Tulsa found its new head coach at Baylor University, as they lured offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery to take over the program.
Montgomery was on our Hot Coaches list last year as the triggerman for Baylor’s high-octane offense. In truth he’s never been a head coach but he’s been Art Briles’ right-hand man for more than a decade, dating back to their high school coaching days at Stephenville High School. Montgomery has followed Briles throughout the latter’s head coaching career and no one knows Briles’ offense better than Montgomery.
Tulsa is hoping that Montgomery can bring some of that Baylor magic to the Golden Hurricane, which has fallen precipitously since Todd Graham left three seasons ago.
Four jobs are open right now and none is more intriguing than the Wisconsin job. Most believe Paul Chryst, the former Wisconsin assistant who is now the head coach at Pittsburgh, has the inside track. But the Badgers talked with former Rutgers coach Greg Schiano a couple of days ago and can’t officially offer the job to anyone until at least Dec. 17.
As for the other three jobs:
Michigan. Everyone assumes that Jim Harbaugh is the target, which means the Wolverines would have to wait until his NFL season is over to talk with him.
Colorado State. There is no clear direction on its hire just yet.
Houston. Will Muschamp was connected to the job briefly but appears to be on his way to Auburn to be the defensive coordinator.
2015 FBS COACHING CAROUSEL
SCHOOL | OUT | IN |
Buffalo | Jeff Quinn | Lance Leipold |
Colorado State | Jim McElwain | TBD |
Florida | Will Muschamp | Jim McElwain |
Houston | Tony Levine | TBA |
Kansas | Charlie Weis | David Beaty |
Michigan | Brady Hoke | TBD |
Nebraska | Bo Pelini | Mike Riley |
Oregon State | Mike Riley | Gary Andersen |
SMU | June Jones | Chad Morris |
Troy | Larry Blakeney | Neal Brown |
Tulsa | Bill Blankenship | Philip Montgomery |
UNLV | Bobby Hauck | Tony Sanchez |
Wisconsin | Gary Andersen | TBA |