Looking at the Baylor Vacancy

So far two major names have emerged in the Baylor head coaching search: Mike Singletary and Houston Nutt. At this point, Singletary seems to be the favorite. Baylor's AD flew out to California to talk with Singletary about the position the day after firing Guy Morriss. Singletary seems to have a lot of nice traits that Baylor would be looking for: Baylor alum, Hall of Fame NFL player, young coach with good success at pro level, name recognition, etc. The one glaring trait where Singletary falls short is no head coaching or coordinating experience. In 2002, Singletary interviewed for the head coaching job at Baylor but was turned down due to no head coaching or coordinator experience despite the high recommendations of the Baylor alums. The fact that Singletary continues to not have any head coaching or coordinator experience may once again keep him from taking over the program. His resume now is, however, much better than what it was in '02.

The other name being tossed around is Houston Nutt, assuming he is out at Arkansas. Nutt seems like the better candidate. He has a load of head coaching experience and was at one point coach of the year. He recruits heavily in the region and would bring instant credibility to Baylor. His extracurriculars would have to be looked over, but I would think victories would silence Nutt critics. Essentially Houston Nutt is everything that Mike Singletary can't bring to the table, and what Baylor desires. This would be an ideal move for an out of work Houston Nutt. He will go to a region of the country he's familiar with, his expectations wouldn't be through the roof, he'd leave his rabid fan base behind, and he'd stay in a BCS conference.

If those two names don't pan out, I'd look for Baylor to chase after Art Briles at Houston, Gary Patterson at TCU, or Todd Graham at Tulsa. My guess is Briles and Graham would jump at the opportunity, but Patterson may have some hesitations and hold out for a more high profile job despite his sub par season with TCU. All in all, I feel that if Baylor really was blown away by Singletary he would have been hired by now. They should and will hold out for Houston Nutt and expect them to hire Houston Nutt as their new head coach when it is all said and done.