College Football
List of Candidates to Be Next WVU Football Head Coach

Now that it’s time for the WVU football program to find its next head coach, who are some of the possible candidates for the job?
WV Sports Now compiled a list of the names being thrown around. This list includes coaches who are either in rumors, being constantly brought up, have been actually reported or can be confirmed as a legitimate candidate.
This list is in no particular order
Coaches with West Virginia or WVU Tiesย
Jimbo Fisher – Unemployed
Rich Rodriguez – Jacksonville Stateย
Rich Rodriguezโs WVU tenure was obviously elite, but heโs basically had only one great season within the Power Four (then Power Five) level at both Michigan and Arizona combined. He won 10 games and led Arizona to an appearance in the 2014 Pac-12 Championship Game (thanks to winning a division, a format and path that wonโt exist in the Big 12).
And when looking more recently at what heโs doing at Jacksonville State, yes, heโs having success and deserves credit for that, but itโs not like heโs steamrolling that schedule and his big turnaround is due to dropping three-straight games to open the season, something that if happens at WVU, fans would freak out before even allowing him to fix the year.
Tony Gibson – North Carolina State DC
Anthony Becht – St. Louis Battlehawks HC in UFLย
Anthony Becht discussed his aspirations to coach in college football over the NFL while talking with Mike Asti of WV Sports Now in the press box prior to kickoff on Saturday night.
After hearing Becht bring up his plans to โget where I want to beโ as far as furthering his coaching career, Asti then asked if he was alluding to wanting to coach in the NFL. Becht replied by correcting that thought and saying heโs actually striving to coach in college football.
โNo, Iโve had opportunities to go the NFL and Iโve passed. Right now for me, college coach is where I want to be. I want to be a head coach in college.โ He then gave a โweโll seeโ when asked if heโd be willing to go the assistant route and work his way up within the college ranks.
Group of 5 Coaches
Barry Odom – UNLV
Charles Huff – Marshall (coaching in West Virginia)ย
Bob Chesney – JMU
Jon Jumrall – Tulane
Ryan Silverfield – Memphis
Jason Candle – Toledo
Tim Albin – Ohio
Power Four Coordinators
Andy Kotelnicki – Penn State OC
WVSN can confirm Kotelnicki s on the interview list.
Source: Penn State OC Andy Kotelnicki expects to interview for the now open WVU head coach position.
— Mike J. Asti (@MikeAsti11) December 1, 2024
Shannon Dawson – Miami OC
Glenn Schumann – Georgia DC
Others
Dan Mullen – Unemployedย
Kliff Kingsbury – Washington Commanders OC in NFL
Names Mentioned Not in the Runningย
Nick Saban – Retired
The day after WVU announced the firing of Neal Brown, Pat McAfee reiterated that he is willing to help the program find their next head coach, but that coach is just not going to be his friend and ESPN colleague Nick Saban.
โCoach Saban isnโt getting back into coaching but I do believe he is interested in helping West Virginia,โ said McAfee.
For a related story, Mike Asti and Cody Nespor talked with fans about the Neal Brown firing and possible candidates to become the next WVU football head coach.