Ten candidates to replace Steve Sarkisian at USC

Dan Wolken | USA TODAY Sports

We say it so often it’s become a cliche, but in this case it’s absolutely true.

Southern California must nail this hire.

Whether it’s Pat Haden making the call (it shouldn’t be, given his mishandling of the football program) or the school president or one of the Trojans’ big boosters, there is no room for error.

If USC gets this one wrong, it risks slipping into a decade of irrelevance. Much like Tennessee, even a traditional power can’t just keep cycling through coaches and expect instability to bring championships.

Unless the Trojans can resurrect their season under interim coach Clay Helton, this will be seven years without a Pac-12 Conference title at USC. Though it may be difficult to recreate the era of dominance Pete Carroll brought to Troy, a stretch like that should never happen.

Twice in a row, USC has gone for flashy young coaches with strong recruiting ability but very little heft to their on-field coaching résumé. This time, the Trojans need to go the opposite direction and hire a grown-up with an established track record of building a disciplined on-field product and off-field culture.

The next coach will inherit a very talented team, and it should not take long to build a championship contender given all the built-in advantages at USC. Here is a list of who the Trojans could and should pursue, culled from opinions of numerous people in the industry.

1. Chip Kelly

This one is fairly obvious. The combination of USC’s resources plus Kelly’s offense would be a slam-dunk winner, similar to when Nick Saban left the Miami Dolphins for Alabama. It’s unclear whether Kelly is interested in leaving the NFL, but this would one of the very few opportunities that would force him to take a look. The NCAA penalties on his watch at Oregon could work against him with some in the USC brass, given the situation the Trojans went through with Reggie Bush.

2. Brian Kelly

It seems unlikely on the surface that Kelly would leave Notre Dame for a rival that plays the Fighting Irish every year, but Kelly would be an excellent fit and bring a much-needed vibe of maturity and class to the USC operation. He has also made comments this year referencing the difficulties of the Notre Dame job, particularly academically, and how the external pressures chew up coaches and spit them out. “There’s no question, you can’t do this job for 15 years,” he said. He’s been at Notre Dame for six. If he’s looking for a change, this would be as good as it gets.

3. Kevin Sumlin

The Trojans and Sumlin had some level of mutual interest the last time the job came open, but conversations never got serious. It’s hard to believe Sumlin would leave Texas A&M given his $5 million-per-year contract, the facilities Texas A&M has built for him and the kind of players he's bringing in now. On the other hand, USC is a place where you can win national titles. History says it’s much harder at Texas A&M.

4. Jeff Fisher

Though he has no experience in the college game, there are very few if any negatives to the possibility of bringing the former Trojans star defensive back home. Fisher has gravitas and might bring a Pete Carroll-type vibe to the program. He understands how the media works and could assemble a staff of assistants to help him recruit. It’s unclear if he would have any interest in leaving the St. Louis Rams.

5. Bob Stoops

His track record speaks for itself, and some have speculated that a change of scenery might do him good after 17 years at Oklahoma. It seems like things have gotten a little stale for that program, but Stoops hasn’t forgotten how to coach. He would be an absolute home run for the Trojans.

6. Pat Fitzgerald

The Northwestern coach is only 40, but he's a proven commodity now in his 10th year. Though his overall record is just 65-54, he’s been wildly successful relative to Northwestern’s history and other limitations. Fitzgerald is highly revered by his peers and would bring discipline and respect back to USC. His teams play tough and physical, and he understands what it's like to coach football at a private school. The question is whether he'll ever have an itch to leave the security and familiarity of his alma mater and hometown, where he operates under very little pressure relative to his peers.

7. Mike Gundy

If Ed Orgeron can become a beloved figure at USC, a guy with a Southern accent could do it, too. Gundy is good enough and cocky enough to take on a job like USC, and it might be interesting for him to be in a program where he’s the big dog in a city like L.A. rather than second fiddle in a state like Oklahoma.

8. Troy Calhoun

This would be an outside the box hire, but Calhoun has led Air Force to seven bowl games in eight years. He’s innovative offensively and could thrive in an environment where he coaches elite talent. (He was on track to possibly be an NFL head coach before going back to his alma mater at Air Force.) Calhoun may be a little awkward from a personality standpoint to ever get comfortable in the spotlight USC brings.

9. Dan Mullen

If this opening had come up last year when Mississippi State was rising to No. 1, Mullen would be on everyone’s list. Think about that: For several weeks last season, Mississippi State was No. 1 in the country for goodness sakes. Mullen isn't everyone’s cup of tea, but the fact that a blunt Yankee has thrived in the deep South shows he's smart and adaptable. Mullen has lots of energy, is excellent at evaluating talent and is on the cusp of leading the Bulldogs to a sixth consecutive bowl game. That's unprecedented at a historically tough place to win.

10. Justin Fuente

If USC was going to look at anyone without a long track record as a head coach, this would be the guy. His work at Memphis has been nothing short of miraculous, taking a program that was completely in the dumps and leading it to a 10-3 season in 2014 and a 5-0 start this year. He isn’t a flashy guy, but the former TCU offensive coordinator is going to outcoach most people he faces. His offensive schemes are fun, and his track record of developing quarterbacks (Andy Dalton and Paxton Lynch) is impressive.

Though Memphis-to-USC is a monumental jump — maybe too big — it wouldn't be terribly different than Jim McElwain going from Colorado State to Florida. That has worked out pretty well.