We're at Kiffin or Drinkwitz or bust, but in a holding pattern. So that's fun.
Imagine being done with your coach and already being at best the 5th best available job. Behind PSU, LSU, Florida, FSU for sure. Probably on par with VT, Arkansas, and Kentucky if those come open.
This is the problem with this era, Jonathan Smith walked into a job where the NIL was a mess. It was split between 3 collectives, who were fighting amongst themselves. The largest one, who had backed the Mel Tucker extension, pulled out (no pun intended), after he was fired, during warm ups of the 2023 Iowa game. In normal times, Jonathan Smith would get time, but the problem is he backtracked in Year 2, and the donor money is not on board. Does he deserve more time? Yes. Can he be a good coach? Maybe. But if the donors are no longer on board, in the NIL era, it doesn't matter, it's over, even if whatever option we land on is worse. If the donors sign off, and we can buy a better roster, it might be a net gain, but who knows.
We literally need to land a coach who overachieves Year 1, Cignetti style, and gets donor buy in.
