FSU is supposedly targeting James Franklin, but Penn State could very well pony up to keep him, so who else would you consider?

If you can't hire Urban Meyer, do you go after an Urban disciple in Luke Fickell? Was DC under Urban Meyer for 4 years at Ohio State. Currently the Cincinatti Bearcats Head Coach. They went 4-8 in 2017, then went 11-2 last year, and currently are 7-1 and ranked. Hard to accomplish much more at a G5 school that will always play second fiddle to Ohio State in the state. He's only 46 years old, so he has a lot of coaching left in his career.

I'm honestly surprised more teams don't go after Les Miles. I know he's older (66 yo), but he isn't Bill Snyder's age either, and the biggest reason for his firing was because he couldn't beat Nick Saban, which is a really tough standard to be held to. Les Miles is one of the few coaches who has won a championship, and would have probably won more if not for Saban. Les Miles never had a losing season coaching at LSU despite the SEC West being the toughest division in CFB, so imagine what he could do in a weak P5 division like the PAC12 South or in the ACC.

I'm also surprised no one has has hired away Gary Patterson. He built that program from nothing, and while they been a little down the past 2 years, it's not like TCU has a ton of support either. TCU has a small fanbase and has to compete for recruits with Texas, Texas A&M, Baylor, Texas Tech to say nothing of out of state schools like Alabama, Oklahoma, LSU, Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan, and the Florida Schools raiding the state. Even 3* prospects might favor more PT at places like Houston or SMU. I would say Gary Patterson and Chris Peterson accomplished similar results when their programs were G5 schools, and Peterson has made Washington nationally relevant again. Imagine what Gary could do with the resources and recruits of a college blue blood like USC. He's a little older (59 yo), but I don't really see that as a negative either, Peterson is 55.

A few other coaches that are more under the radar and probably won't be considered, though they seem to be overachievers.

David Shaw has done a really nice job keeping Stanford relevant in the post-Harbaugh era (5 double digit win seasons, 3 Rose Bowl appearances). Considering that Stanford's recruiting pool is relatively limited, I imagine he could do even more with blue chip recruits. And he's still relatively young (47 yo).

Chris Klieman at Kansas State is interesting. He's 52, but has his team at 6-2 and ranked in his first year after leading North Dakota State to 4 FCS Championships and one Semifinals. That may not seem particularly impressive, but Kansas Sate hasn't finished ranked since 2014 and hasn't head a conference title since 2012.

Dave Clawson at Wake Forest is also 52, but seems to do a good job of turning bad programs into respectable ones. At Fordham his 1st year they were 0-11. In his last 2 seasons with Fordham they went 10-3, then 9-3. At Richmond his first season they went 3-8, but in his last season they went 11-3. At Bowling Green his first season they went 7-6, and they went 10-3 his last season. Now at Wake Forest they went 3-9 his first two seasons, but have made a bowl game the next 3, and this year they are 7-1.

Kyle Whittingham deserves to be on this list, but he won't ever leave Utah so it's not worth discussing.