Big 12 Football: 5 best candidates to replace Lincoln Riley at OU

Matt Campbell, Iowa State head coach

A name that constantly appears in various discussions of top coaching candidates around the college football landscape in the last couple of years is the sixth-year Iowa State Cyclones bench boss Matt Campbell. The former Toledo Rockets head coach seems to like where he is at right now, but it’s usually worth considering a candidate like him for big-time programs with coaching vacancies such as Oklahoma now.

Campbell would definitely have more resources to recruit well and win immediately at Oklahoma than he did when he originally took the job at Iowa State. And the ceiling for him, of course, would be much higher in Norman, OK, than it is in Ames, IA.

The real question mark for the potential fit between Campbell and the Sooners is how that administration in Norman feels about his recruiting abilities. There should be no questioning Campbell’s ability to build a program or maintain its stature once he has built it. But Campbell was never a huge success on the recruiting trail to date with the Cyclones.

The fact of the matter too is that Campbell has yet to really get Iowa State over the hump. While he has taken that program to new heights in the last half-decade or so, he’s still sporting a record of 42-33 during his six seasons in Ames (.560 winning percentage). He does have a Fiesta Bowl with win Iowa State last season, but that came over a rather inconsistent Oregon Ducks team.

This season is a good example of how Campbell’s teams can occasionally fall short of expectations when they’re considered a true contender in the Big 12, and/or national landscape. Iowa State was ranked at No. 7 in the preseason AP Poll. And the Cyclones now sit with a record of 7-5 following a win over the TCU Horned Frogs this holiday weekend.