The Next Ohio State Football Coach Should Be...(Part 1 current College Coaches)

Like a lot of Ohio State fans, I was stunned and saddened by the abrupt departure of Jim Tressel.  Jim Tressel has had an unbelievable 10 years and I look forward to the day that I can tell my grandkids that I watched Jim Tressel run out of the tunnel at the Horseshoe, much like my Grandpa talked about Woody Hayes.  Unless your living under a rock, there are a lot of places you can go to get all of the details of the scandal and investigation.  My focus is going to be on the future.  I want to look at who the candidates might be to be the Head Coach of Ohio State in 2012 and beyond. 

Some of the popular names that are being tossed around are Urban Meyer, Bob Stoops, Mike Stoops, Jon Gruden, Luke Fickell and Bo Pelini. While that is a good list, I don't want to leave any potential candidate out there.  I have taken all current college head coaches and have broken them down by chances that they might be Ohio State's next head coach.  I have broken it down by awarding Buckeye leaves to the top candidates.  3 leaves means they will likely be highly considered, 2 leaves means they will probably get consideration and 1 leaf means they are probably not on the radar, but are worth considering.  Remember this list is current college head coaches only!


Three Buckeye Leaves
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
Bo Pelini, Nebraska
Luke Fickell, Ohio State (interim)


Two Buckeye Leaves
Gary Pinkel, Missouri
Greg Schiano, Rutgers
Mark Dantionio, Michigan State
Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
Chris Petersen, Boise State
Gary Patterson, TCU
Mike Stoops, Arizona
Chip Kelly, Oregon
Mike Riley, Oregon State
Mark Richt, Georgia
Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
Jeff Tedford, California


One Buckeye Leaf
Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Les Miles, LSU
Pat Hill, Fresno State
Randy Edsall, Maryland
Tom O'Brien, NC St
Jim Grobe, Wake Forest
Turner Gill, Kansas
Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech
Butch Jones, Cincinnati
Todd Graham, Pitt
Skip Holtz, South Florida
Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
Kevin Sumlin, Houston
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy
Darrell Hazell, Kent State

How I would rank the College Head Coaching Candidates:
1. Bob Stoops
2. Bo Pelini
3. Pat Fitzgerald
4. Greg Schiano
5. Gary Pinkel
6. Luke Fickell
7. Chris Petersen
8. Mike Stoops
9. Jeff Tedford
10. Dan Mullin

My next list will include current College Assistants, NFL Assistants, NFL Head Coaches, and Former Coaches.