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5. Willie Fritz, Georgia Southern coach: I don't think Fritz is a name that's going to come up for some of the higher profile jobs just yet, but he's the kind of coach the lesser profile schools should strongly consider. He took over the Georgia Southern program from Jeff Monken after Monken left for Army, and in his two seasons with the Eagles, he's gone 16-5 and 13-1 in Sun Belt play. And that's all been done in Georgia Southern's first two seasons as an FBS program.
Before he was at Georgia Southern, Fritz went 40-15 at Sam Houston State and 97-47 at Central Missouri. All in all, Fritz has spent 19 seasons as a head coach, and only two of those seasons (his first season, 1997, and 2006) were losing seasons. He went 5-6 those years. Everywhere he's gone, he's won.
4. Doug Meacham, TCU co-offensive coordinator: The former Oklahoma State offensive lineman has been coaching since 1989, but is yet to get his first head coaching gig. That may change this winter, as he's raised his profile a bit at TCU. He took over a TCU offense that scored only 25.1 points per game in 2013 and immediately improved that number to 46.5 points per game in 2014. This year, the Frogs are scoring 44.3.
In his one season at Houston, before joining TCU's staff, the Cougars scored 33.2 points per game. It's obvious that between his eight seasons on Mike Gundy's staff at Oklahoma State, and his years at Houston and TCU, Meacham has learned how to put together a potent offense, and he might be ready to branch out on his own at this point.
3. D.J. Durkin, Michigan defensive coordinator: Durkin's only in his first season as Michigan's defensive coordinator, but its hard to deny the results he's had already. Against FBS opponents, no defense in the country is allowing less yards per game, or less yards per play. Only three defenses (Wisconsin, Ohio State and Florida) are allowing less points per game against FBS teams than Michigan's 14.8. Durkin had similar success as Florida's defensive coordinator for two seasons at Florida, and also spent time on Jim Harbaugh's staff at Stanford.
If Bowling Green's Dino Babers leaves for a bigger job, you have to think Durkin, a Bowling Green alum, would be the first name the school will call. It's just, Bowling Green probably shouldn't be the only school that does.
2. Rod Carey, Northern Illinois coach: There must be something in the water in DeKalb, Illinois. Rod Carey is just the latest head coach to take over the Northern Illinois program and keep things plugging along. While Jerry Kill receives a lot of credit for building the program, you can't deny the job that Carey -- and Dave Doeren before him -- have done maintaining it.
Carey's currently in his third season at NIU, and he's 31-9 overall with an even more impressive 21-2 record in conference play. He's a win against Ohio away from winning his third straight MAC West division title in three seasons. And if some Power Five schools have been smart enough to pay attention to all this, it could be his last division title at Northern Illinois.
1. Brent Venables, Clemson defensive coordinator: It's so strange to me that Venables' name hasn't come up more often. He completely turned the Clemson defense around last season, making it one of the best units in the country. He then lost basically the entire unit to graduation and the draft, and Clemson is still one of the best defenses in the country. Oh, and the Tigers are currently the No. 1 team in the nation, too.
This isn't some new phenomenon. Venables routinely built some of the best defenses in the country when he spent eight years as Oklahoma's defensive coordinator, and he's still only 44 years old. The more you read from Venables' resume, the more it screams "head coaching candidate" at you. It's the kind of resume you don't need to hire a search firm to find if you've been paying attention.
Venables did play at Kansas State, so maybe he's just biding his time until Bill Snyder retires again and he can return to the alma mater. Either way, you're not doing your job as an athletic director if you don't give him a call.
Honorable Mention: Scott Frost, Oregon offensive coordinator; Kendal Briles, Baylor offensive coordinator; Geoff Collins, Florida defensive coordinator; Dave Aranda, Wisconsin defensive coordinator; Chris Ash, Ohio State defensive coordinator; Jeremy Pruitt, Georgia defensive coordinator.