Written by Adam Rittenberg at ESPN.com
As successful Power 5 coordinators, Mike Norvell and Geoff Collins turned down head-coaching opportunities before they decided to lead Memphis and Temple, respectively.
Both programs offered urban locations in fruitful recruiting areas, enhanced commitment to football and recent runs of success. They also offered something else: the chance to follow coaches Justin Fuente and Matt Rhule, who had vaulted to bigger jobs at Virginia Tech and Baylor.
American Athletic Conference schools such as Memphis and Temple have been able to dangle a unique career development opportunity at prospective coaches. Come to our league, have success, and Power 5 programs — not the bottom rung, mind you — will come calling.
After last season, the AAC saw coaches leave for Texas (Houston’s Tom Herman), Oregon (South Florida’s Willie Taggart) and Baylor (Temple’s Rhule). The year before, Fuente parlayed two strong seasons at Memphis into the Virginia Tech job. Three of the past four Houston coaches went to Baylor, Texas A&M and Texas. Three of Cincinnati’s past four coaches advanced to Michigan State, Notre Dame and Tennessee. The past three Temple coaches moved to Power 5 jobs.
“The American Athletic Conference has become a breeding ground for great coaches,” Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek said this week at the AAC spring meetings.
AAC commissioner Mike Aresco is perfectly fine with the Power 5 targeting AAC coaches. He had the same feeling about Power 5 leagues considering AAC members as expansion candidates.
“We’re proud of these guys going to the P5, and the other coaches see that,” Aresco said. “We’re an attractive league. Whether they view us as a stepping stone, I could care less. They want to come to us because they see all these guys getting hired.”
To continue reading this article, click here.
