Indiana Football Head Coaching Search: Nine Names That Make Sense

Indiana has begun the search for its newest head coach after firing Tom Allen on Sunday.

At this point, it seems more likely that Indiana will opt for someone with a background as a head coach due to their experience in leading and building a program, as well as recruiting both at the high school level and in the transfer portal.

Here are nine potential candidates.

Current head coaches

Jason Candle, Toledo

Candle has a 65-33 record at Toledo over the last eight seasons, including a 43-19 run in MAC play. He's won two MAC titles and will play for his third this year as the Rockets enter the MAC championship with an 11-1 and 8-0 record. Toledo has won at least six games every year, aside from the shortened COVID-19 season, along with four years with at least nine wins. Candle is an offensive-minded head coach, and his Toledo teams have ranked top two in scoring among MAC teams in six of his eight seasons. He has coached at Toledo in some capacity since 2009 and began his coaching career at Mount Union, where he also played wide receiver.

Curt Cignetti, James Madison

Cignetti has a 52-9 record at James Madison since 2019, dominating the CAA and Sun Belt with 31-4 conference record. James Madison has either won or played in the conference championship in all five seasons under Cignetti, and they'll do so again this year with an 11-1 record. Cignetti also led successful programs at Elon and Indiana University of Pennsylvania, winning at least six games in a combined eight seasons at both schools. He also has experience at the Power 5 level, holding a variety of offensive position coaching jobs at Alabama, NC State and Pittsburgh.

Willie Fritz, Tulane

Fritz has an extensive head coaching background dating back to 1997 at Central Missouri, Sam Houston State, Georgia Southern and now Tulane, posting a 208-115 overall record. Since 2016, Fritz has led Tulane to a 54-46 record, but he's been particularly successful in the last two seasons, going 23-3 overall and 15-1 in the American Athletic Conference. Tulane drew national attention last year when it defeated USC in the Cotton Bowl, and the Green Wave was ranked No. 23 in the latest College Football Playoff rankings. Fritz won the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year Award and the George Munger Award in 2022, given to the nation's top head coach. Fritz played defensive back at Pittsburgh State from 1978-81.

Tom Herman, Florida Atlantic

Herman helped Ohio State win the 2014 national championship as the offensive coordinator, and he won the Broyles Award for the nation's top assistant coach. That led to his first head coaching job at Houston, where he posted a 22-4 record in two seasons. Herman was quickly scooped up by Texas the following year, where he went 32-18 overall and 22-13 in Big 12 play across four seasons. Despite winning four bowl games and finishing in the top 25 of the final AP poll in his final three seasons, Texas decided that wasn't good enough and fired him after the 2020 season. Herman spent one year with the Chicago Bears as an offensive analyst before being hired at Florida Atlantic, where he has a 4-8 record in his first season in 2023. 

Chuck Martin, Miami of Ohio

Martin is in his 10th season as Miami's head coach, and he also has head coaching experience at Division II Grand Valley State from 2004-09. At Miami, Martin has a 55-61 overall record, a 44-31 record in MAC play and a 1-3 record in bowl game. The Redhawks are having their best year under Martin in 2023, holding a 10-2 record. Miami has finished in the top three in the MAC in 7-of-10 seasons under Martin, including a conference title in 2019 – they'll play for his second this year. Prior to Miami, Martin was the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame in 2012-13 and helped the Fighting Irish reach the national championship game. He's held both offensive and defensive coaching roles since his career began in 1992 at Mankato State. Martin played football and basketball at Millikin University and grew up in Park Forest, Ill.

Kane Wommack, South Alabama

Wommack has the least amount of head coaching experience among the candidates listed, as he earned his first job at South Alabama in 2021. Since then, he has 21-16 overall record and a 13-11 mark in Sun Belt play. He led South Alabama to a 10-3 record in 2022, ultimately losing to Western Kentucky in the New Orleans Bowl. Indiana's potential attraction to Wommack stems from his stint at Indiana from 2018-20, first as the linebackers coach and then two years as the defensive coordinator. His "Swarm D" helped Indiana reach the Gator Bowl and Outback Bowl in 2019 and 2020, and the Hoosiers led the nation with 17 interceptions in 2020. Wommack, 36, is currently the third-youngest head coach in the FBS.

Previous head coaches 

Dan Mullen, formerly Florida and Mississippi State

Mullen currently works for ABC and ESPN, but he has the strongest track record among coaches on this list. From 2009-17, Mullen coached Mississippi State to a 69-46 overall record. The Bulldogs went 5-2 in bowl games under Mullen and won at least eight games in five of his nine seasons. Mullen then took the Florida job and got off to an impressive start. Florida went 10-3 and won the Peach Bowl in 2018; 11-2 and won the Orange Bowl in 2019; 8-4 and lost in the Cotton Bowl in 2020; then Florida fired him after a 5-6 start to the 2021 season. Mullen's history of recruiting in the south at a pair of SEC programs would be valuable for Indiana as the Big Ten expands to 18 teams next year.

Pat Fitzgerald, formerly Northwestern

Fitzgerald was fired before the 2023 season due to a hazing scandal within the Northwestern program, which might eliminate him from consideration. But if Indiana feels comfortable looking past that, Fitzgerald could make sense in Bloomington. Fitzgerald coached Northwestern from 2006-22, and he was a beloved figure at the university. Though Northwestern had a 4-20 record across his final two seasons, Fitzgerald's tenure featured six seasons with at least eight wins and two appearances in the Big Ten championship game. Northwestern went 5-5 in bowl games with Fitzgerald but won the last four from 2016-20. Like Indiana, Northwestern is considered a difficult place to win, but Fitzgerald had by far the most successful tenure in program history.

Paul Chryst, formerly Wisconsin and Pittsburgh

Chryst was fired from Wisconsin after beginning the 2022 season with a 2-3 record, but he built a perennial power in Madison from 2015-21. Wisconsin went 65-23 during that seven-year stretch, which included a 6-1 record in bowl games, with the only loss coming by one point to Oregon in the Rose Bowl. Wisconsin never finished worse than third, and it won the Big Ten West division three times under Chryst. Another potential factor could be that current Indiana offensive line coach Bob Bostad worked on Chryst's staff from 2017-22 and made noticeable improvements at Indiana in 2023. Prior to Wisconsin, Chryst went 19-19 in three seasons at Pittsburgh. He played quarterback at Wisconsin from 1986-88.