Coaching Carousel (Idaho Vandals)

Normally the coaching carousel doesn't start going till after the season starts, but the Idaho Vandals wasted little time in making a decision.  Idaho fired Akey in the middle of his 7th season with the Vandals with a  20-50 record with the school and only one bowl appearance.

Akey came to Idaho to replace Dennis Erickson who left after spending 10 months at the school.  Before coming to Idaho Akey was the defensive coordinator at Washington State.

His best year came in 2009 where they went 8-5 and won the Hummanitarian Bowl in a thrilling game against Bowling Green.  However the Vandals only won 6 games the next year before a miserable 2-10 year and then a 1-7 start to this year.   Administration stated that they did so they could start immediately to find his replacement. 

The biggest problem that Idaho is going to have when finding their next coach is they won't have a conference to call their own.  Idaho is currently in the WAC, but because of conference expansion the Vandals have been left out in the cold.  Nobody wanted them and they will become a Independent after this season.  Being an Independent will be very hard for Idaho who will have no bowl tie ins and might struggle to schedule games.  This may also cause some candidates to pass on the job.

Possible Candidates

Dan Hawkins (Former Colorado and Boise State Head Coach)
This would probably be their top choice and a great hire.  Hawkins had a ton of success at Boise State and knows how to recruit to the area.  However there is a lot of talk that Hawkins isn't interested in the job and would prefer to go somewhere where it is easier to get recruits to.

Jason Gesser (Current Interim Head Coach)
Gesser is the Vandals offensive coordinator and was tabbed as the interim coach when Akey was fired.  Gesser is the former Washington State QB who lead the Cougars to the Rose Bowl in 2003.  Given Idaho's situation as an Independent the best strategy to find a young energetic coach who can get players to Moscow.  Add in that Gesser played at WSU he is fimilar with the area.

Beau Baldwin (Eastern Washington Head Coach)
It may be hard for Idaho to persuade a FBS coach to come there or even a coordinator.  However one route they can go is down to the FCS ranks.  It worked with Ohio State who took Jim Tressell from Youngstown State, maybe the Vandals can dip down and land a successful coach.  Beau Brown won a National Championship at Eastern Washington and would bring a wide open spread offense that might be able to attract some talent to Moscow.  However it will take a lot for Baldwin to leave a school that he's winning at a high rate.

Blaine Bennett (Central Washington Head Coach)
If they can't get one of the top FCS coaches, what about moving down to Division II?  It's not ideal, but the Vandals aren't in the most ideal situation.  Just because it's DII doesn't mean there isn't good coaches there.  Brian Kelly was a former DII coach before making his way up to Notre Dame.  Bennett has done a great job of building the Central Washington program up.  He's won the conference title three out of four years he's been there.  Bennett was also an assistant at Purdue and Michigan State before returning to his home state of Washington. 

Paul Wulff (Former Washington State Head Coach)
One name that isn't getting a lot of attention, but could be a great sleeper candidate.  You may remember Wulff from his horrible four years at Washington State where he only won 9 games.  Now he wasn't succesful there, but when he was at Eastern Washington he was a regular in the FCS playoffs.  He isn't a big name, but he could be looking at a second chance at being a head coach.

Coaching Carousel (Gus Malzahn)

One of the hottest names in college football coaching the past few years is Gus Malzahn. Through stints at Arkansas, Tulsa, and most recently Auburn Malzahn's offenses were some of the best. His offense was run perfectly by Cam Newton and that allowed Newton to win the Heisman and Auburn to win a National Title. With all the notoriety, Malzahn was rumored to be the favorite for jobs at Vanderbilt, North Carolina, Mississippi, and Kansas. However it was Malzahn that "shocked" everybody and took a job at Arkansas State of the Sun Belt. This was the same guy that turned down Vanderbilt in the SEC for a job in the Sun Belt???? Now it was a surprised, but I'm not shocked by this. Let's take a look at why this makes perfect sense.

Gain Head Coaching Experience

Look at all the successful coaches in college football now. All of them got their start as a head coach at a lower level or another job. Urban Meyer was at Bowling Green and Utah before he want to Florida. Les Miles was at Oklahoma State before LSU. Brady Hoke was at Ball State and San Diego State before Michigan. By going to non BCS conference coaches are able to work through mistakes or a bad year without having too much pressure on them. Malzahn will be able to have years of practice running a FBS program before he takes his next job.

Talented Team

Malzahn is taking over an Arkansas State team that just won the Sun Belt with a 8-0 conference record and 10-2 overall. Now they don't necessarily have BCS caliber talent, but they have the ability to contend for the conference for the next couple of years. Plus previous coach Hugh Freeze ran a spread offense that has similarities to the system that Malzahn runs. Arkansas State also has junior QB Ryan Aplin who also lead the team in rushing. And we know from his time already, Malzahn system works when he has mobile QBs.

Location, Location, Location

Malzahn has a long history in the state of Arkansas. He grew up in the state, walked on at Arkansas, coached and won state titles in Arkansas, and was the offensive coordinator at the University of Arkansas. So it's safe to say that Malzahn knows the state. It is where he is the most comfortable. This allows him to have vital recruiting ties within the state and area to better his chance to be successful.

Future

We all know that Malzahn isn't going to coach at Arkansas State for the rest of his career. He is preparing himself for the next job. Whether that job is his "dream job" or another stepping stone. I don't have any sources, but I see one place that I feel he would take in a heart beat. The University of Arkansas. Currently Bobby Petrino is the head coach, but we all know that he isn't known for sticking around at a school for too long. Malzahn probably is aware of that and could be taking the steps to prepare himself for that job. He can be at Arkansas State and gain his head coaching experience, develop even more recruiting ties, and then when Petrino leaves he is ready to take over.

But who knows, maybe he just really likes Arkansas State. But he isn't as crazy as others might think.