Power ranking Michigan State football coaching candidates after Week 5

Most Michigan State football coaching candidates were in action last weekend and here’s how the power rankings look.

Well, we’re officially in the second week of the Michigan State football coaching search. Mel Tucker’s firing, although not surprising marks the beginning of a coaching search that has a lot of people interested, or on edge, depending on who you ask. As I did with this list last week, we are going to keep opinions on who MSU should hire out of the weekly power rankings, and simply give a quick glance at what eight potential candidates and their respective teams did this past weekend.

I’m not going to push any agendas, and this is merely eight names that have been thrown around. Keep in mind that these coaches are still in the middle of a season, and to assume anything about them would be unfair to the process and the coaches themselves. You will start to realize that in order to keep it based on weekly performance, the previous week’s ranking won’t really be taken into account, other than for coaches that were on a bye week. 

With all that said, let’s jump into post-Week 5 Michigan State football head coaching candidate rankings. 

1. Jonathan Smith, Oregon State HC

An impressive win over a top 10 Utah team makes this the obvious choice for the first-ranked coach on post-Week 5’s list. Utah is still without Cam Rising, although I’m not sure he would have made enough of a difference to erase the two-score deficit. A bit of a defensive battle, Oregon State showed that it can win multiple ways, after a shootout against Washington State the week before. Oregon State’s third touchdown came from a gutsy play call from Jonathan Smith. With the ball on Utah’s 45, Smith chose to put the nail in the coffin at the beginning of the fourth quarter after Silas Smith broke through for a 45-yard run on the fourth-and-1 play call. This is the type of calculated aggression and game management that usually spells success for a team.

2. Sean Lewis, Colorado OC

The Colorado offensive coordinator makes a big jump from last week with his offense putting up 41 against the USC Trojans. USC’s defense has been suspect, and not as strong as Oregon’s, so you can argue that Sean Lewis doesn’t deserve the No. 2 spot based on that but to be honest, I’m impressed with the offensive explosion. Especially after only a touchdown against Oregon. Colorado’s offense ran for just shy of 200, and 371 yards through the air. A near 200-yard receiving game from Omarion Miller was impressive as well. The Colorado offensive performance, led by Sean Lewis, did enough to earn the second spot in the rankings for me. 

3. Mike Elko, Duke HC

Duke vs. Notre Dame was an exciting football game, especially if you like defense. A true rock fight, Duke did its best to hang in there offensively. Unfortunately for Mike Elko’s squad, injury concerns surrounding Riley Leonard are worrisome. Although, from recent reports, there is optimism that he didn’t suffer too much damage from the sack that occurred with 18 seconds left when Duke was trying to drive and tie the game up. Notre Dame is a good team and the fact that Duke kept it within a touchdown is impressive enough. Although not an overwhelming performance, with a lack of strong wins and teams on byes he earns the three-spot on this list. 

4. Charles Huff, Marshall HC

Charles Huff and Marshall kind of earned this spot by default. They came out slow against a bad Old Dominion team but could have been looking ahead to a matchup with NC State on the menu this weekend. Giving up 236 rushing yards on 11 carries for ODU’s leading rusher is concerning. Marshall was down at half but dominated the third quarter with three touchdowns which ultimately made the difference in the six-point win. NC State will be a fascinating matchup to watch. Don’t let this affect your opinion of Huff too much for now. 

5. Lance Leipold, Kansas HC

I’m struggling to rank this spot, as technically 3-4 coaches that we have left on the list were on byes. Lance Leipold only earns this spot by default, for several factors. He was ranked fourth on my poll last week after the impressive win against BYU, and he rightfully should get dropped after a bad loss to Texas. In his defense, Texas is in a unique category of teams this season, but Kansas was never really in the game. With their backup quarterback in, it’s probably hard to judge Leipold too much here, but with the four coaches ahead of him having better performances, it’s the only place that makes sense.

6. Chris Klieman, Kansas State HC

I can’t help but rank the rest of these coaches in order. Don’t take too much stock in this as they obviously were on bye weeks. Kansas State gears up to go to Oklahoma State on Saturday. And yes, I know Chris Klieman said he wasn’t interested in the Michigan State football job, but any coach would say that.

7. Jake Dickert, Washington State HC

The Washington State coach helped his team earn some buzz from national analysts over the weekend after their win against Oregon State. Jake Dickert will likely start to rise, and after I’ve sat on the Oregon State win, he should have been higher. They face UCLA this week and can earn a statement win, fresh off the bye.

8. Brian Hartline, Ohio State OC

Ohio State’s offense only had to do just enough to beat Notre Dame two weeks ago. It will be interesting to see how this offense looks after the big win and a week off. They face another explosive offense in Maryland this weekend and look to get their offense honed in with the meat of their Big Ten schedule ahead of them. Big week for Hartline to bump his ranking.