Will Texas A&M pursue Ryan Day? What Bruce Feldman hears about the CFB training carousel

As the college football regular season comes to a close, here’s the latest I’m hearing from the coaching circuit as of Saturday morning.

Texas A&M

Texas A&M has the largest coaching vacancy in the carousel. say sources with direct knowledge of coaching research The athlete There are a few candidates that A&M really likes, but there are some other top coaches that the Aggies are expected to pursue after their games on Saturday.

The Aggies represented Kansas coach Lance Leipold, Duke coach Mike Elko (former defensive coordinator at A&M), and Kansas State coach Chris Klieman. Each of them is seen as a strong leader who knows how to create and build a strong culture. Another name to watch in the A&M search is Kentucky’s Mark Stoops. Although UK is just 6-5 heading into Saturday’s matchup with rival Louisville, the 56-year-old Stoops, a former SEC coach of the year, has led the Wildcats to two 10-win seasons since 2018 in what was previously a season Only one has had 10 wins since 1951.

There’s a big wild card looming here. Don’t be surprised if Texas A&M follows Ryan’s day at Ohio State, those sources said. Today he is 56-6 as a head coach and 39-2 in the Big Ten heading into Saturday’s showdown with Michigan. It came within a last-second field goal in a win over Georgia last year in the College Football Playoff, but the specter of losing back-to-back games to archrival Michigan remains heavy for Columbus. Now, if Day leads the Buckeyes to victory in Ann Arbor on Saturday and the Buckeyes prepare for the CFP race, he probably doesn’t answer that call. But if they lose, he might be more open to hearing A&M’s offer.

Michigan State

After months of coaching searches, Michigan State has focused all its attention on Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith, sources said. The athlete Saturday morning.

For Smith, a former Fiesta Bowl-winning quarterback, for Oregon State, this won’t be an easy decision to leave his alma mater and the program he breathed new life into a few years ago as it is now in the midst of a crisis. Uncertainty in life after the Pac-12.

Smith knows all about building a program under a more popular and better-resourced program in-state, similar to what Michigan State faces compared to Michigan State. Smith, a former star QB for the Beavers, has deep connections in Corvallis. And even though the Beavers’ conference situation is shaky right now, with so much uncertainty, it’s still not an easy decision for him to make the decision to fold.

NC State’s Dave Doeren, Kansas’ Leipold and Toledo’s Jason Candle are believed to be in the mix.

Baylor

There’s another hot seat situation to watch for at Baylor. The Bears are 3-8 and finish against West Virginia on Saturday in Waco. Baylor has lost four straight games, and the pressure is mounting on Dave Aranda. It wasn’t long before Aranda led Baylor to a fifth-place finish with a 12-2 record in 2021, but the Bears are 9-15 since then. Baylor’s administration really likes Aranda, and I’ve been told that if he presents a plan to make some of the major changes they want, he’ll likely be back in 2024.

(Photo by Ryan Day: Jason Morey/Ikon Sportswire via Getty Images)