Who could be the CU Buffs’ new head coach?
BOULDER – The inevitable search for the new head coach of Colorado football is underway after Karl Dorrell was fired early Sunday morning, ending a tenure that started off on a good note but quickly crashed and burned.
This will be the fourth head coach that athletic director Rick George has overseen at CU, and the third that he himself has hired. Considering former athletic director Mike Bohn was shown the door after three head coaching hires, George is under immense pressure to get this one right.
“We will be diligent in our search process and we will be incredibly thorough,” said George at a press conference following the Dorrell firing. “We will leave no stone unturned in our quest to get this football program back to national prominence.”
There are a lot of different directions that George could go here. He could look in the direction of a former Buff who is rising in the coaching ranks, or he could go for an established head coach with winning experience at the Power Five level. It will be interesting to see if Mel Tucker’s abrupt departure prior to the 2020 season discourages George from hiring another big name coach.
Let’s get into some of the names that could be leading the Buffs next season.
Colorado interim head coach Mike Sanford
I’ll preface this section by saying this: I don’t think Sanford really has any shot at getting his interim status removed here.
It would probably take three or four wins in Colorado’s last seven games for Sanford to garner serious consideration, and I don’t see a win on this Buffs schedule, save for maybe a home date with Arizona State (who already fired their head coach, Herm Edwards).
Sanford does have head coaching experience, finishing 9-16 and making one bowl appearance in two seasons at Western Kentucky. He was promoted to take Dorrell’s place for the remainder of the 2022 campaign after being hired as the Buffs’ offensive coordinator last offseason.
Air Force head coach Troy Calhoun
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but Troy Calhoun is at the top of yet another Colorado coaching search. A legend in the state of Colorado, Calhoun is a former Air Force quarterback and assistant coach with the Denver Broncos, and is currently leading a Falcon program that looks poised for their 12th bowl game appearance in 16 years with him at the helm.
The question remains, why would Calhoun want to make the trip from Colorado Springs up to Boulder? He was frequently mentioned for the CU job in 2010, and interviewed with the Buffs in 2020 after Tucker’s departure. He runs a successful, well-respected program at Air Force, and there seems to be mutual love between him and the school.
The allure of coaching at a Power Five school could lure Calhoun to Boulder, but after leading his Falcons to a win at Folsom Field in 2019 and dismantling CU earlier this season, he may find that staying put is the better option.
Former BYU and Virginia head coach Bronco Mendenhall
If George wants a coach with a proven track record for turning around a program, Mendenhall is a great place to start. In eleven years as the head coach at BYU, Mendenhall led the Cougars to a sparkling 99-43 record, with a bowl appearance in every season.
That resume earned him a Power Five job at Virginia, which he inherited after four straight losing seasons in Charlottesville. However, it only took one season for Mendenhall to have the Cavaliers in a bowl game. In his fourth season in the ACC in 2019, he led Virginia to a coastal division championship and an Orange Bowl appearance, the first BCS/New Year’s Six bowl for the Wahoos since 1998.
Mendenhall stepped down after the 2021 season, but indicated that he was not officially retiring from coaching. After a year off, his return to the sidelines is a possibility.
Illinois defensive coordinator Ryan Walters
Despite not having any head coaching experience, Walters is a former Buff who has become a hot name in the coordinator ranks. He played safety for Colorado from 2004-08, and was a team captain as a senior.
After bouncing around in the early part of his coaching career, Walters got his first defensive coordinator job at Missouri in 2016. He is currently in his second season as the Illinois defensive coordinator, leading a unit that ranks first in scoring defense and third in total defense so far in 2022.
Maybe it would be best to get a new, unfamiliar set of eyes and ears on this Buffs program, a total reset to try to dig them out of this hole. However, if they opt for a former Buff, Walters is a prime candidate.
Kansas City Chiefs offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy
One of the all-time greats of Colorado football, Bieniemy was a candidate for the Buffs job in 2020 before withdrawing his name from the race. As it turns out, choosing a few more years of Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes over CU has been a fruitful decision for Bienemy, as he added another AFC Championship to his Super Bowl LIV title.
It’s fairly shocking that Bieniemy hasn’t gotten an NFL head coaching gig yet given the historic production of his Chiefs offenses. A return to the college ranks, where Bieniemy served as the Buffs’ offensive coordinator under Jon Embree, could be the place for his head coaching career to get off the ground.
Bieniemy may be inexperienced as a head coach, but he is the Buffs’ all time leader in rushing yards and touchdowns, and has experience working in one of the most prolific offenses in the history of football. Those factors alone make him an enticing target.
Alabama offensive coordinator Bill O’Brien
O’Brien may be hard to poach considering he currently holds one of the most admirable coordinator positions in college football, calling plays for the Bryce Young led attack in Tuscaloosa. Young of course makes everyone’s job easier, but O’Brien does bring some play-calling acumen from his time with the Houston Texans and has experience coaching in a high-pressure environment from his time at Penn State.
As long as he’s not involved in personnel decisions…
Former Florida head coach Dan Mullen
Mullen has had a lot of success in the SEC, starting with a long stint at Mississippi State where he reached eight bowl games in nine years, including an Orange Bowl appearance in 2014. He then left to take the job at Florida, compiling a 34-15 record over the better part of four seasons and reaching three straight New Year’s Six bowls from 2018-20.
Mullen is an intriguing candidate for the CU job because of his reputation as a quarterback whisperer, having coached Alex Smith and Heisman Trophy winner Tim Tebow as an assistant, and Dak Prescott and Kyle Trask as a head coach. With the emergence of Buffs freshman quarterback Owen McCown in recent weeks, Mullen’s expertise in coaching quarterbacks could be a springboard for McCown’s growth.
Former Jacksonville Jaguars coach Urban Meyer
Everyone relax, I’m just kidding.
