With Nebraska firing Scott Frost as its head football coach Sunday, speculation rapidly followed who could replace the coach at the Power Five school.
There are already some names related to Utah college football that have crept up on potential candidate lists.
Among them are former BYU coach Bronco Mendenhall, who stepped away from football last season after six years at Virginia, and former Utah coach Urban Meyer, a current college football analyst who was fired as the Jacksonville Jaguars head coach last season after lasting less than a year in the position.
The Athletic’s Bruce Feldman called Mendenhall a wild-card candidate.
“He’s a very sharp defensive mind who had a solid run at Virginia after going 99-43 at BYU. We expect him to be in the running for some Power 5 jobs this winter, but not sure how much he would excite the fanbase,” Feldman wrote.
CBS Sports’ Dennis Dodd suggested Meyer, while also acknowledging the off-field issues that have surrounded Meyer in recent seasons.
“The Huskers wouldn’t … would they? Desperation seems to find guys like Meyer whose winning percentage has to be ultimately balanced against off-field issues,” Dodd wrote. “... Meyer didn’t even make it through a full season in 2021 with the Jags. Meyer can coach college, but can he keep from becoming the focus for all the wrong reasons?”
Sporting News’ Bill Bender listed Meyer, who won three national championships during his time at Florida and Ohio State, as a wild-card candidate.
“Meyer was 187-32 with three national championships at the college level. He also is 58 years old and the setup would have to be perfect to pull him back in. Does Nebraska offer enough for an easy-make turn-around to tempt Meyer? It doesn’t quite line up – even if he would be a heck of a story,” Bender wrote.