San Diego State coaching candidates: Who gets a shot at running one of the best G5 jobs?
San Diego State coaching candidates: Who gets a shot at running one of the best G5 jobs?
Brady Hoke's second tenure at SDSU didn't quite go as well as his first. But the Aztecs have a ton to offer to prospective candidates.
Brady Hoke will retire at the end of this season, an announcement that comes after a 26-18 second stint at San Diego State across four seasons. Hoke went 13-12 the first time around, a mark good enough to get him the Michigan job.
San Diego State is the sixth job to open so far this season. It has plenty of strengths, too, even if the program’s Power 5 dreams appear to be on hold for the foreseeable future. San Diego is one of the most beautiful cities in America, Snapdragon Stadium just opened last season and there is plenty of talent in the Southern California area. (And the athletic department has proven that it can win big in other revenue sports, as evidenced by its men’s basketball team’s run to the national title game last season.)
Where should SDSU turn? Let’s take a look at some potential candidates:
Andy Ludwig, Utah offensive coordinator. Ludwig came to Utah in 2019 and the Utes have been arguably the Pac-12’s best program since, playing in three of the past four Pac-12 title games and winning two of them. They won’t make it this year, but Ludwig has worked wonders in getting the program to a 7-3 mark without quarterback Cam Rising, who has missed the entire season. Ludwig served as SDSU’s OC in 2011 and 2012 and has spent the majority of his career in the Mountain West footprint.