Charlie Strong is 57 years old, so he is running out of time in his prime coaching years. Mack Brown won his title at 54 years old. Nick Saban won his at 51. Dabo Swinney was 46. Jimbo Fisher was 48. Gene Chizik was 49. Les Miles was 54. Urban Meyer was 42. We got Charlie in his prime and he had three 7 loss seasons. USF will likely be his last coaching job.
Lane Kiffin is only 42 and has time. HOWEVER, winning at FAU does not prove anything as far as coaching at a higher level. Howard Schnellenberger won at FAU, so it is not some impossible job. If you go look at Conference USA, the competition is bad. It is way worse than the AAC where Strong coached/coaches. In non conference Kiffin got killed by a down Navy team and lost to a bad Buffalo. I mean Frank Solich has won at Ohio and there are countless examples of coaches getting fired and winning at lower levels. Some coaches like Strong and Kiffin can do well in lower conferences, but are not major program coaches. Kiffin will probably get another shot to prove he can ruin a major program.
Last edited: Nov 22, 2017