CC: Is Gus Malzahn the Mystery Candidate?

I sure hope so! Gus would be a hell of a hire and better than nearly all that have been mentioned. 

Kyle Shanahan? 

Anyone know what happen at that meeting between Hackett and the players today? I read that it was happening but never heard any of the details about what was said.

I was wondering if anyone else would come up with his name.   He seems like a genius from an offensive standpoint.   I recall a great article about him before the championshi[p game last year.  My brother lives near Atlanta and with work he is often traveling into Alabama.   He tells me that Auburn is really a town full of pretty mean, unfriendly types.  Maybe Malzahn is the one who isnt interested in competing with Saban.  

I scrolled down a list of prospective head coaches (googled NCAA Football Coaches Salaries), his name sort of stuck out to me too.   Outside of Saban, Habaugh and a couple of others that would seem to be untouchable, I'm not sure who they hire that would meet his description outside of Dan Mullen.  

John Harbaugh! John already has won a super bowl in the NFL. I think he got a bit tired this season in pro player behaviors. He is a big Michigan fan just like his brother. I could see John being our next coach. This would be great!

Apologies if this point has already been made (too lazy to read through what everyone has written), but does anyone else have a sense that Schlissel's influence is looming over this search?  A lot of the candidates that have been mentioned have never had to prioritize academics the way Schlissel clearly wants to.  It's something to consider even if Schlissel is not a part of the search.  I feel that coaches like Mullen and Stoops are going to have to at least explain how they're going to commit to academics during interviews.

Because of Schlissel, I wouldn't count out Shaw.  I agree with everyone else that he's not an ideal candidate and he's had diminishing returns, but Shaw has an academic angle that no other candidate has right now.  He might also have Harbaugh's blessing. 

Will probably get negged for this, but one other guy who has academics in his favor is Schiano.  His Rutgers teams had some of the highest APRs in the country during his time there (they still do), and Schiano had to deal with a very vocal contingent at Rutgers who did not want Rutgers to enter "big time athletics." 

Apologies if this point has already been made (too lazy to read through what everyone has written), but does anyone else have a sense that Schlissel's influence is looming over this search?  A lot of the candidates that have been mentioned have never had to prioritize academics the way Schlissel clearly wants to.  It's something to consider even if Schlissel is not a part of the search.  I feel that coaches like Mullen and Stoops are going to have to at least explain how they're going to commit to academics during interviews.

Because of Schlissel, I wouldn't count out Shaw.  I agree with everyone else that he's not an ideal candidate and he's had diminishing returns, but Shaw has an academic angle that no other candidate has right now.  He might also have Harbaugh's blessing. 

Will probably get negged for this, but one other guy who has academics in his favor is Schiano.  His Rutgers teams had some of the highest APRs in the country during his time there (they still do), and Schiano had to deal with a very vocal contingent at Rutgers who did not want Rutgers to enter "big time athletics." 

Another "out of the blue" candidate to consider is Cutcliffe at Duke.  He has a reputation of developing QBs (which we really need right now).  Yes he's 60, but he's turned around Duke, which is not easy.

is on the new coaching search committee. He hinted that the search may last into January. Probably because of Jim Harbaugh. He kinda scoffed at Colin's mystery candidate.

....just sayen.  He's a solid B or C.