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2020 College Football Coaching Carousel: Sark to Texas

2020 College Football Coaching Carousel: Illinois fires Lovie; Auburn fires Malzahn

I’m not sure how to assign blame for the Bears or if he should be getting blame at 7-7. Nagy is the winningest coach since Ditka.

Fitzgerald isn’t going anywhere so the Bears can just wait on him.
 
There are rumors in Chicago that the only NFL job that interests Fitzgerald would be the Bears. Nagy's job is in the balance over the last two weeks. If Nagy gets fired, there is a feeling that the Bears would offer Fitzgerald and he would accept.

Timing also makes sense with Phillips taking the ACC job
 
Clawson to Northwestern doesn't make much sense to me. Why is Northwestern a better spot for him than Wake?
 
per a quick google, it's $1.2 million better

ACC payout for 2019-2020 was between $27.6M-$34M per school (not counting ND)
Big Ten payout for 2019-2020 was $55M per school (not counting Maryland and Rutgers)

Even if everything else is equal, Northwestern is a better job because of how much more revenue the Big Ten generates, and therefore how much money the athletic department can pour into a program (which Northwestern has done under Phillips).
 
Clawson to NW is possible (and he would be a logical candidate for them), but not certain he would make the jump. Clawson doesn't seem like the kind of guy that makes decisions exclusively on money; also, WF has the donors in place to match, within reason, a salary bump on the order of magnitude that would be in within NW's range. I don't think money would decide it. Clawson and his family seem to really like where they are. OTOH, Chicago is a great town. Maybe, Claw and his wife would be attracted by a move to Chicago (there is the foodie angle), but maybe not (Winter sucks there; while the Big 10 West is easier; NW is still in the same conference as tOSU, Michigan, Penn State; even now, their success is kind of seen like a novelty). If Fitz leaves NW, would expect calls to be made, but think there's a reasonably good chance Claw would stay.
 
I might be wrong but I feel like his trajectory is to stay at wake until a more prominent big 10 type job comes open. Northwestern feels too lateral even if it is a pay raise. I don’t think he put in all this time building up our program to cash in his chips at Northwestern.
 
Clawson will move to a job that allows him the ability to recruit a higher level athlete than Wake can— not sure if that is due to more financial resources, a better area of the country, a higher profile program that has a larger fan base, or whatever. The higher level athlete on the average leads to an ability to compete for CFP and national championships. That profile likely fits with many Big 10 schools— not sure what Northwestern rankings have been historically.
 
Clawson will move to a job that allows him the ability to recruit a higher level athlete than Wake can— not sure if that is due to more financial resources, a better area of the country, a higher profile program that has a larger fan base, or whatever. The higher level athlete on the average leads to an ability to compete for CFP and national championships. That profile likely fits with many Big 10 schools— not sure what Northwestern rankings have been historically.

We can dither on whether or not Clawson had a face to face meeting at Illinois or not, but to ignore whether or not he was interested is asinine. At this time, Northwestern is a better job than Illinois. If Northwestern were to come open, it would make sense that he would throw his hat in the ring. Northwestern is a good job and would make sense that he would be interested. He is a coach that has continually moved forward. I still however think we have a couple years of Clawson ahead of us.
 
I could definitely see Clawson moving to Northwestern if he continues to succeed at Wake (and maybe even if he plateaus). It’s a job very similar to Wake but with more money and better location.
 
Northwestern still seems like a job with a pretty low ceiling.
 
Northwestern still seems like a job with a pretty low ceiling.

Eh, college football is cyclical based on coaches. Alabama was middling before Saban got there. Clemson was the same until Dabo. We see what’s happening to Michigan now. No reason Northwestern couldn’t compete for Big 10 championships with the right coach.
 
Eh, college football is cyclical based on coaches. Alabama was middling before Saban got there. Clemson was the same until Dabo. We see what’s happening to Michigan now. No reason Northwestern couldn’t compete for Big 10 championships with the right coach.

Northwestern did compete for a Big 10 championship (and had a 3rd quarter lead) this past Saturday.
 
Northwestern did compete for a Big 10 championship (and had a 3rd quarter lead) this past Saturday.

Second time in three years - they finished second in their division twice in the three years prior to that as well.
 
The Northwestern football program is 33-18 in conference play over the past six seasons, including a 1-8 record in 2019. Their next hire will target a coach that can maintain a winning tradition and take them to a B1G championship. That's not Clawson's profile. They also share the academic requirements Wake maintains, limiting the scope of recruits available. Clawson builds football programs. That is his greatest value. Illinois is 12-40 over the same six seasons and has not sniffed a winning season. It would highly value the skills Dave offers if he were interested. They could pay more, give him the time required and the academic restrictions to recruiting would be absent. If Dave Clawson had an interest in Illinois he would have overwhelmed the Illinois AD in the interview and would have been offered the job. Perfect fit. When/If Clawson is ready for another coaching opportunity he will get it, no matter who or where. He absolutely nails down the interview. I'm glad he remains at Wake Forest.
 
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Would Clawson really want the pressure of following a successful coach who was also a beloved former player at NW as well? Not like following Sabin whenever he leaves Bama, but still I imagine the natives would turn on him pretty quick if he didn't maintain Fitzgerald's level at NW.
 
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