Florida Head Coach Hot Board: Coordinator Edition

There’s no such thing as a perfect hire in college football. Every head coaching candidate has their flaws and there’s a degree of risk involved with whoever you select. On Sunday, I released my first Florida Gators head coach hot board, which consisted of five head coaches across college football. You can check out that here.

While this may not be what Gator fans want to hear, I think it’s important to exhaust every option when searching for your next head coach including rising coordinators. Many of the top head coaches across college football had no head coaching experience prior to landing a big-time job: Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame, Dan Lanning at Oregon, Kirby Smart at Georgia, and Ryan Day at Ohio State.

Gator Country provides part two of our head coach hot board: coordinator edition.

Will Stein, Oregon Offensive Coordinator 

Serving as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach since 2023, the Ducks have had one of the top offenses in college football under Will Stein. In his first season, Oregon ranked second in the country in scoring offense, averaging 44.2 points per game. In 2024, Oregon ranked 17th in scoring offense. Through seven games in 2055, Oregon ranks T-2nd in scoring offense and 6th in total offense. The Ducks have scored 55+ three times this season and have only scored less than 30 once vs. a tough Indiana defense.

Stein is known for his development at the quarterback position; his last two quarterbacks were Heisman finalists and are currently starting in the NFL. He might have another on the way in Dante Moore, who is one of the best young quarterbacks in college football.

At age 36, Stein is only making two million with Oregon and will be a very attractive option for a program looking to make a change.

Blake Baker, LSU defensive coordinator 

Blake Baker is in his second season as defensive coordinator at LSU and has done a nice job turning around the Tigers’ defense. LSU currently ranks 10th in scoring defense and 26th in total defense through seven games of the 2025 season. In his first year as LSU’s defense coordinator, Baker’s unit shaved 50 yards per game off their average in 2023.

Baker also served as the defensive coordinator and safeties coach at Missouri for two seasons from 2022-23. In his last season with Missouri, Baker helped the Tigers to an 11-2 record with his defense that ranked 25th in scoring in the country and 4th in the SEC.

Baker has Florida ties from his time with the Miami Hurricanes as defensive coordinator and linebackers coach back in 2019-20.

The 43-year-old will have his name tossed around for a head coaching job this offseason.

Brian Hartline, Ohio State offensive coordinator 

Brian Hartline has been considered one of the top assistant coaches in college football for quite some time now, and his name is coming up once against for head coach openings. Hartline has been coaching at Ohio State since 2017; it’s the only place he’s been after his playing days ended in 2015.

Hartline, who is 37 years old, has already been named wide receiver coach of the year twice from two different publications (On3, 2022; football scoop, 2021). In 2019 he was honored by the American Football Coaches Association as one of its AFCA 35 Under 35 honorees, a prestigious program that develops “premier, future leaders” in the coaching profession.

Hartline was promoted from wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator in 2023 and still holds that position in 2025. Despite having the offensive coordinator role for nearly three seasons, Hartline is calling plays for the first time in his career in 2025. The Buckeyes rank 36th in total offense, 23rd in scoring offense.

He’s still young in the industry, but Hartline is known for his high-level recruiting and development of wide receivers. It may be too soon for a program like Florida to take a shot on him given his lack of experience in play calling, but he’s going to land a head coaching job at some point if he wants it. Hartline is making $2 million in 2025 after his promotion.

Glenn Schumann, Georgia’s defensive coordinator 

Glenn Schumann has served as Georgia’s defensive coordinator and play caller since 2022, sporting one of the best defenses in college football during that span. Obviously, head coach Kirby Smart is a defensive mind also, but one thing is certain: Schumann knows what great defense looks like.

Schumann took over the play calling duties for a Georgia defense that went 15-0 and claimed a National Championship in 2022. The Bulldogs led the Nation in scoring defense that season. In 2023, Georgia’s defensive unit ranked 5th nationally in Scoring Defense and led the country in third down defense. In 2024, Georgia ranked inside the top 30 in both scoring and total defense.

Kliff Kingsbury, Commanders offensive coordinator 

This one is different than the others listed because Kingsbury has been a head coach at both the collegiate and professional level but is now a coordinator with the Washington Commanders.

Kingsbury served as Texas Tech’s head coach from 2013-2018, posting a 35-40 record with the Red Raiders. Texas Tech didn’t win a ton of games under Kingsbury, but they always had an electric passing offense. One year later, Kingbury landed a head coaching job with the Arizona Cardinals in the NFL. He was fired after four seasons, posting a 28-37 record.

Now, Kingsbury is serving as an offensive coordinator for the Commanders, where he’s found success with quarterback Jayden Daniels. I have no idea if the 46-year-old would be interested in going back to college, and there’s certainly question marks that would come with this hire, but Kingsbury is a bright offensive mind in the industry and the experience as a head coach may excite some people.