UPDATED: IU football coaching candidates. Who will Indiana turn to replace Tom Allen?
BLOOMINGTON – For the first time in 13 years, Indiana will conduct a national search for a football coach.
Given the challenges of the job — escalating NIL concerns, a fluid and uneven transfer portal, an increasingly challenging Big Ten — getting this hire right will be as difficult as it is pivotal for Athletic Director Scott Dolson.
The demands on the position to regain some sense of competitiveness, for a program with just three conference wins in the past three years, would seem to lend a leg up to coaches with experience running their own program already. But there could be some, either with IU ties or the personal agency (or both) to interest Dolson in the coming weeks.
IU coaching Hot Board 3.0: Latest intel we're hearing about the search
Insider: IU has poured resources into football. Search for Tom Allen's successor will require more.
With the job now officially open, and given what intelligence we've been able to gather, here's our revamped Hot Board 2.0:
Veteran head coach candidates for IU
Consider this our first tier of candidates. Indiana appears highly likely to want a coach with extensive experience running his own program, whether that coach is currently employed or not.
That could mean dipping down to the Group of Five level, or it could mean pulling a coach not currently in a job to Bloomington. But with NIL considerations and a toughening Big Ten, IU's likeliest hire is one with serious head-coaching bonafides.
Candidates, as ever, listed alphabetically.
Jason Candle, head coach, Toledo
The class of the MAC right now, Candle has more than 60 wins across the past nine seasons leading Toledo. He’s steered the Rockets to multiple conference titles and a half-dozen bowl games, with some Power Four upsets mixed in as well.
If Indiana wants head-coaching track record, it probably can’t do much better than the 44-year-old Ohio native. The strike against Candle? Primarily, a Mount Union graduate who’s been at Toledo since 2009, he’s never tasted Power Four football as a coach.
Chris Creighton, head coach, Eastern Michigan
The second of three coaches with MAC ties on this list, Creighton ticks a ton of boxes. He’s turned one of the least-resourced programs in his conference into an annual winner, with five bowl berths in the seven seasons before this one. Creighton’s also been a head coach for more than 25 years, dating back to his small-college days at Ottawa and Wabash.
Perhaps the biggest hurdle in hiring him: Creighton is exceptionally close with Tom Allen, the coach Indiana just fired. Creighton hired Allen from Ben Davis High School to Wabash in 2007, and it was on Creighton’s recommendation that Allen hired Kalen DeBoer in 2019.
Paul Chryst, former head coach, Pitt/Wisconsin
Chryst would be a mixed bag of a sell for Dolson and Co. On the one hand, his tenure ended in a slump at Wisconsin, the Badgers' offense regressing and a couple of highly rated recruiting classes flopping. Chryst was dismissed midseason last year, and eventually replaced by Luke Fickell.
On the other hand, he might have been feasting on the lesser of the Big Ten's two divisions, but his results are difficult to dispute. His teams finished first or second in the West in each of his six full seasons in Madison. He won the division three times, and finished with a 43-18 Big Ten record.
Across stints at Pitt and Wisconsin, Chryst also finished 7-2 in bowl games, and 10-4 against rivals Iowa and Minnesota.
Willie Fritz, head coach, Tulane
Like Creighton, Fritz has tremendous head-coaching experience down to the lower levels of the sport. He was a perennial national title contender at the FCS level with Sam Houston State, and across 10 years as head coach at Georgia Southern and Tulane, Fritz is 54-46 with six bowl appearances. His distinctive brand of the shotgun option gives him some novelty for a program that might value some.
Fritz has been reported as a serious candidate for a few Power Four jobs in recent years. He was strongly linked to Georgia Tech last year before the Yellow Jackets decided to elevate Brent Key. Fritz is a little on the older side, 63, and staying in the South might appeal to him.
Dan Mullen, former head coach, Mississippi State and Florida
If you want a coach who’s won in a job of similar stature in its own Power Four conference, Mullen is your man.
He turned Mississippi State into a perennial bowl team between 2010-17, with five wins in seven tries in that stretch. Mullen’s offenses helped build some of the best seasons in Bulldogs’ history, making Mississippi State a much tougher out in the hypercompetitive SEC West.
But after consecutive 10-win seasons at Florida, following his move east, Mullen limped out of Gainesville after a 5-6 2021 campaign, amid criticisms of his effort and effectiveness on the recruiting trail. Does he have the energy to hit another rebuild with the same verve?
Promising G5 (plus one) coaches
If Indiana wants to take a bit more of a risk, on a coach with some up-and-coming energy but perhaps a less extensive resume, these candidates might make the most sense.
Doyel: IU football vacancy has never looked prettier, but Big Ten has never looked scarier
Jake Dickert, head coach, Washington State
Dickert has done a good job in a tough spot. Washington State is perennially one of the most difficult jobs in the Pac-12, and Dickert guided the Cougars to bowl berths in each of his first two seasons. Dickert is also from the Midwest, having played at Wisconsin-Stevens Point and coached at several smaller schools in the Big Ten footprint before landing in Pullman.
Dickert is charismatic and has a defensive background similar to Allen’s. That said, he doesn’t have as much head-coaching experience on this list as some, and while he’s done well at Wazzu, perhaps a little more seasoning would do him good.
Charles Huff, head coach, Marshall
An accomplished position coach and recruiter at several bigtime stops, Huff has had Marshall in the bowl picture since his arrival in Huntington. Huff’s bonafides as a recruiter and developer of talented players was built across stops with Maryland, Penn State, Mississippi State, Alabama and the Buffalo Bills, among others, and at just 40, he’s got an age profile that might appeal to Indiana.
The big knocks against Huff? There aren’t many. He does have fewer seasons as a head coach than some others on this list, and even if the Thundering Herd do bowl this season, this is his worst regular-season record across the past three years.
Sean Lewis, offensive coordinator, Colorado
Despite his midseason demotion from playcalling duties in Boulder, Lewis should be an in-demand coach this winter. Before he joined Deion Sanders for the Coach Prime project, Lewis spent five years as head coach at Kent State from 2018-22, leading the Golden Flashes to two bowl appearances in five years.
Lewis finished just 24-31 in Kent, but 19-17 in conference play, in one of the most challenging jobs resources-wise in the MAC. His time at Colorado also exposed his impressive offense to Power Four competition, and Lewis got an up-close look at Sanders’ aggressive NIL-plus-portal approach to roster building.
Barry Odom, head coach, UNLV
For years a central figure on Missouri’s defensive staff, Odom eventually took over for Gary Pinkel in 2015. He led Missouri to bowl berths in his second and third seasons, before he was fired following a 6-6 fourth year.
Odom spent three strong seasons as defensive coordinator for Sam Pittman at Arkansas before returning to a head job this offseason. He won a share of the Mountain West regular-season title with the Runnin’ Rebels in his first season in 2023. Would Indiana be comfortable with another defense-first coach, or do the Hoosiers want someone with more offensive focus?
Jon Sumrall, head coach, Troy
The Huntsville, Ala., native has strong ties to the South, but some of his best work as an assistant before taking the Troy job came at Ole Miss and Kentucky, two programs familiar with what’s required to punch above your weight in a bigtime conference.
Sumrall has excelled since arriving in Troy, competing for the Sun Belt Conference title in each of his first two years. That said, a lot of his experience is in the South. Would he want to come north to the Midwest, where he might need to lean on staff for some early relationship building? And would Indiana be able to convince him to trade a successful program that could open SEC doors at some point for a rebuild in Bloomington?
Kane Wommack, head coach, South Alabama
The most familiar potential hire on this list by some distance. Wommack served as Allen’s linebackers coach in 2018, and as his defensive coordinator across hugely successful seasons in 2019 and 2020.
Wommack parlayed that into the South Alabama job, where he’s 6-6 this season and could possibly land the Jaguars a second bowl appearance in as many seasons. Wommack would probably retain meaningful internal support, though it’s worth saying he’s already at one of the best jobs in his conference, and if he wants to stay south and wait for an SEC or ACC job, that might make sense for him too. Indiana should, at bare minimum, make the call.
Coaches with IU ties
There's no indication Dolson is looking firmly for an Indiana connection. But if he wants one, a couple of potential candidates (two record setters) do come to mind.
Justin Frye, associate head coach/offensive line coach, Ohio State
Frye played at Elwood High School before setting what was then a program-record 45 consecutive starts for an offensive lineman.
As a coach, he’s worked at Florida, Temple, Boston College, UCLA and, most recently, Ohio State. Those last two stops are particularly interesting, as they’ve allowed Frye to work and study under Chip Kelly and Ryan Day, two of the modern game’s foremost offensive minds. If Indiana wants to vet up-and-coming assistants, Frye’s name should be on the list.
Antwaan Randle El, wide receivers coach, Detroit Lions
Among IU football’s most revered former players, Randle El went on to a successful professional career before working for several years in television and other athletic capacities. He began coaching in 2019 as an offensive assistant in Tampa Bay, before landing in Detroit with Dan Campbell.
There are a handful of questions that would follow Randle El through the interview process — primarily his relatively light resume, and in particular whether he’d be interested in swapping the NFL for college, with added recruiting responsibilities and more coaching restrictions. At the very least, Dolson ought to see if Randle El will discuss his thoughts on the job more generally, as an alumnus with tremendous gravitas in the game.
Big Ten coordinators
If Indiana wants Midwest flavor from an up-and-coming coordinator, there's one who might fit.
Mike Hart, running backs coach/run game coordinator, Michigan
The doubling up on Michigan assistants in this section isn't because Indiana is obsessed with the Wolverines, we promise.
Of these two candidates, Hart might be more appealing to the Hoosiers. He's done exceptionally well with running backs (and the running game in general) in Ann Arbor, and there are those who think he might lead his alma mater one day. Coordinator experience is obviously lacking, but Hart has personality and professional gravitas that would probably supersede that, and his connections in the sport would make staffing easy.
Hart's time at Indiana left an extremely positive impression on those who worked with him in the department. In particular because of that weighty respect he still carries in Bloomington, of the non-head coaches on this list, Hart might be the most compelling candidate.
Sherrone Moore, offensive coordinator/offensive line coach/interim head coach, Michigan
A one-time offensive guard for Bob Stoops at Oklahoma, Moore has worked his way up the coaching ladder, working with tight ends and linemen, and coordinating run games. He was named co-offensive coordinator at Michigan in 2021, and full OC this year, and he’s won respect for his handling of interim head-coaching duties in the wake of Jim Harbaugh’s suspension.
Moore’s resume should make him one of college football’s up-and-coming offensive minds. Can any Michigan assistant clear the Wolverines’ ongoing scouting scandal sufficiently enough to be a candidate for a Power Four job this season? Because of his strong ties to Indiana, Hart might be less impacted by such concerns than Moore.
Follow IndyStar reporter Zach Osterman on Twitter: @ZachOsterman.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indiana Hoosiers football coaching candidates: Who replaces Tom Allen?
