December 14, 2025 • 21 mins
Michigan's Next Head Coach? Evaluating the Top Contenders
In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr discuss their top picks for the most realistic candidates to become Michigan's next head coach. As they dig deep into the potential hires, they analyze recent statements from Kalen DeBoer and Kenny Dillingham, and consider other options like Jedd Fisch and Kyle Whittingham. The hosts also delve into the challenges and complexities accompanying the coaching search, given the ongoing investigations and administrative changes at Michigan. Join the conversation as they provide insights into who could potentially take the reins of the Michigan football program.
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:14 Breaking News: Kalen DeBoer's Statement
01:08 Analyzing Coaching Statements
02:35 Potential Candidates for Michigan Job
04:42 Jedd Fisch: The Next Likely Candidate
07:53 Challenges and Considerations for Michigan's Next Coach
15:03 Kyle Whittingham: A Surprising Contender
20:47 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
In this episode of the Buckeye Weekly Podcast, hosts Tony Gerdeman and Tom Orr discuss their top picks for the most realistic candidates to become Michigan's next head coach. As they dig deep into the potential hires, they analyze recent statements from Kalen DeBoer and Kenny Dillingham, and consider other options like Jedd Fisch and Kyle Whittingham. The hosts also delve into the challenges and complexities accompanying the coaching search, given the ongoing investigations and administrative changes at Michigan. Join the conversation as they provide insights into who could potentially take the reins of the Michigan football program.
00:00 Introduction and Podcast Overview
00:14 Breaking News: Kalen DeBoer's Statement
01:08 Analyzing Coaching Statements
02:35 Potential Candidates for Michigan Job
04:42 Jedd Fisch: The Next Likely Candidate
07:53 Challenges and Considerations for Michigan's Next Coach
15:03 Kyle Whittingham: A Surprising Contender
20:47 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with time or Tom, how's.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
It going, Tony. We love a little deja vu, don't we, Folks.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
If you're a subscriber to the podcast, you probably saw
a show very recently about the three names to watch
for the Michigan Job or whatever it was. And we
got I mean like, we got done recording that, we
hit stop, we got it uploaded, and then Tony.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What we love to see.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
A statement on Twitter dot com, not a notes app,
but a statement from kailein de Bor, Alabama head coach quote.
My family and I are very happy in Tuscaloosa and
remain extremely grateful for the support of President Moeler, Greg Burrn,
the board, and so many others. We have an incredible
opportunity of in front of us, so my sole focus
is on Alabama football and our preparations play Oklahoma and
(00:54):
the College Football Playoff. I have not spoken and have
no interest in speaking with anyone else but any other job.
I'm ill we admitted this program and look forward to
continuing as the head football coach at the University of Alabama.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Killn War head football coach, well.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Tony Uh, I guess we can start the show with
do you believe.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Him when he says no interest? Does he actually mean
some interest or a bunch of interest? That seems pretty
emphatic no interest, And it's I think it's different than
some of the coaches that will say I'm here, I'm
I am focused on getting Alabama through the playoffs. I'm
focused on that. And then he does add I have
(01:34):
no interest. So I am going to take him at
his word. It's still too early, I guess in his
tenure to get an extension. Plus, you know, no national championships,
so you can't push your luck too much there, Kleen
de Boor, But based on truthful coaching statements, I am
(01:55):
choosing to believe him because Tom, if I didn't believe him,
I wouldn't be re recording the show.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, we had a.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Probably is probably is a material change the subject matter
we just covered, and we apparently are not the only
ones who had basically this exact conversation earlier in the afternoon,
and it's like, well, he hasn't said he's not interested,
and then hit publish and then immediately he says he's
not interested. So there you go calea de Bor arguably
probably not a not interested in the Michigan job. If
(02:25):
they lose by seventeen to Oklahoma in the first fan
of the playoff, will see if that interest is rekindled.
But we'll also see if that job is still open
at that point.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, and in the previous show that no longer exists,
we talked about candle Bor. We also talked about Kenny Dillingham,
who has said much the same and that he is
locked into Arizona State. And earlier in the weekend you
could bet that he would be bet on him and
(02:55):
he had the highest odds, the best odds to be
Michigan's next coach. In fact, there are some sites to
stop taking bets because all of the money was coming
in on Kenny dillian because boy, it was a sure thing.
And then on Saturday, he gets in front of a
microphone and says, you know, everything that he loves about
Arizona State, how he lives next door to his sister
and his parents are three doors down, all in the
(03:16):
same neighborhood, and he has no reason to leave these
place is very He's been tied to it forever. He
had to stop saying what he was saying, to just
gather himself, and it was like a fifteen to twenty
second pause, emotional emotional pause, to gather himself. And that
doesn't seem like something you'd do if you were ready
(03:37):
to leave. So if Tom, if two of the top
three guys that we talked about being the most likely
or being among the realistic options we can perhaps eliminate,
then there has to be more than just one guy, right.
There has to be somebody else other than the one guy, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I mean, I think there's going to be more than
more names that are at least theoretically possible, because you
never know, you might have someone change their mind on something.
But you know, if you're going to take the Kilndi
Boor thing, which feels pretty definitive as he's not going
to go, and if you're going to take the Kenny
Dillingham thing that he's not going to go and he
you know, there's all sorts of working on an extension
(04:26):
right now, sort of reporting out there which is generally
accurate and generally an indication that they are working. You know,
there is a framework, a memory of understanding whatever it
is in place that they're they're working on an extension.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So if you take those two top guys off.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
The board, I think the next name on the list
is Jedfish, the head coach at Washington.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And to me, Jedfish, if.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
This, you know, if they get down the list to
the point of Jedfish, that's the search stops. Because you
know you just heard the kid the klndbor statement earlier.
I'm going to read you Jed Fish's quote after the
game on Saturday night where they won their bowl game.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Quote, I'm fully focused on the team.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Fish, who previously coached as Michigan as a Michigan assistant,
said about job speculation quote, I think our team worked
really hard this whole week and we gave it. We
all gave everything we had and we played at a
very high level because of that.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That's all I would say on that boy Tony.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
That was slightly less definitive than the Kaitlin du Boor thing.
And you know, I think you can have the A
lot of this is you're looking at the bird in
the hand and you know what's that over there in
the bush. And for Kaylin de Boor, you're the head
coach at Alabama, and there are certainly drawbacks to being
the guy who fired follows Nick Saban unquestionably their drawback
(05:52):
to that.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I mean, the first couple of years for.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Klenn War have not gone phenomenally, and I think there's
a decent possibility that, you know, while I'm sure everyone
in Elbit, Greg Byrn the ad gave a statement it
was paray for everyone, he's staying basically, give it twelve months,
give it twenty four months.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Like, are you seventy.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Five percent confident that Calen de Boor is still the
head coach at Alabama Because I'm sure not.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I mean maybe, but there's lots of ways that if
they have another ten and two, nine and three kind
of fringy playoff season and losing the first round next year,
like the novelty of that's going.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
To wear off pretty quick.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
In Tuscaloosa, Kenny Dillingham has the Mama called thing working
for him.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Where he's you know, he's literally.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Mama called where you know they Mama's living three doors
down and Mama does not want to be singing here
without you.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
There's a little got it, yeah, got it all right?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Anyway, Yeah, I think there's there's a reasonable case for
both of those guys to say Jed Fish his ties
to Washington are he got hired to coach there a
couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And you know, and we can go.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Through Jedfish's resume, and I don't want this to feel like,
oh boy, Michigan's really settling for a clunker if they
hire Jedfish.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Like, I think Jetfish is a really really good coach.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And I think Jedfish could do some probably some exciting
things with Bryce Underwood, probably very very good for Bryce
Underwood if Jetfish was there, as opposed to last year's
Michigan staff. But yeah, I don't think the search gets
past Jedfish because why would Jedfish.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Say no to this? Because he was just he was
just in the you know, Florida and La.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You know, some of the sec kind of job openings,
and lots of people were able to leverage that into
big extensions and salary bumps and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Jetfish was not. And so you know, there's nothing really
tying him.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
To Washington necessarily, and Michigan is probably a better spot overall.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
But Tom, I'm with you that normally Jetfish would not
turn this job down. He's been at Michigan before he
but with the internal investigation going on right now, with
the probation that is there, with the the eyes on
(08:14):
Michigan right now, and I don't know if there's any
kind of stain for a coach. I do if there's
there's one reason you wouldn't he wouldn't take it, it's
just because of everything going on. But I don't know
that that doesn't really limit them in terms of their
their capabilities, because there's no scholarship limitations, and really that's
(08:36):
always the big thing, like, well do I want to
go there? We're only you know, we're ten short on
scholarships of everybody else, that's not a concern you're on TV.
There's no like, really, what does probation mean anymore? In
other other than just don't get caught again and don't worry.
Michigan's got really good lawyers. Even if they do get caught,
they can just they'll sue you. They'll sue you so
(08:58):
that they won't get in trouble. But I think there's
some concerns where you at least have to look and
we know he can wait and wait and wait because
his season is over with. I don't think he's gonna
wait for this internal investigation to be done because that
could take months and months and months and be done
into the summer. But I do expect if it is
(09:19):
offered to him that he would take it and do
so knowing like, well, there may be some initial difficulties,
but does that get him an extra year on his contract?
Those sorts of things where you parley the probation and
the NCAA violations into more security for you, And I
think that might be something that he would do or
(09:41):
his agent would do. And overall, thirty two and thirty
three as a head coach, that's his career record. But
you have to factor in the one and eleven start
at Arizona to that his first year at Arizona, and
you take that one away, and you could see anyone
from one and eleven in his first year to ten
and three in his third year. So you've seen the
(10:02):
ability to increase wins. Went from six wins in his
first year at Washington last year to nine this year.
So he's got that track record. He's been all over
the place in the NFL and probably eight to ten
different NFL teams. Started his career in the University of Florida,
which is where he graduated from. He's been at Michigan
(10:26):
UCLA as we know, and then like I said that
Miami for a stint there as an ost in quarterbacks
coach in twenty eleven, twenty twelve, A Tom, he's the
kind of guy that is exactly what Bryce Underwood needs
in terms of developing that quarterback and getting more out
(10:47):
of your young quarterback. Like, no, this is not this
is not a And I don't even know that Klein
debor like there's only a few names where it's like,
you know, well, it's he'd hire Kirby Smart if he could.
You can't do that. You've got to get the guys
that will accept the job. And I think Jedfish, I
(11:08):
guess this is what happens when you fire your coach
after the coaching carousel. But also a huge upgrade from
Sean Moore.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah, I would agree with all of that. That they're
hiring at a weird part of the cycle, and the
last time they were hiring, they were also hiring at a.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Weird part of the cycle.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
And that's because everyone in the Michigan orbit wanted to
pretend that Jim Harball wasn't going to leave them, and oh, no, no, no, oh,
he's just waiting to sign this contract extension.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
You just, oh, are you going to be embarrassed when
he signs this contract extension? Need any day now?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And it was like you can look even from the
outside and go like, well, obviously he can read the
tea leaves and there's going to be a long and
involved investigation and he's probably not going to come out
great from that.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
And if he has the opportunity to flee this jurisdiction,
why would he not do that?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Like he got to the top of the mountain, he
got Michigan back to where he sort of promised to
get them to and so then he can sort of
dust his hands and right off to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And it's that it's not his problem anymore.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
But because that got strung out so long, then the
whole hiring cycle was over. And then you're hiring a
head coach at a weird time and you're coming off
the National Championships. It's well, we got to take it
the internal guy, I guess. And so you end up
with Searon Moore. And how did that end up? Well,
I'm sure it was fine anyway. So now you're at
a different, different, weird port of part of the cycle
(12:25):
where you know, you had the Sharon Moore thing.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Turns out, spoiler.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Alert did not end well, but did not end well
at a period where most of the other big, high
profile jobs had been filled and the ones who hadn't
been filled, you know, had coaches, you know, other potential
top targets. A lot of those guys signed extensions very
recently to keep them happy and where they are, So
that makes it a little more difficult, in a little
(12:49):
more expensive to hire a lot of the other potential
higher you know, top candidates for this job. You know,
we haven't talked about Jeff Brom yet on this show.
We talked about him on the last show. We're going
to talk about him now. He and Louisville has not
finished re upping his whole thing. Like that's that's a
you know, that's another name that if you you know,
I think Jeff Brohm and Jed Fish are guys I
(13:10):
would have somewhat similarly on my list in terms of
like what the ceiling is at Michigan and what the
floor is at Michigan.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I think they both would do a perfectly.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Fine job at Michigan, but not necessarily being you know,
the absolutely transformational figure that that you know they might
might be looking for. Otherwise, I think Kenny Dillingham probably
has a lower floor but a higher ceiling at Michigan
just because he's younger.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
But you know, it sounds like that one's off the table.
But you yeah, you're probably looking at.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Either one of those guys, and either one of those
hires is a perfectly good hire. I don't think there's
I don't think this is a oh man, they got
so burned.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
But to your point, these.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Are guys coming in and you're you are you know,
Michigan has the video that they play before the you know,
before every game where James Earl Jones sternly and told
this is the greatest university in the world old and
everyone cheers. It's like, well, you're kind of in the
scratch and dent sale right now for various reasons like
you're you're you're not you're not viewed as the top
(14:09):
job in the market, probably given a lot of the
other stuff that's happening, including the fact that you're current
AD right now, you don't have a university president and
you're current AD. Uh there are a lot of folks, uh,
you know, reaching for the torches and pitchforks with the
current AD.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So then are you getting hired?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
And then the university president's going to change and the
AD is going to change, and that generally doesn't do
phenomenal things for your long term job security. And if
I know that, Jed Fish and his representation certainly know that,
as does Jeff Broum.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
So you are to your.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Point, probably going to end up paying a little more
and or extending a little more term guaranteed to make,
you know, sort of compensate for the fact that you
know you're coming in in what is not a completely
stable situation.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Can I throw a name out there that is a
name that has been mentioned in the past, but in
the distant past, Charlie Whittingham Kyle Kyle Whittingham retires leaves Utah,
speculation that he's actually not retiring, and he's two years
older than Kurt Signetti. This is a guy that or
(15:18):
has been a top choice of a lot of schools
for the better part of since about two thousand, almost
twenty years now, basically because he took over in two
thousand and four, two thousand and five from Urban Meyer
and has done well. And that's the guy that I
think I assume Michigan looked at back when they went
(15:39):
from rich Rod to Brady Hoak, and maybe maybe before
then as well. That's the guy if you're just looking
for somebody who's he's got a few years left, a
guy that'll get your right if if you have the
opportunity to get him. Is that a better Is that
(16:05):
a better thing than grabbing a Jetfish or somebody that,
because honestly, after that, after Jetfish, I don't know who
else is necessarily likely in all of this. Do you
Is it swinging for the fences or is it swinging
I don't even know what would be swinging for. If
(16:26):
you go out and try to get like a Kyle
Whittingham who as one and one and one out west
and has never been part of the Midwest, I think
it's it's interesting. I also think it's interesting that he
never wanted it before, never never pursued it necessarily. I
wonder if now he's like, yeah, okay, I I will
(16:47):
listen what happens if Michigan gives him a call.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, that's an interesting one, because Kyle Whittingham is very
similar to me to another guy who recently got hired
in the Big ten, Matt Campbell, where guys who are
winning bigger in a place that has not historically been
a place where you can win all that big.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Kyle Whittingham took over for urban Meyer, and Urban Meyer
had lifted that program to a you know, remarkable heights
as a non power team. Kyle Whittingham got them to
that level as a power team and was able to
sort of sustain, you know, not the perfect record that
Urban Meyer had that one year, but was able to
sustain a really solid level of success and really really
(17:28):
kind of like the Barry Alvarez coming almost of Utah,
where it's like, we have an identity, we are going
to win this way. We are going to out tough you,
we are going to just mash your faces. And you know,
we spent a Rose Bowl recently.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Goodness, four years ago now, holy smoked, but time flies.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Anyway, we spent a Rose Bowl somewhat recently covering Kyle Whittingham,
and I came away from that like super impressed with
the Utah program, Like I still follow a bunch of
Utah reporters, like I enjoy that program a lot. I
think Kyle Whittingham is a fantastic face, fantastic culture builder.
Really would in some ways. I think there's a certain
subset of the Michigan fan based booster community that would absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Love, like, oh man, we are going to manball.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
You like you would not believe he would be an
interesting hire because that's very clearly like a caretaker kind
of come in for a couple of years and get
stuff on steady ground. Where if he comes in, man,
oh man, are they going to be a competitive nine
and three that is going to be miserable to play?
(18:30):
But you know, not even the geographic piece of it,
which is certainly a part of the story in terms
of local high schools and all that kind of stuff.
He's not going to know any of those folks. But
he's also this is you know Utah football is. It's
a very nice program. It's a very solid program. It
is a program that probably operationally is maybe half of
(18:51):
the operating budget of Michigan maybe, and it's just it's
not the same thing. And you're probably you know, they're
your boosters are all people who have grown up watching
you coach the team.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So that's one kind of relationship.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Now you're the new guy in town and you've got
to sort of prove yourself, and you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
You know, he would.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Absolutely be a grown up in charge of the program,
and maybe that's what they're looking for. That's if that's
what it comes down to, where you know he's he
is a grown up in charge of the program and
you know at.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Halftime he's going to be focused on football and not
anything else.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
And that, you know, there is there is a certain
amount of like, yeah, I can get the appeal there.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And again, I like him a lot.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I would have the same concerns with him at Michigan
that I do with Matt Campbell at at Penn State,
which is, you are taking a big, big step up
and I know you are a fantastic head coach at
this level of the sport.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Can you be a head fantastic head coach at this
level of the sport? And don't I don't know the
answer to that.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Like that's why Kaylen de Borr is like I you know,
I have seen Kaylen de bor get a team to
a national championship game, and so have Michigan fans.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
They were also there.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
But you know, Kyle Whittingham, Matt Campbell, I like him
lot as coaches. I don't know if the skill set
translates exactly to what you're looking for at a high high,
high level.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Big ten program.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, and we will all find out together whether it's
going to be choosing the adult in the room of
a Kyle Whittingham or going to the complete opera site
direction and bringing in somebody from the Jim Harbou tree
like a jesse Mentor, and or just choose somebody in
between there and make it the Jedfish pick that everybody
(20:31):
expects and go from there. But it will be interesting
to see how how much a coach wants to be
hired by somebody who may not be there when he's
actually signing the deal. And that's that's the problem with
mischiking right now, and they're gonna have to wade through
all of that. But that will do it for us
from here. If you would go ahead into thumbs up
(20:51):
if you're watching on YouTube, we'd appreciate that. Of course,
all of your five star ratings interviews are appreciated as well,
so that will.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Do it from here.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Thank you all for tuning in, and we will talk
to you all later,
Hello, everybody, Welcome to the Buckeye Weekly Podcast. I'm Tony
Gerdaman here as always with time or Tom, how's.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
It going, Tony. We love a little deja vu, don't we, Folks.
Speaker 3 (00:14):
If you're a subscriber to the podcast, you probably saw
a show very recently about the three names to watch
for the Michigan Job or whatever it was. And we
got I mean like, we got done recording that, we
hit stop, we got it uploaded, and then Tony.
Speaker 2 (00:32):
What we love to see.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
A statement on Twitter dot com, not a notes app,
but a statement from kailein de Bor, Alabama head coach quote.
My family and I are very happy in Tuscaloosa and
remain extremely grateful for the support of President Moeler, Greg Burrn,
the board, and so many others. We have an incredible
opportunity of in front of us, so my sole focus
is on Alabama football and our preparations play Oklahoma and
(00:54):
the College Football Playoff. I have not spoken and have
no interest in speaking with anyone else but any other job.
I'm ill we admitted this program and look forward to
continuing as the head football coach at the University of Alabama.
Speaker 2 (01:05):
Killn War head football coach, well.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Tony Uh, I guess we can start the show with
do you believe.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Him when he says no interest? Does he actually mean
some interest or a bunch of interest? That seems pretty
emphatic no interest, And it's I think it's different than
some of the coaches that will say I'm here, I'm
I am focused on getting Alabama through the playoffs. I'm
focused on that. And then he does add I have
(01:34):
no interest. So I am going to take him at
his word. It's still too early, I guess in his
tenure to get an extension. Plus, you know, no national championships,
so you can't push your luck too much there, Kleen
de Boor, But based on truthful coaching statements, I am
(01:55):
choosing to believe him because Tom, if I didn't believe him,
I wouldn't be re recording the show.
Speaker 2 (02:01):
Yeah, we had a.
Speaker 3 (02:04):
Probably is probably is a material change the subject matter
we just covered, and we apparently are not the only
ones who had basically this exact conversation earlier in the afternoon,
and it's like, well, he hasn't said he's not interested,
and then hit publish and then immediately he says he's
not interested. So there you go calea de Bor arguably
probably not a not interested in the Michigan job. If
(02:25):
they lose by seventeen to Oklahoma in the first fan
of the playoff, will see if that interest is rekindled.
But we'll also see if that job is still open
at that point.
Speaker 1 (02:35):
Yeah, and in the previous show that no longer exists,
we talked about candle Bor. We also talked about Kenny Dillingham,
who has said much the same and that he is
locked into Arizona State. And earlier in the weekend you
could bet that he would be bet on him and
(02:55):
he had the highest odds, the best odds to be
Michigan's next coach. In fact, there are some sites to
stop taking bets because all of the money was coming
in on Kenny dillian because boy, it was a sure thing.
And then on Saturday, he gets in front of a
microphone and says, you know, everything that he loves about
Arizona State, how he lives next door to his sister
and his parents are three doors down, all in the
(03:16):
same neighborhood, and he has no reason to leave these
place is very He's been tied to it forever. He
had to stop saying what he was saying, to just
gather himself, and it was like a fifteen to twenty
second pause, emotional emotional pause, to gather himself. And that
doesn't seem like something you'd do if you were ready
(03:37):
to leave. So if Tom, if two of the top
three guys that we talked about being the most likely
or being among the realistic options we can perhaps eliminate,
then there has to be more than just one guy, right.
There has to be somebody else other than the one guy, right, Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:02):
I mean, I think there's going to be more than
more names that are at least theoretically possible, because you
never know, you might have someone change their mind on something.
But you know, if you're going to take the Kilndi
Boor thing, which feels pretty definitive as he's not going
to go, and if you're going to take the Kenny
Dillingham thing that he's not going to go and he
you know, there's all sorts of working on an extension
(04:26):
right now, sort of reporting out there which is generally
accurate and generally an indication that they are working. You know,
there is a framework, a memory of understanding whatever it
is in place that they're they're working on an extension.
Speaker 2 (04:41):
So if you take those two top guys off.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
The board, I think the next name on the list
is Jedfish, the head coach at Washington.
Speaker 2 (04:51):
And to me, Jedfish, if.
Speaker 3 (04:54):
This, you know, if they get down the list to
the point of Jedfish, that's the search stops. Because you
know you just heard the kid the klndbor statement earlier.
I'm going to read you Jed Fish's quote after the
game on Saturday night where they won their bowl game.
Speaker 2 (05:12):
Quote, I'm fully focused on the team.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Fish, who previously coached as Michigan as a Michigan assistant,
said about job speculation quote, I think our team worked
really hard this whole week and we gave it. We
all gave everything we had and we played at a
very high level because of that.
Speaker 2 (05:26):
That's all I would say on that boy Tony.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
That was slightly less definitive than the Kaitlin du Boor thing.
And you know, I think you can have the A
lot of this is you're looking at the bird in
the hand and you know what's that over there in
the bush. And for Kaylin de Boor, you're the head
coach at Alabama, and there are certainly drawbacks to being
the guy who fired follows Nick Saban unquestionably their drawback
(05:52):
to that.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
I mean, the first couple of years for.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
Klenn War have not gone phenomenally, and I think there's
a decent possibility that, you know, while I'm sure everyone
in Elbit, Greg Byrn the ad gave a statement it
was paray for everyone, he's staying basically, give it twelve months,
give it twenty four months.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
Like, are you seventy.
Speaker 3 (06:11):
Five percent confident that Calen de Boor is still the
head coach at Alabama Because I'm sure not.
Speaker 2 (06:15):
It doesn't.
Speaker 3 (06:15):
I mean maybe, but there's lots of ways that if
they have another ten and two, nine and three kind
of fringy playoff season and losing the first round next year,
like the novelty of that's going.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
To wear off pretty quick.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
In Tuscaloosa, Kenny Dillingham has the Mama called thing working
for him.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
Where he's you know, he's literally.
Speaker 3 (06:36):
Mama called where you know they Mama's living three doors
down and Mama does not want to be singing here
without you.
Speaker 2 (06:44):
There's a little got it, yeah, got it all right?
Speaker 3 (06:47):
Anyway, Yeah, I think there's there's a reasonable case for
both of those guys to say Jed Fish his ties
to Washington are he got hired to coach there a
couple of years ago.
Speaker 2 (06:59):
And you know, and we can go.
Speaker 3 (07:01):
Through Jedfish's resume, and I don't want this to feel like,
oh boy, Michigan's really settling for a clunker if they
hire Jedfish.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Like, I think Jetfish is a really really good coach.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
And I think Jedfish could do some probably some exciting
things with Bryce Underwood, probably very very good for Bryce
Underwood if Jetfish was there, as opposed to last year's
Michigan staff. But yeah, I don't think the search gets
past Jedfish because why would Jedfish.
Speaker 2 (07:25):
Say no to this? Because he was just he was
just in the you know, Florida and La.
Speaker 3 (07:31):
You know, some of the sec kind of job openings,
and lots of people were able to leverage that into
big extensions and salary bumps and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
Jetfish was not. And so you know, there's nothing really
tying him.
Speaker 3 (07:45):
To Washington necessarily, and Michigan is probably a better spot overall.
Speaker 1 (07:53):
But Tom, I'm with you that normally Jetfish would not
turn this job down. He's been at Michigan before he
but with the internal investigation going on right now, with
the probation that is there, with the the eyes on
(08:14):
Michigan right now, and I don't know if there's any
kind of stain for a coach. I do if there's
there's one reason you wouldn't he wouldn't take it, it's
just because of everything going on. But I don't know
that that doesn't really limit them in terms of their
their capabilities, because there's no scholarship limitations, and really that's
(08:36):
always the big thing, like, well do I want to
go there? We're only you know, we're ten short on
scholarships of everybody else, that's not a concern you're on TV.
There's no like, really, what does probation mean anymore? In
other other than just don't get caught again and don't worry.
Michigan's got really good lawyers. Even if they do get caught,
they can just they'll sue you. They'll sue you so
(08:58):
that they won't get in trouble. But I think there's
some concerns where you at least have to look and
we know he can wait and wait and wait because
his season is over with. I don't think he's gonna
wait for this internal investigation to be done because that
could take months and months and months and be done
into the summer. But I do expect if it is
(09:19):
offered to him that he would take it and do
so knowing like, well, there may be some initial difficulties,
but does that get him an extra year on his contract?
Those sorts of things where you parley the probation and
the NCAA violations into more security for you, And I
think that might be something that he would do or
(09:41):
his agent would do. And overall, thirty two and thirty
three as a head coach, that's his career record. But
you have to factor in the one and eleven start
at Arizona to that his first year at Arizona, and
you take that one away, and you could see anyone
from one and eleven in his first year to ten
and three in his third year. So you've seen the
(10:02):
ability to increase wins. Went from six wins in his
first year at Washington last year to nine this year.
So he's got that track record. He's been all over
the place in the NFL and probably eight to ten
different NFL teams. Started his career in the University of Florida,
which is where he graduated from. He's been at Michigan
(10:26):
UCLA as we know, and then like I said that
Miami for a stint there as an ost in quarterbacks
coach in twenty eleven, twenty twelve, A Tom, he's the
kind of guy that is exactly what Bryce Underwood needs
in terms of developing that quarterback and getting more out
(10:47):
of your young quarterback. Like, no, this is not this
is not a And I don't even know that Klein
debor like there's only a few names where it's like,
you know, well, it's he'd hire Kirby Smart if he could.
You can't do that. You've got to get the guys
that will accept the job. And I think Jedfish, I
(11:08):
guess this is what happens when you fire your coach
after the coaching carousel. But also a huge upgrade from
Sean Moore.
Speaker 3 (11:16):
Yeah, I would agree with all of that. That they're
hiring at a weird part of the cycle, and the
last time they were hiring, they were also hiring at a.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
Weird part of the cycle.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
And that's because everyone in the Michigan orbit wanted to
pretend that Jim Harball wasn't going to leave them, and oh, no, no, no, oh,
he's just waiting to sign this contract extension.
Speaker 2 (11:34):
You just, oh, are you going to be embarrassed when
he signs this contract extension? Need any day now?
Speaker 3 (11:39):
And it was like you can look even from the
outside and go like, well, obviously he can read the
tea leaves and there's going to be a long and
involved investigation and he's probably not going to come out
great from that.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
And if he has the opportunity to flee this jurisdiction,
why would he not do that?
Speaker 3 (11:52):
Like he got to the top of the mountain, he
got Michigan back to where he sort of promised to
get them to and so then he can sort of
dust his hands and right off to the NFL.
Speaker 2 (12:01):
And it's that it's not his problem anymore.
Speaker 3 (12:03):
But because that got strung out so long, then the
whole hiring cycle was over. And then you're hiring a
head coach at a weird time and you're coming off
the National Championships. It's well, we got to take it
the internal guy, I guess. And so you end up
with Searon Moore. And how did that end up? Well,
I'm sure it was fine anyway. So now you're at
a different, different, weird port of part of the cycle
(12:25):
where you know, you had the Sharon Moore thing.
Speaker 2 (12:28):
Turns out, spoiler.
Speaker 3 (12:29):
Alert did not end well, but did not end well
at a period where most of the other big, high
profile jobs had been filled and the ones who hadn't
been filled, you know, had coaches, you know, other potential
top targets. A lot of those guys signed extensions very
recently to keep them happy and where they are, So
that makes it a little more difficult, in a little
(12:49):
more expensive to hire a lot of the other potential
higher you know, top candidates for this job. You know,
we haven't talked about Jeff Brom yet on this show.
We talked about him on the last show. We're going
to talk about him now. He and Louisville has not
finished re upping his whole thing. Like that's that's a
you know, that's another name that if you you know,
I think Jeff Brohm and Jed Fish are guys I
(13:10):
would have somewhat similarly on my list in terms of
like what the ceiling is at Michigan and what the
floor is at Michigan.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I think they both would do a perfectly.
Speaker 3 (13:19):
Fine job at Michigan, but not necessarily being you know,
the absolutely transformational figure that that you know they might
might be looking for. Otherwise, I think Kenny Dillingham probably
has a lower floor but a higher ceiling at Michigan
just because he's younger.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
But you know, it sounds like that one's off the table.
But you yeah, you're probably looking at.
Speaker 3 (13:39):
Either one of those guys, and either one of those
hires is a perfectly good hire. I don't think there's
I don't think this is a oh man, they got
so burned.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
But to your point, these.
Speaker 3 (13:49):
Are guys coming in and you're you are you know,
Michigan has the video that they play before the you know,
before every game where James Earl Jones sternly and told
this is the greatest university in the world old and
everyone cheers. It's like, well, you're kind of in the
scratch and dent sale right now for various reasons like
you're you're you're not you're not viewed as the top
(14:09):
job in the market, probably given a lot of the
other stuff that's happening, including the fact that you're current
AD right now, you don't have a university president and
you're current AD. Uh there are a lot of folks, uh,
you know, reaching for the torches and pitchforks with the
current AD.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
So then are you getting hired?
Speaker 3 (14:27):
And then the university president's going to change and the
AD is going to change, and that generally doesn't do
phenomenal things for your long term job security. And if
I know that, Jed Fish and his representation certainly know that,
as does Jeff Broum.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
So you are to your.
Speaker 3 (14:42):
Point, probably going to end up paying a little more
and or extending a little more term guaranteed to make,
you know, sort of compensate for the fact that you
know you're coming in in what is not a completely
stable situation.
Speaker 1 (14:56):
Can I throw a name out there that is a
name that has been mentioned in the past, but in
the distant past, Charlie Whittingham Kyle Kyle Whittingham retires leaves Utah,
speculation that he's actually not retiring, and he's two years
older than Kurt Signetti. This is a guy that or
(15:18):
has been a top choice of a lot of schools
for the better part of since about two thousand, almost
twenty years now, basically because he took over in two
thousand and four, two thousand and five from Urban Meyer
and has done well. And that's the guy that I
think I assume Michigan looked at back when they went
(15:39):
from rich Rod to Brady Hoak, and maybe maybe before
then as well. That's the guy if you're just looking
for somebody who's he's got a few years left, a
guy that'll get your right if if you have the
opportunity to get him. Is that a better Is that
(16:05):
a better thing than grabbing a Jetfish or somebody that,
because honestly, after that, after Jetfish, I don't know who
else is necessarily likely in all of this. Do you
Is it swinging for the fences or is it swinging
I don't even know what would be swinging for. If
(16:26):
you go out and try to get like a Kyle
Whittingham who as one and one and one out west
and has never been part of the Midwest, I think
it's it's interesting. I also think it's interesting that he
never wanted it before, never never pursued it necessarily. I
wonder if now he's like, yeah, okay, I I will
(16:47):
listen what happens if Michigan gives him a call.
Speaker 3 (16:50):
Yeah, that's an interesting one, because Kyle Whittingham is very
similar to me to another guy who recently got hired
in the Big ten, Matt Campbell, where guys who are
winning bigger in a place that has not historically been
a place where you can win all that big.
Speaker 2 (17:07):
You know.
Speaker 3 (17:08):
Kyle Whittingham took over for urban Meyer, and Urban Meyer
had lifted that program to a you know, remarkable heights
as a non power team. Kyle Whittingham got them to
that level as a power team and was able to
sort of sustain, you know, not the perfect record that
Urban Meyer had that one year, but was able to
sustain a really solid level of success and really really
(17:28):
kind of like the Barry Alvarez coming almost of Utah,
where it's like, we have an identity, we are going
to win this way. We are going to out tough you,
we are going to just mash your faces. And you know,
we spent a Rose Bowl recently.
Speaker 2 (17:41):
Goodness, four years ago now, holy smoked, but time flies.
Speaker 3 (17:45):
Anyway, we spent a Rose Bowl somewhat recently covering Kyle Whittingham,
and I came away from that like super impressed with
the Utah program, Like I still follow a bunch of
Utah reporters, like I enjoy that program a lot. I
think Kyle Whittingham is a fantastic face, fantastic culture builder.
Really would in some ways. I think there's a certain
subset of the Michigan fan based booster community that would absolutely.
Speaker 2 (18:08):
Love, like, oh man, we are going to manball.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
You like you would not believe he would be an
interesting hire because that's very clearly like a caretaker kind
of come in for a couple of years and get
stuff on steady ground. Where if he comes in, man,
oh man, are they going to be a competitive nine
and three that is going to be miserable to play?
(18:30):
But you know, not even the geographic piece of it,
which is certainly a part of the story in terms
of local high schools and all that kind of stuff.
He's not going to know any of those folks. But
he's also this is you know Utah football is. It's
a very nice program. It's a very solid program. It
is a program that probably operationally is maybe half of
(18:51):
the operating budget of Michigan maybe, and it's just it's
not the same thing. And you're probably you know, they're
your boosters are all people who have grown up watching
you coach the team.
Speaker 2 (19:02):
So that's one kind of relationship.
Speaker 3 (19:03):
Now you're the new guy in town and you've got
to sort of prove yourself, and you know, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (19:08):
You know, he would.
Speaker 3 (19:09):
Absolutely be a grown up in charge of the program,
and maybe that's what they're looking for. That's if that's
what it comes down to, where you know he's he
is a grown up in charge of the program and
you know at.
Speaker 2 (19:18):
Halftime he's going to be focused on football and not
anything else.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
And that, you know, there is there is a certain
amount of like, yeah, I can get the appeal there.
Speaker 2 (19:26):
And again, I like him a lot.
Speaker 3 (19:28):
I would have the same concerns with him at Michigan
that I do with Matt Campbell at at Penn State,
which is, you are taking a big, big step up
and I know you are a fantastic head coach at
this level of the sport.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
Can you be a head fantastic head coach at this
level of the sport? And don't I don't know the
answer to that.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Like that's why Kaylen de Borr is like I you know,
I have seen Kaylen de bor get a team to
a national championship game, and so have Michigan fans.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
They were also there.
Speaker 3 (19:55):
But you know, Kyle Whittingham, Matt Campbell, I like him
lot as coaches. I don't know if the skill set
translates exactly to what you're looking for at a high high,
high level.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
Big ten program.
Speaker 1 (20:08):
Yeah, and we will all find out together whether it's
going to be choosing the adult in the room of
a Kyle Whittingham or going to the complete opera site
direction and bringing in somebody from the Jim Harbou tree
like a jesse Mentor, and or just choose somebody in
between there and make it the Jedfish pick that everybody
(20:31):
expects and go from there. But it will be interesting
to see how how much a coach wants to be
hired by somebody who may not be there when he's
actually signing the deal. And that's that's the problem with
mischiking right now, and they're gonna have to wade through
all of that. But that will do it for us
from here. If you would go ahead into thumbs up
(20:51):
if you're watching on YouTube, we'd appreciate that. Of course,
all of your five star ratings interviews are appreciated as well,
so that will.
Speaker 2 (20:57):
Do it from here.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
Thank you all for tuning in, and we will talk
to you all later,
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