Another week in the books and another step closer to Tech having a new coach. As the season has progressed, the picture has become clearer. Many coaches who needed a good season to solidify their candidacy have failed to do so, while others have been pleasant surprises.

Jamey Chadwell, Coastal Carolina

Chadwell and Coastal Carolina beat a strong App State team in convincing fashion on Thursday night. The Mountaineers haven’t looked as impressive as they did taking UNC to the wire and beating Texas A&M, but they still have a lot of talent and beat Coastal Carolina last year. Coastal never trailed in this game, and final score 35-28 makes the game seem closer than it was. While Grayson McCall’s return has been a boon for the Chanticleers, there was a lot of roster turnover this year overall. Chadwell is still winning. This doesn’t need to be difficult, J.

Up Next: Southern Miss at home with a chance to clinch the Sun Belt East

Sean Lewis, Kent State

Drew said last week that if Lewis lost to Ball State he’d be off the list, and he did. I’m with Drew here, Lewis is off the list.

Bill O’Brien, Alabama (OC)

Do not hire Bill O’Brien

Tyson Helton, WKU

I was going to leave Helton off the list this week after an awful performance against North Texas in Week 9, but the Hilltoppers went and beat Charlotte 59-7 this week. Charlotte is not a good team by any stretch of the imagination, but this was a beatdown. Helton has not had the season he needed to have in order to be seriously considered for the Tech job and is thus way down my list. Much of that is due to week-to-week inconsistency from his team. We’ll keep tracking him though.

Up Next: A Rice team that lost to this very bad Charlotte team

Mike Houston, ECU

BYE WEEK

Houston has revived his season after early losses to Navy and Tulane. ECU is bowl eligible, and a strong finish could lift Houston’s stock considerably.

Up Next: A tough test at Cincinnati

Kane Wommack, South Alabama

South Alabama mounted a furious comeback to erase a mid-3rd Quarter 14-point deficit and beat Georgia Southern 38-31. South Alabama improves to 7-2 on the year and 4-1 in conference. Wommack has limited head coaching experience, but if he can continue this success, the P5 teams will come knocking soon.

Up Next: At Home against a bad Texas State team

Charles Huff, Marshall

Marshall shut out old Dominion 12-0 to get a much-needed win. The defense continues to be impressive for the Thundering Herd, but the offense.... less so. No TDs were scored in this game. Huff probably isn’t going to get a Power 5 job this offseason at this rate.

Up Next: At home against Appalachian State

Deion Sanders, Jackson State

Sigh....fine. Jackson State beat Texas Southern easily 41-14. They play Alabama A&M next.

Do not hire Deion Sanders