Gene Chizik
Current role: Defensive coordinator at North Carolina
The connection: Chizik has coached in the SEC multiple times and had current UT defensive assistants Willie Martinez and Tommy Thigpen on his staff at Auburn when he was the head coach
Pros: It’s rare to even consider a national championship-winning head coach on a list for a head coach, much less a defensive coordinator. But Chizik hit hard times after Cam Newton led his Auburn squad to a title in 2010. The Tigers won just 11 games over the next two years and Chizik was fired, and then took a couple years off before resurfacing as the defensive coordinator at UNC this season. He did a good job in Chapel Hill this year and was a big part of the reason the Tar Heels were a playoff contender, though some big numbers put up by Clemson and Baylor at the end of the season skewed the final rankings a bit. In terms of familiarity with the staff, SEC ties and defensive experience, Chizik makes a ton of sense if he were interested.
Cons/Questions: He reportedly make around $750,000, so that would be an obstacle. While he improved the defense overall at UNC, he did give up an average of 42.7 points per game in his last three contests – dropping UNC down in the ACC ranks in several important defensive categories in the process.
