Kansas Football: Who Should the Jayhawks Hire to Replace Turner Gill?

About a month ago I wrote an article that Turner Gill's days were numbered in Lawrence and offered up a list of eight coaches who could replace Gill at Kansas.

Yesterday the Jayhawks fired Gill and are officially looking for a new coach. I've had some more time to examine coaching candidates and now that Gill is officially gone, it's time to refresh my list.

The Jayhawks need to go after a big name guy that can immediately re-energize the fan base and sell tickets. Unfortunately for Kansas, they are a basketball school and it won't be easy to attract a big name guy to Lawrence.

Urban Meyer accepted the job at Ohio State today so that takes him off the list (they didn't have a chance anyways), but there are a few big name guys out there that Kansas has to make a run at. Kansas will be battling schools like North Carolina, Penn State, Ole Miss, UCLA, and Arizona State for a new coach so they need to act fast because the Jayhawks are towards the bottom of job openings out there.

I'm not too high on these guys, but I've heard them mentioned by Kansas fans as persons of interest.

I really don't think there's a chance KU will go after Jim Tressel, but he's available and has had success wherever he goes. However, he also brings trouble wherever he goes. I'd stay away from him.

Brent Venables is always talked about in the Midwest as a big-time coordinator, but I think Kansas can do better then him. Oklahoma's defense ranks 52nd in the country in yards allowed, and 27th in points allowed, so I'm just not sold on him as a good head-coach candidate.

Mark Stoops has had success as a defensive coordinator at Florida State. The Seminoles rank No. 6 in the country in yards allowed and No. 4 in points allowed.

Mike Stoops was recently fired by Arizona, but his name has still been mentioned by Kansas fans as a replacement. Stoops was 41-50 at Arizona, and started this year 1-5, but still took the Wildcats to three straight bowl games. Outside Lawrence, his name's been mentioned as a possible defensive coordinator under new Ohio State head coach Urban Meyer.

Most casual football fans have never heard of 42-year-old Mark Hudspeth, but he seems to have success wherever he goes.

Hudspeth was the head coach at North Alabama from 2002-2008, where he compiled a 66-21 record. He led North Alabama to two conference titles and four playoff appearances in seven years. 

In 2009, Hudspeth joined Dan Mullen at Mississippi State as wide receivers coach.

This year he became the head coach at Louisiana-Lafayette, where he's gone 8-4. Last year the Ragin' Cajuns were 3-9, so they've already shown great improvement in a short period with Hudspeth.

I think Kansas could get a bigger name than Mark Hudspeth, but he would still be an upgrade from Turner Gill. I doubt he would even be considered for the job, but if he has continued success at ULL, his profile will only grow.

Todd Monken is in his first season as offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State, but it's been a very successful one. The Cowboys rank No. 2 in scoring offense and No. 3 in total offense. He's working with some of the best weapons in the country, so schools might decide to wait a year or two before they hire Monken.

Monken coached at LSU from 2005 to 2006, before joining the Jacksonville Jaguars in 2007.

Butch Jones struggled in his first season at Cincinnati, but now things have turned in the right direction. They are 8-3 this year and in second place in the Big East Conference.

In 2005 and 2006 he was the wide receivers coach at West Virginia under Rich Rodriguez.

From 2007-2009 he was the head coach at Central Michigan, where he compiled a 27-13 record and won two MAC championships.

The Bearcats currently have the No. 40 ranked recruiting class, according to Rivals.com, and have one 4-star commitment.

Skip definitely has coaching in his blood, and he's another coach who seems to have success wherever he goes. From 1990-1993 Skip coached under his dad, Lou Holtz, at Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish went 40-8-1 during that period.

In 1994 Skip left Notre Dame to become the head coach at Connecticut. While at UConn, he had a record of 34-23, and he led the Huskies to their first Division 1-AA playoff appearance.

From 1999-2004 Skip joined his dad's staff at South Carolina. After his dad resigned as head coach of the Gamecocks, Skip was not hired back by Steve Spurrier. He ended up taking the head-coaching job at East Carolina.

At ECU he went 38-27 overall, with four straight bowl appearances, compared to 7-28 in the three years before Holtz's hire. In 2006, Skip led the Pirates to their first winning season since 2000. In 2007 ECU beat No. 24 Boise State in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl.

Skip and ECU started the 2008 season by upsetting No. 17 Virginia Tech and No. 8 West Virginia; the first time in Conference USA history that a team beat three ranked teams in a row. ECU won the Conference USA championship two years in a row in 2008 and 2009.

In 2010 Skip took the head coaching job at South Florida. He's 13-11 overall at USF, and the Bulls are one win away from going to a bowl game.

Larry Fedora, 49, is currently the head coach at Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are 10-2 this year under Fedora, and are ranked No. 24 in the BCS Standings. Fedora is 32-19 in four years at Southern Miss. The Golden Eagles are bowl-eligible again this year and will have gone to a bowl all four years with Fedora as head coach.

He coached at Florida from 2002-2004, and became offensive coordinator at Oklahoma State from 2005-2007 under Mike Gundy. Fedora made a big splash shortly after his hiring at Southern Miss when he landed 5-star recruit DeAndre Brown.

I think Fedora would be a great hire at KU, especially with his experience in the Big 12 Conference. Unfortunately for Kansas, it wouldn't surprise me if Fedora took the Ole Miss job. Obviously, he has plenty of connection to Mississippi, so the move would make sense..

Manny Diaz has done a great job of turning around the Texas defense. The Longhorns rank No. 9 in total defense, even while playing against high-powered Big 12 offenses each week. Last year, without Diaz, the Longhorns ranked No. 49 in points per game—this year they rank No. 32.

Last year Diaz was the defensive coordinator at Mississippi State, and improved the Bulldogs' defense to No. 21 in points per game from No. 71 in 2009, before he came to Starkville.

I think Kansas needs a defensive-minded coach, and Manny Diaz definitely fits that mold.

Kirby Smart, defensive coordinator at Alabama, is probably the hottest name among assistant coaches.

Smart's been at Bama since 2007, and the Crimson Tide defense is ranked No. 1 in the country in points per game.

He has tons of talent to work with, but he's helped get that talent to Tuscaloosa, and there's no doubt that he knows defense. If Kansas wants to take a shot at a young coordinator, then he would be my first pick.

Houston's Kevin Sumlin is possibly one of the hottest names in coaching. Sumlin has led the Cougars to a No. 6 ranking in the BCS Standings, and the team is 12-0 this year.

In his four years at Houston, he has a 35-16 record. This year he will lead his team to their third bowl game in four years.

Sumlin is another coach with experience in the Big 12 Conference and, obviously, huge Texas connections. He coached under Bob Stoops at Oklahoma from 2003-2007, and under R.C. Slocum at Texas A&M in 2001 and 2002.

One caveat: He hasn't had any big-time recruiting classes at Houston. Last year without Case Keenum, Houston finished 5-7, their worst record under Sumlin. I'm interested to see how he does without Keenum, but I still think he would be a good hire for Kansas.

People from Kansas are very familiar with Jim Leavitt's name. Leavitt played quarterback at Missouri, and was a graduate assistant at Mizzou from 1978-1979. Leavitt then joined Bill Snyder's staff at Kansas State from 1990-1995.

In 1996, Jim left Kansas State to start South Florida's football program. He was 94-57 at USF and led the Bulls to five straight bowl games. At one point during the 2007 season, South Florida was ranked No. 2 in the BCS.

There were rumors that Alabama, Miami and Kansas State had tried to hire Leavitt, but he turned them all down to stay with South Florida.

After the 2009 season, Leavitt was fired for hitting a player in the locker room. School officials found that Leavitt lied and interfered with the investigation.

He now coaches linebackers for the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers have one of the best defenses in the NFL this year, led by linebackers NaVorro Bowman and Patrick Willis.

He would bring baggage with him, but I think he's one heck of a coach. He has a strong defensive background, which is what Kansas desperately needs right now. If Jim Leavitt isn't hired at Kansas, I could possibly see him taking over for Bill Snyder when he retires (again) at Kansas State.

Mike Leach is a coach who might bring baggage, but also much success. Leach went 84-43 at Texas Tech, and led them to a bowl game all of his 10 years.

Leach, like Jim Leavitt, was fired due to allegations that he mistreated a player. It was reported that Leach made Adam James stand in a dark shed or garage during practice. After the family complained, Texas Tech ordered Leach to apologize. Leach refused, so Tech fired him. A Texas Tech official stated that other incidents came up during the investigation, but did not elaborate. Leach has pending lawsuits against Texas Tech and ESPN, so Kansas would definitely have to overlook his drama for a chance of winning.

Leach is another guy on the list with Big 12 experience and Texas connections. He coached at Texas Tech for 10 seasons, and was the offensive coordinator at Oklahoma in 1999.

It's believed that Kansas got rid of Mark Mangino due to reports he was mistreating his players, so it will be interesting to see if the Jayhawks will hire a guy like Leach or Leavitt. There's a new athletic director in town, so it's very possible they would give one of these two coaches another look.

A lot of people have compared the situation in Lawrence to the situation at Kansas State when their basketball program hired Bob Huggins. Huggins' stay was short, but he quickly improved the Wildcats' program, and they've since risen as far as an Elite Eight appearance in the 2009-2010 season.

Mike Leach could do something similar for Kansas football. The Jayhawks are as low as they can go right now, and Leach has proven he is a winner. It might be a big risk, but it might be worth the reward.