NFL Bound Coaches?

The college coaching carousel may have come and gone, but there’s still a significant threat of losing Big 12 head coaches. Today, I’ll tackle the NFL reports and rumors that have me on high alert. 

First, let’s dive right into the latest Big 12 headlines.

What You Need to Know

• Matt Campbell is interviewing for the Chicago Bears open head coaching job, according to the Chicago Tribune (and multiple other outlets). He’s far from the only one, though. Pete Carroll, Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, Mike Kafka, Drew Petzing, and Mike Vrabel will also reportedly get interviews. 

• Arizona State quarterback Sam Leavitt announced that he’s returning to Tempe next year. That’s massive news for Sun Devils fans in an era of rampant tampering all across the sport. I think head coach Kenny Dillingham had to do some extra work to keep Leavitt away from a particular College Football Playoff participant. Leavitt will also have top wideout Jordan Tyson back, which should keep the ASU offense dangerous despite losing star running back Cam Skattebo. 

• The latest ESPN Bracketology update has eight teams in the field: Iowa State (1 seed), Kansas (3 seed), Houston (4 seed), West Virginia (6 seed), Baylor (7 seed), Cincinnati (10 seed), Texas Tech (11 seed), and Arizona (11 seed) all made the cut. Tech and Arizona are both among the last four in. 

• Kirk Herbstreit finally publicly responded to the criticism he got for being an SEC/big brand homer when he called out Indiana’s inclusion in the playoff. He claims his son tweets for him and he doesn’t read anything people send to him. He also spent most of the interview talking down to college football fans (in my humble opinion).

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Will They Stay or Will They Go?

Just when you thought the college football coaching carousel was over and Big 12 coaches would be spared this year, here comes the NFL. 

Iowa State head coach Matt Campbell and Colorado head coach Deion Sanders have been the subject of rumors and reports surrounding NFL jobs this week. 

Campbell has long been a popular name for almost every football job opening in the country. North Carolina had legitimate interest early in its search last month before eventually deciding to take the plunge on hiring Bill Belichick, for instance. 

Last year’s college cycle saw his name brought up for virtually every job opening from Michigan to Washington. 

This isn’t the first time the NFL has sniffed around Campbell. He was reportedly offered an 8-year, $68.5 million contract by the Detroit Lions in 2021. The Des Moines Register reports that six NFL teams also inquired about him as far back as 2019.  

There’s a reason that Matt Campbell as the next insert job opening here head coach turned into a meme years ago. 

Will it ever actually come to fruition? 

The Chicago Tribune reports that Campbell will interview for the Chicago Bears opening, and I have a hard time believing this is just a leverage play to get more money out of Iowa State. 

Campbell just signed an eight-year extension less than a month ago. He doesn’t at all seem like the type to try to squeeze even more out of his current employer right after making that move. 

The Bears job seems much more enticing than the New York Jets opening, which Campbell was also linked to by a reporter from The Athletic. Chicago gives you access to a potential young star quarterback in Caleb Williams. It’s also, you know, not the Jets. 

But ultimately, the Bears have cast such a wide net of candidates that it seems unlikely a marriage with Campbell will come to fruition. 

Here’s how Chicago GM Ryan Poles described their process. 

“It’s going to be a diverse group. This will be different backgrounds from offense, defense, special teams, college, pro. We’re turning every stone to make sure we’re doing this the right way. There’s going to be some names that you don’t expect that are going to surprise you because we’re digging deeper than we ever have before.”

Campbell could be just checking the box of adding a college coach into the mix. 

Plus, seven other coaches are also set to get interviews: Pete Carroll, Aaron Glenn, Ben Johnson, Mike Kafka, Drew Petzing, and Mike Vrabel. 

I’d be pretty surprised if this is finally the job that lures Campbell away from Ames. 

Others continue to link Deion Sanders to Las Vegas and Dallas if the Cowboys move on from Mike McCarthy. 

Dan Patrick was the latest to speculate about the possibility of Coach Prime in Sin City. 

This one is a tougher read to me. 

I could see Prime jumping at the chance to coach one or both of his sons at the next level. You saw the emotion that poured through him when he sent them off for what he thought would be the last time as their head coach in the Alamo Bowl. 

The NFL ties are undeniable for the NFL Hall of Famer, and his style would translate well to an NFL locker room. 

Having said that, he certainly attacked the portal hard this offseason for Colorado, leaving no indication that he was planning on making an early exit from Boulder. 

He’s positioned himself well either way. 

Last season, he proved that he could legitimately develop a program as the Buffaloes made considerable strides on the defensive side of the ball and played like a well-coached team most of the season. I don’t expect a massive drop-off with another top-ten transfer portal class on the way. 

But there’s no doubt that a jump to the NFL would be fascinating and bring even more media attention to his world. 

Losing Prime would be a monster blow to the Big 12’s TV ratings and general interest level to casual college football viewers. Losing Campbell takes perhaps the most reliable program-builder out of the league. 

Here’s to hoping they both stick around for the league’s sake.

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