Media Predictions on Brad Underwood’s Replacement In Stillwater

Since Brad Underwood skipped town for the (supposedly) greener pastures of Champaign, Illinois, there’s been a lot of talk about a single candidate to replace Underwood.

Doug Gottlieb says being the coach at Oklahoma State would be his dream job. https://t.co/aVklZkGrkY pic.twitter.com/yM6dKxEkeh

— FOX Sports Radio (@FoxSportsRadio) March 21, 2017

In truth, while Gottlieb is the hottest (and mostly only) name spreading like wildfire around Stillwater and the Oklahoma State fanbase, there are other candidates out there. Let’s take a look around at the coaching options being thrown around by various media outlets.

Pistols Firing Blog

Gotta start right here on our very own blog. Kyle B. wrote about a list of potential candidates, throwing out the following names-

• Dan Muller, Illinois State
• Doug Gottlieb, Analyst/Radio Personality
• Andy Enfield, USC
• Tim Jankovich, SMU
• Tom Crean (formerly Indiana)
• Archie Miller, Dayton (we can dream a little, right?)
• Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech

Tulsa World

The Tulsa World throws out some similar names as PFB, with Crean, Enfield, Gottlieb, Jankovich, and Williams making their list, in addition to a few more.

• Tom Crean, Indiana
• Scott Cross,  UT-Arlington
• Joe Dooley, Florida Gulf Coast
• Andy Enfield, USC
• Doug Gottlieb, Analyst/Radio Personality
• Dan Hurley, Rhode Island
• Tim Jankovich, SMU
• Bill Self, Kansas (talk about the pipe dream)
• Mark Turgeon, Maryland
• Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech

The Oklahoman

Another local source, The Oklahoman throws out James Dickey (former head coach at Houston and Texas Tech and Cowboy assistant) as an option, and one that Mike Holder may consider as a sleeper candidate. Holder said this of Dickey last year: “Trust me, James Dickey is beloved everywhere in our department.”

CBS Sports

CBS’ Matt Norlander pens several familiar names from above, with the addition of Middle Tennessee’s Kermit Davis.

• Doug Gottlieb
• Tim Jankovich, SMU
• Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech
• Kermit Davis, MTSU

St. Louis Review

The St. Louis Review added some names to the mix here — you can probably notice the trend..

• Gregg Marshall, Wichita State (pipe dream)
• Buzz Williams, Virginia Tech
• Tim Jankovich, SMU
• Steve Forbes, East Tennessee
• Joe Dooley, Florida Gulf Coast
• Dan Muller, Illinois State
• Doug Gottlieb

Go Pokes

Robert A.’s got some names:

“A quick resolution, but a right resolution is needed. I see good candidates like USC head coach Andy Enfield, who has a great story and married an Oklahoma beauty and model.

Northern Iowa’s Ben Jacobsen, UTA’s Scott Cross, Middle Tennessee State veteran head coach Kermit Davis, even current Oklahoma State assistant Danny Henderson have credentials. As most of you know, unless you literally live under a rock there is an alum in play.” [GoPokes-$$$]

The alum he refers to is pretty well liked around these parts. And elsewhere for that matter.

You see the same handful of names on each list — the pipe dream candidates in Gregg Marshall at Wichita State, Archie Miller at Dayton, and Bill Self at Kansas (who, at this point, we should not even be mentioning). While any of these is a gimme home run, they probably aren’t realistic at this point in time, unless someone is showing some serious money.

Then you’ve got your coaching candidates with high major experience (Tom Crean at Indiana and Marquette, Buzz Williams at Marquette and Virginia Tech, and Mark Turgeon at Wichita State, Texas A&M, and now Maryland), Andy Enfield (USC).

Lastly, you’ve got the mid-major coaches that have experienced a lot of success in their perspective conferences, and are looking for their break in a Power 5 conference (sound familiar?)

Tim Jankovich at SMU, Dan Muller at Illinois State, Kermit Davis at MTSU, Joe Dooley at FGSU, Steve Forbes at East Tennessee, Ben Jacobson at Northern Iowa, and Dan Hurley at Rhode Island. All of these candidates could be had for a much more reasonable cost and could prove to be solid coaches in Stillwater, given the proper chance.