So what names could get in the mix?
Liberty is expected to make swings at some active head coaches, due to its resources. Coastal Carolina head coach Jamey Chadwell hasn’t been able to get Power 5 bites, despite his massive success at Coastal, opening the possibility of other Group of 5 jobs that pay a lot more, like USF. (And unlike USF, Liberty has won recently.) Chadwell is 31-5 over the past three years at Coastal, and he’s won everywhere he’s been. He was the lowest-paid FBS head coach before the breakout season in 2020, later doubling his salary to more than $1 million. Liberty can offer him a lot more. But would leaving the Sun Belt for Conference USA be a step up? Liberty could also make a push for other Sun Belt names like Georgia Southern head coach Clay Helton and James Madison head coach Curt Cignetti.
Indiana head coach Tom Allen has had a rough two years since the breakout season of 2020. After a top-15 finish that year, the Hoosiers have gone 2-10 and 4-8 in the past two seasons, including 2-16 in Big Ten play. Could a break be beneficial for both sides? His buyout is massive, at $20 million if Indiana wanted to fire him even after the 2023 season. But the buyout on Allen’s end to leave drops to $4 million on Dec. 1, which is plenty manageable. His salary is right around $5 million, something we know Liberty could pay, as it did for Freeze. Allen and Freeze also go back more than a decade together. Of course, leaving a Big Ten job for a Conference USA job would be basically unprecedented, but multiple industry sources have mentioned Allen’s name as one to potentially watch.
https://theathletic.com/3948746/2022/11/29/liberty-football-coach-candidates-freeze-auburn/