Houston Nutt (Ole Miss): Extremely successful Arkansas head coach; previously Boise State and Murray State head coach; previously Arkansas wide receivers coach and Oklahoma State quarterbacks and wide receivers coach [Miscellaneous: I'm including out of methodological rigor but he achieved this success by cheating his ass off; Hugh Freeze gets lumped in the same bucket, talk about a lack of institutional control] - 50
Nick Saban (Alabama): Miami Dolphins head coach; previously spectacularly successful LSU, Michigan State, and Toledo head coach; long ago was the Cleveland Browns and Michigan State defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: Weird to count Alabama but it's appropriate since they had one winning season in the prior four years and were under sanctions] - 55
Mark Dantonio (Michigan State): Moderately successful shepherding Cincinnati's move up to the Big East; previously Ohio State's defensive coordinator, Power Five defensive backs coach, and Youngstown State defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Jim Tressel and Nick Saban] - 51
Tom O'Brien (NC State): Successful tenure as Boston College head coach; Virginia offensive coordinator; offensive line coaching background [Miscellaneous: On this list twice] - 58
Butch Davis (North Carolina): Successful tenure at Miami and then a failed tenure as an NFL head coach for the Browns; NFL defensive coordinator prior to head coaching jobs [Miscellaneous: wins during most successful seasons at North Carolina were subsequently vacated] - 55
Steve Spurrier (South Carolina): Legendary coach coming off failed stint with Washington Redskins; previously spectacularly successful Florida, Duke, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach; previously Duke offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach [Many of the blast from the past types in this post succeeded on fame for a few years and then fizzled but Spurrier was legitimately great at South Carolina] - 60
Rich Brooks (Kentucky): Venerable coach coming back from a few years away and six years since he'd been the St. Louis Rams coach; previously Oregon's head coach for an extremely long time with very successful close to his tenure there; previously an NFL defensive and special teams coach and Oregon State's defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: I'm squeamish about it, but this is an example of a grey beard taking multiple years away and coming back ready to lead again] - 62
Pete Carroll (USC): Technically not a Power Five coach but a head coach from the New England Patriots; previously the New York Jets defensive coordinator and had also been a defensive coordinator at Pacific and NC State [Miscellaneous: it may seem strange to count USC as a mediocre program that needed a turnaround artist but they only had one 7 win season in the half decade prior to Carroll] - 49
Nick Saban (LSU): Michigan State head coach; previously Toledo head coach; long ago was the Cleveland Browns and Michigan State defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: The GOAT appears again. There's a reason he is the GOAT. LSU is a proud program, but they had won seven games in two years prior to Saban] - 48
Dennis Erickson (Oregon State): Legendary coach bouncing back from a stint with the Seattle Seahawks; previously head coach (much spectacularly successful) at Miami, Washington State, Wyoming, and Idaho [Miscellaneous: Mike Riley had an awesome stint at Oregon State the second time around but Erickson bequeathed too good of a program for Riley to make this list] - 52
Lou Holtz (South Carolina): Legendary coach returning after a couple years away, previously coached Notre Dame, Minnesota, Arkansas, NC State, William & Mary, and the New York Jets; in ancient times he had once been an assistant but that was so long ago Wikipedia doesn't say what positions [Miscellaneous: This is like Graham and Mora where the celebrity was enough for a super charge for a time but it fizzled] - 62
Glen Mason (Minnesota): Modestly successful by normal standards but spectacularly successful by Kansas standards getting the Jayhawks to two top 25 finishes; head coach at Kent State before that; former Ohio State offensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: Thanks to one early career year at Allegheny, he had experience as a coordinator on both sides of the ball] - 47
The median age of this group is 51.
Eight of 22 of these happened since 2010. It's a decades-old, somewhat tried and true approach to hiring a good coach.
Illustrative names that would fit this bill (not exhaustive, not in any particular order, inclusion does not equal endorsement, and obviously many wouldn't consider us, just observing match with one or more of the types above): Mendenhall, Graham, Mora, Cutcliffe, Dantonio, Tom Herman, Jeff Brohm, Lance Leipold, Chris Klieman, Kalani Sitake, Sonny Dykes, Bret Bielema, PJ Fleck, Pat Fitzgerald, Chris Petersen, Gary Patterson, Jeff Tedford, Matt Rhule, Bill O'Brien, Doug Marrone, Urban Meyer, Dan Quinn, Dave Clawson, Dino Babers, Brady Hoke, Dana Holgorsen, Gus Malzahn, Willie Taggart, Jonathan Smith, Bryan Harsin
Something you don't see a lot of in this category are guys who failed as Power head coaches coming back for redemption and succeeding. Usually the tell of somebody being a successful coach is having been a successful coach, at the very least adjusted for circumstance (like Dantonio and Mason, which is where I think the Sonny Dykes comparison comes in). For that reason I would be hostile to a candidate like Taggart. I'd feel even more strongly about not hiring Derek Mason. You do see failed NFL coaches being a reasonable path to super charging a college program at least for a time, which is why I included Rhule, O'Brien, Marrone, and Quinn.
The real sustainable path here is to just hire a good coach. The guys I'd be interested in are Mendenhall, Herman, Brohm, Leipold, Kleiman, Sitake, Fleck, Petersen, and Clawson.
Nick Saban (Alabama): Miami Dolphins head coach; previously spectacularly successful LSU, Michigan State, and Toledo head coach; long ago was the Cleveland Browns and Michigan State defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: Weird to count Alabama but it's appropriate since they had one winning season in the prior four years and were under sanctions] - 55
Mark Dantonio (Michigan State): Moderately successful shepherding Cincinnati's move up to the Big East; previously Ohio State's defensive coordinator, Power Five defensive backs coach, and Youngstown State defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: Apprenticed under Jim Tressel and Nick Saban] - 51
Tom O'Brien (NC State): Successful tenure as Boston College head coach; Virginia offensive coordinator; offensive line coaching background [Miscellaneous: On this list twice] - 58
Butch Davis (North Carolina): Successful tenure at Miami and then a failed tenure as an NFL head coach for the Browns; NFL defensive coordinator prior to head coaching jobs [Miscellaneous: wins during most successful seasons at North Carolina were subsequently vacated] - 55
Steve Spurrier (South Carolina): Legendary coach coming off failed stint with Washington Redskins; previously spectacularly successful Florida, Duke, and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach; previously Duke offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach [Many of the blast from the past types in this post succeeded on fame for a few years and then fizzled but Spurrier was legitimately great at South Carolina] - 60
Rich Brooks (Kentucky): Venerable coach coming back from a few years away and six years since he'd been the St. Louis Rams coach; previously Oregon's head coach for an extremely long time with very successful close to his tenure there; previously an NFL defensive and special teams coach and Oregon State's defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: I'm squeamish about it, but this is an example of a grey beard taking multiple years away and coming back ready to lead again] - 62
Pete Carroll (USC): Technically not a Power Five coach but a head coach from the New England Patriots; previously the New York Jets defensive coordinator and had also been a defensive coordinator at Pacific and NC State [Miscellaneous: it may seem strange to count USC as a mediocre program that needed a turnaround artist but they only had one 7 win season in the half decade prior to Carroll] - 49
Nick Saban (LSU): Michigan State head coach; previously Toledo head coach; long ago was the Cleveland Browns and Michigan State defensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: The GOAT appears again. There's a reason he is the GOAT. LSU is a proud program, but they had won seven games in two years prior to Saban] - 48
Dennis Erickson (Oregon State): Legendary coach bouncing back from a stint with the Seattle Seahawks; previously head coach (much spectacularly successful) at Miami, Washington State, Wyoming, and Idaho [Miscellaneous: Mike Riley had an awesome stint at Oregon State the second time around but Erickson bequeathed too good of a program for Riley to make this list] - 52
Lou Holtz (South Carolina): Legendary coach returning after a couple years away, previously coached Notre Dame, Minnesota, Arkansas, NC State, William & Mary, and the New York Jets; in ancient times he had once been an assistant but that was so long ago Wikipedia doesn't say what positions [Miscellaneous: This is like Graham and Mora where the celebrity was enough for a super charge for a time but it fizzled] - 62
Glen Mason (Minnesota): Modestly successful by normal standards but spectacularly successful by Kansas standards getting the Jayhawks to two top 25 finishes; head coach at Kent State before that; former Ohio State offensive coordinator [Miscellaneous: Thanks to one early career year at Allegheny, he had experience as a coordinator on both sides of the ball] - 47
The median age of this group is 51.
Eight of 22 of these happened since 2010. It's a decades-old, somewhat tried and true approach to hiring a good coach.
Illustrative names that would fit this bill (not exhaustive, not in any particular order, inclusion does not equal endorsement, and obviously many wouldn't consider us, just observing match with one or more of the types above): Mendenhall, Graham, Mora, Cutcliffe, Dantonio, Tom Herman, Jeff Brohm, Lance Leipold, Chris Klieman, Kalani Sitake, Sonny Dykes, Bret Bielema, PJ Fleck, Pat Fitzgerald, Chris Petersen, Gary Patterson, Jeff Tedford, Matt Rhule, Bill O'Brien, Doug Marrone, Urban Meyer, Dan Quinn, Dave Clawson, Dino Babers, Brady Hoke, Dana Holgorsen, Gus Malzahn, Willie Taggart, Jonathan Smith, Bryan Harsin
Something you don't see a lot of in this category are guys who failed as Power head coaches coming back for redemption and succeeding. Usually the tell of somebody being a successful coach is having been a successful coach, at the very least adjusted for circumstance (like Dantonio and Mason, which is where I think the Sonny Dykes comparison comes in). For that reason I would be hostile to a candidate like Taggart. I'd feel even more strongly about not hiring Derek Mason. You do see failed NFL coaches being a reasonable path to super charging a college program at least for a time, which is why I included Rhule, O'Brien, Marrone, and Quinn.
The real sustainable path here is to just hire a good coach. The guys I'd be interested in are Mendenhall, Herman, Brohm, Leipold, Kleiman, Sitake, Fleck, Petersen, and Clawson.