over a few years, like Muschamp’s was at Florida, so that won’t stop them from paying a new guy. FSU will have constraints though; their boosters’ pockets are not nearly as deep as Florida’s.
FSU has five 5-stars on their roster. Four of the five, including Cam Akers and Marvin Wilson, will be gone at the end of this year. The biggest problem on their roster fore the last three or four years has been their offensive line.
I don’t care who they hire as long as it isn’t Kiffin. That guy can recruit and he’s an excellent offensive coordinator. And he’s probably matured to the point that he would be a dangerously good head coach.
There will be a recruiting dip now with anybody they hire, except Kiffin.
Can Calipari take a pay cut and coach football?
He hasn’t exactly set the world on fire as a Bball coach. We’ve had one championship in the entire time he’s been here.
Hard to win championships when your entire recruiting philosophy is to obtain as many one-and-done players as you can.
No argument here. I’m not a fan of the one and done style or of Calipari in general. Better than Billy Clyde, but that’s about it.
I agree. Kiffin would be a pain in the butt for Fla and clemson..so whats not to love?
Agree with a lot of posters that Stoops is not a great fit. I’d be really upset to see him at FSU though. The guy is a good coach. Sucks having him at UK too though. I miss not worrying about that game. I was hoping Taggart would stay another year. Wishful thinking I guess. FSU has a sneaky amount of talent on that team. Last thing we need is for them to have a good coach.
It’s true that UK is no longer an automatic win. But they do have practical recruiting limitations there, like Mullen had at Mississippi State. If Stoops is realistic, he’ll always have a ceiling at Kentucky, where he’s built a development program with Ohio guys that the Big 10 powers didn’t want.
I don’t see how he could turn FSU down if the job is offered.
I think he could continue to build this historically bad program into a consistently good team like Bill Snyder at K-State, Frank Beamer at VaTech, and Mike Leach at Texas Tech and Wazzu. Why walk into a dysfunctional mess when you could stay and continue to build upon the success you have created at a school that’s happy you’re still coaching for them?
Agree. You go to FSU, tons of pressure. If you don’t perform well (10+ wins per season) you’re out of a head coaching job. Just stay at UK if you’re happy there.
Very true. A lot of coaches don’t need to be winning national championships to be content, and Stoops strikes me as one of those guys. That’s not a knock on him or his competitive drive at all, it’s just the truth that some people are always looking to improve their situation, while others are perfectly happy with what they have now. Not everyone wants a high-pressure coaching job.
Stoops would be an excellent choise. Dude can coach.
If I were FSU I would go after Matt Campbell from Iowa State. If you can win at ISU with mediocre talent, think of what he could do at FSU. Stoops is 52. Now is the time to make the move. He can do better in his first year than Taggart did, and he will be able to sign some talent. Kiffin is a joke. It took Saban to keep him focused. On his own, he is a train wreck.
FSU should throw a very large number at James Franklin.
They’ll get Chad Morris and like it.
I think Mark Richt has some free time on his hands now. The nicest 8-4 coach you’ll ever meet.
If they’re going to poach a Clemson coordinator, can it be Venables instead? I’m tired of playing his defense every year.
Lane Kiffin would be a great hire for FSU. He knows the recruiting area, his offense will fill the seats, and kids want to play for him. Not the most disciplined guy around :-D