With the end of the A&M football season looming, it’s fair to say that our coaching situation is looking murky at best. The loss to UCLA combined with two blowout SEC West losses against Miss. State and Auburn probably means that we’re going to be in the market for a new coach. Then again, it’s possibly (maybe not likely) that A&M goes on a tear to finish the season and ends up with 9 wins marking its best season since 2013.

So in other words, I have no idea what’s going to happen. I feel somewhat confident that we’ll have a new coach in 2018, but I dont know that it’s a 100% certainty. A&M is an incredibly attractive job. We’ve got facilities, we’ve got fan base, we’ve got a recruiting base and most importantly we’ve got money. So with that in mind let’s take a look at who might be A&M’s head football coach in 2018.

Possible!

Jimbo Fisher-Head Coach, Florida State

Why it might happen

Jimbo has flirted with a few jobs over the past couple of years...most notably with LSU last year. There are also rumors that he’s unhappy with the lack of top tier facilities at FSU, and that this year’s poor record might make the FSU AD not upset if he were to leave.

Why it might not happen

Seems super strange to think that a school is going to let a national title winning coach...a guy who’s averaged 10 wins a year just walk to another school. Is this Jimmy Sexton just trying to get his client a raise? Or is there legitimate interest.

Chad Morris-Head Coach, SMU

Why it might happen

Morris, a Texas A&M alumnus, is a known quantity in Texas high school football circles and a bright offensive mind. He turned around Clemson’s offense, and was responsible for recruiting both Chad Kelly and Deshaun Watson. He’s got the skins on the wall from his days at Clemson and has done a decent job of taking SMU from a 2 win year in 2015 to bowl eligibility in 2017.

Why it might not happen

Chad lacks a signature victory to really bring his name to the forefront. He’s had opportunities against TCU and UCF but just hasnt made it happen. In order for him to really be THE guy he would have had to win at least 9 games this year. He’s got 6 right now with games against #18 Memphis and Tulane left, it doesnt seem like he’s going to get it.

Possible, but not likely

Kevin Sumlin-Head Coach, Texas A&M

Why it might happen

I mean the guy’s got a good recruiting class under his belt, and has managed to take a pretty young team to 6 wins. If he wins the last two and somehow manages to win a bowl, you’d at least have to think we’d consider bringing him back next year?

Why it might not happen

UCLA. Auburn. Miss State. Horrid home record. Horrid record against the SEC west.

Gary Patterson-Head Coach, TCU

Why it might happen

I wonder how badly Gary wants a championship and whether he thinks he can win one at TCU. I feel confident that he’ll be able to pull in better players at a school like A&M, and perhaps he just feels like he’s topped out at TCU. That combined with a decent raise might be enough to pique his interests

Why it might not happen

Dude’s got a freaking statue of himself on the campus. He’s a deity in Fort Worth and has managed to create one helluva program that just keeps rebuilding and reloading every single year. No real reason for him to leave that level of stability for the mayhem that is the A&M coaching job

Dan Mullen-Head Coach, Mississippi State

Why it might happen

Dan is a hugely underrated coach and has likely done everything he possibly can at Mississippi State. His offense is tailor made to be successful immediately, and his string of QB recruiting success over the years (Tebow, Dak, Nick Fitz) cant be ignored.

Why it might not happen

Mullen’s gonna be a hot commodity this offseason. Both Tennessee and Florida are likely to at least kick the tires on him, and it’s tough to see him leaving one SEC West school for another.

Mike Gundy-Head Coach, Oklahoma State

Why it might happen

Kind of the same situation as Patterson. Has he capped out at Oklahoma State? A few years ago he was a random Thursday night loss against Iowa State from playing for a national title, and is sitting at 8-2 this year. Additionally there have been rumors that he and Boone Pickens havent always seen eye to eye, so he might be receptive to a move in the right situation.

Why it might not happen

Gundy played at Oklahoma State, and like Patterson he’s a fixture in Stillwater. Additionally whatever issues he had with Boone Pickens seem to have been smoothed over

Chris Petersen-Head Coach, Washington

Why it might happen

There’s really only two reasons why this is even a remote possibility. He’s got a long standing relationship with Texas A&M Athletic Director Scott Woodward and A&M President Michael Young from his days at Washington. Additionally, Chris has been pretty vocal about how much he dislikes the PAC-12’s late kickoffs. Seems like maybe a change in locations (and time zones) could help that.

Why it might not happen.

Petersen is a West Coast guy all the way and turned down opportunity after opportunity to stay at Boise State before making the move to Washington. He had the Huskies in the playoffs last year and seems primed to build a legacy in Seattle.

Not likely

Scott Frost-Head Coach, UCF

Seems like Scott is all but set to end up as either the Nebraska or Florida head coach. I love the guy, and still have nightmares of him and the 97 Huskers demolishing A&M in the Big 12 Championship game, but I dont really see this one happening.

Justin Fuente-Head Coach, Virginia Tech

Another guy who I really like, but there seems to be no chatter at all about him and the A&M job. Feels like if he were to be a possibility we would have heard his name a few times by now.

Bob Stoops-Retired Head Coach, Oklahoma

Bob is comfortably retired. He’s showing up to OU games and seems pretty content right now. I cant see him giving all that up to jump back in to leading another football program.

James Franklin-Head Coach, Penn State

A while ago there were rumors that A&M was poised to make a run at James Franklin. Franklin is Pennsylvania native, and by all accounts seems to be in his dream job. Lil Wayne once said “real Gs move in silence like lasagna”, which applies to coaching changes as well...if we were interested we’d be quiet about it, and if they were interested they’d want to keep it quiet. Don’t see this one happening either.

Absurd

Dabo Swinney-Head Coach, Clemson

Same thing with Franklin...there were rumors that we’d pursue him. Sure we could make him the richest coach in college football, but why on earth would he leave? There’s not a single reason as to why he would leave Clemson for A&M. Maybe Alabama down the line somewhere, but even that might be a stretch. Money isnt as powerful of a motivator as most would like to think, and this one just isnt going to happen.

So there you have it. Pretty solid list, and I’d be somewhat surprised if our head coach didnt come from someone on this list. Did I miss anyone?