USC coaching search stock watch: Could Mike Tomlin be a candidate?

With each passing week, it becomes clearer what a important rebuild the adjacent USC caput shot manager is going to person connected his hands.

This weekend’s nonaccomplishment to Notre Dame was a classical 2021 shot performance: Discipline issues that effect successful a multitude of penalties, a backmost nether predominant duress, red-zone failures by the offense, missed tackles by the defense, questionable peculiar teams decisions and immoderate fourth-quarter scores to marque the last effect somewhat much respectable.

Whoever is the adjacent manager volition not beryllium acceptable up for overnight occurrence successful 2022. But you don’t get to beryllium a palmy assemblage shot manager without rebuilding a programme oregon 2 from the crushed up, and the coaches connected USC’s theoretical abbreviated database are nary exception.

Here’s a look astatine a fewer imaginable candidates for the USC occupation who went done a shakeup this weekend, and a caller acheronian equine who was revealed:

Stock up

Matt Campbell, Iowa State

Saturday was a Campbell peculiar for the previously-unranked Cyclones, upsetting undefeated No. 8 Oklahoma State 24-21. “Upset” mightiness beryllium excessively beardown a term, due to the fact that Iowa State really entered the crippled arsenic seven-point betting favorites, a bully indicator of the assurance successful the Cyclones nether Campbell. The three-time Big 12 Coach of the Year is present won 4-4 against top-10 opponents portion astatine Iowa State, a programme that antecedently was 8-98-2 successful specified games.

Campbell is simply a proven squad builder; Iowa State didn’t triumph much than 3 games successful immoderate of the 3 seasons anterior to his hiring. After going 3-9 successful his archetypal season, the Cyclones person won astatine slightest 7 games successful each of the past 4 years, culminating successful past year’s 9-3 grounds and archetypal Big 12 rubric crippled quality since 2004.

P.J. Fleck, Minnesota

Fleck inactive astir apt deserves the astir scrutiny of immoderate manager connected the database of imaginable USC candidates. But a Minnesota triumph implicit Maryland combined with Purdue’s nonaccomplishment to Wisconsin near the Gophers successful a necktie with Iowa atop the Big Ten West standings. So if Minnesota wins out, including the crippled against Iowa successful 3 weeks, Fleck would pb his squad into the league title game. The Week 4 nonaccomplishment to Bowling Green is inactive confounding, but a beardown decorativeness to the play could marque that a distant representation and rocket Fleck backmost to the apical of coaching abbreviated lists for premium openings.

Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers

The Super Bowl-winning manager was not connected anyone’s radar until Monday morning, erstwhile erstwhile USC backmost Carson Palmer went connected the Dan Patrick Show and revealed that Tomlin was idiosyncratic being bandied astir by USC determination makers. As Palmer enactment it, “That’s what’s truthful large astir the occupation is it tin lure an NFL feline that’s bushed of their existent concern and is disquieted about, is Ben Roethlisberger gone, is helium done? Who bash we person to draft? Does Mike Tomlin person to commencement implicit with a first-round rookie quarterback?”

It goes without saying that if Tomlin wants the USC job, helium should instantly vault to the apical of the database for the Trojans. It’s been 21 years since helium coached successful the assemblage game, but Tomlin is simply a proven victor who tin negociate the winning expectations of a storied franchise.

And successful lawsuit you deliberation Palmer was speaking hypothetically, erstwhile Patrick said this was the archetypal anyone had heard of Tomlin arsenic a imaginable candidate, Palmer’s contiguous absorption was, “Uh oh. Oops.”

Stock neutral

Matt Aranda, Baylor

The Bears had a bye this week, truthful thing caller to report. But the triumph implicit Iowa State looks adjacent amended this week.

Luke Fickell, Cincinnati

The Bearcats overcame a scare from Navy, a squad that owed to its triple-option discourtesy tin sneak up connected opponents successful the American Conference. But Cincinnati got the triumph to enactment undefeated.

Stock down

James Franklin, Penn State

Of each the questions that arose retired of assemblage shot this weekend, the strangest was probably, “How bash you lone people 18 points successful a nine-overtime game?” Even with the caller overtime format that forces teams to commercialized two-point conversion attempts starting with the 3rd overtime, it was a head-shaking show by Penn State successful the nonaccomplishment to Illinois, and seemed to enactment those that question Franklin’s in-game acumen arsenic a caput coach. The Nittany Lions person present mislaid 2 straight, fallen to No. 20 successful the AP canvass and are all-but-officially eliminated from playoff contention.