With the departure of University of Cincinnati head coach Luke Fickell for Wisconsin, it’s time to start looking at names of coaches the Bearcats could be looking at to replace their newly departed head coach.
In each article, we’ll look at a handful of names Bearcats Director of Athletics John Cunningham could be looking towards as his newest head football coach.
KERRY COOMBS
CURRENT JOB: Cincinnati – Interim Head Coach / Special Teams/Cornerbacks
AGE: 61 YEARS
PAST COACHING JOBS: High School (Greenhills, Lakota, Loveland, Colerain). College: Cincinnati (2007-2011 / 2022), Ohio State (2012-2017 / 2020-2021), NFL: Tennessee Titans (2018-2019).
Coombs has built his reputation as a great recruiter since being hired to Brian Kelly’s first Bearcats coaching staff. Over the years, Coombs built on that legacy bringing top talent to Ohio State under Urban Meyer, which made the Buckeyes one of the top programs in the nation.
There is no mistaking the enthusiasm for the game and the ability to motivate shown by Coombs over the years, no matter the level he’s coaching.
Well-organized and loved by the Cincinnati fan base, Coombs will be a fan favorite for the job.
AL GOLDEN
CURRENT JOB: Notre Dame – Defensive Coordinator
AGE: 53 YEARS
PAST COACHING JOBS: College Assistant: Virginia, Boston College, Penn State, Notre Dame. College Head Coach: Temple (2006-2010), Miami (2011-2015). NFL: Detroit Lions (2016-2019), Cincinnati Bengals (2020-2021).
Golden still has ties to the Cincinnati area, as his family stayed in the area after he’d taken the Notre Dame job following the Bengals’ Super Bowl run last season.
Played his college ball at Penn State, where he was a team captain his senior year. Spent the 1992 season with the New England Patriots, then jumped into the coaching profession.
Became the head football coach at Temple University in December 2005; at the time, Golden was the second youngest head coach in NCAA football. Built the Owls program into a winner the final two seasons at the helm before leaving for the Miami Hurricanes, where he guided the program to a 32-25 overall record.
Golden may not be a name on other lists, but he’s got ties to Cincinnati and knows how to run a major college program. However, we still feel he’d be a long shot with some of the other names out there.
CHARLES HUFF
CURRENT JOB: Marshall – Head Coach
AGE: 39 YEARS
PAST COACHING JOBS: College Assistant: Tennessee State, Maryland, Hampton, Vanderbilt, Western Michigan, Penn State, Mississippi State, Alabama. NFL: Buffalo Bills (2012), College Head Coach: Marshall (2021-Present).
Many feel Huff is a coach on the rise, having worked under James Franklin (Penn State), Joe Moorhead (Mississippi State), P.J. Fleck (Western Michigan), and Nick Saban (Alabama) as associate head coach and running backs coach.
In his second season at Marshall, Huff is 15-10 with a signature win over then No. 8-ranked Notre Dame this season. While Huff is another name not talked about early in the hiring process, he’s a name many feels could be interesting to interview for the job.
Huff is considered one of the best recruiters in college football and has seen his name bounced around by some for the Georgia Tech job.
Has Huff proven enough in the past two years to be a strong candidate for the Bearcats? Probably not, but we’re looking to turn over several rocks during this process.
JAMEY CHADWELL
CURRENT JOB: COASTAL CAROLINA – HEAD COACH
AGE: 45 YEARS
PAST COACHING JOBS: College Assistant: East Tennessee State, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina. College Head Coach: North Greenville (DII), Delta State, Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina (2017 – Present).
For good reasons, Chadwell is one of the hot names in college coaches, as he’s guided Coastal Carolina to a 31-5 record the past three seasons and two first-place finishes in the Sun Belt Conference, East Division.
A native of Tennessee, Chadwell has no past ties to the Midwest, something we feel is a must to be the head coach at Cincinnati because of recruiting. However, while Chadwell is a hot name, he doesn’t look like a fit for the Bearcats.
RICH RODRIGUEZ
CURRENT JOB: JACKSONVILLE STATE – HEAD COACH
AGE: 59 YEARS
PAST COACHING JOBS: College Assistant: West Virginia, Salem, Tulane, Clemson, Ole Miss, Louisiana-Monroe. College Head Coach: Salem, Glenville, West Virginia, Michigan, Arizona, Jacksonville State (FCS) (2022 – Present).
Yes, Rich Rodriguez is currently a college head football coach building FCS Jacksonville State into an FBS program. This season, Jacksonville State went 9-2 overall, showing Rodriguez can still coach winning football.
Is there baggage with Rodriguez? Yes!!! After having great success at West Virginia, Rodriguez was about to take the Alabama job only to stay with the Mountaineers and continue success. Soon, Michigan came calling, and Rodriguez had enough of fighting for upgrades and increased salaries for his coaching staff and left.
Things never clicked at Michigan, and reports from anonymous players of NCAA rules being violated and the program’s onfield record saw the plug pulled after three seasons. So next, he took over the Arizona program and posted a 43-35 record in six seasons, including a 10-4 mark and Fiesta Bowl in 2014. Then, however, an admitted extramarital affair was part of a multimillion-dollar lawsuit by a former administrative assistant (Dismissed Sept. 2019), which led to the Wildcats firing Rodriguez in January of 2018.
Rodriguez then worked at Ole Miss and Louisiana-Monroe before taking over the Jacksonville State program in November 2021. The program is scheduled to move from FCS, ASUN Conference to Conference USA.
Since taking over at Jacksonville State, Rodriguez has returned to recruiting Ohio. With his broad background and competitive nature, he is a coach who could look to move back to Power Five football with an eye on the Bearcats program.
We’ll continue to put together names of college coaches who could be looked at as Luke Fickell’s possible replacement. We fully expect the search for a replacement will not be a long, drawn-out process.
**NOTE: The names listed above are for enjoyment to discuss the coaching search at the University of Cincinnati. There will be many names listed across the internet in the coming days.
