When college football jobs open up, athletic directors usually start with the same question: who has already shown he can win? That’s why, if Cincinnati or Mississippi State ends up looking for a coach in 2027, two familiar names would jump right to the front of the line.
Brian Kelly at Cincinnati would be a reunion with real weight behind it. Kelly’s ties to the Bearcats run deep.
He took over in 2006 and wasted no time turning the program into a national player. In three seasons, he went 34-6, delivered Cincinnati’s first Big East title in 2008 and guided the Bearcats to their first BCS bowl.
Cincinnati then finished the 2009 regular season undefeated after Kelly left, rolled into the Sugar Bowl and ended up No. 8 in the AP poll.
Kelly’s track record since then only strengthens the case. He won national championships at Grand Valley State, became Notre Dame’s winningest head coach and later took LSU to the SEC Championship Game.
His career record at major programs sits at 200-76. On paper, that’s the kind of résumé Cincinnati would dream about.
The real question is whether Kelly would actually want to go back.
Cincinnati is a different place now than it was when Kelly last coached there. The Bearcats are in the Big 12 and operating with far more resources than they had during his first run.
He would also be walking back into a situation where the administration, recruiting area and expectations are already familiar. That kind of fit gives the idea some real appeal on both sides.
The Mississippi State case for Dan Mullen feels even cleaner.
Mullen spent nine seasons in Starkville and went 69-46, with seven bowl trips to show for it. He took a program that lived in the shadows in the SEC West and made it nationally relevant.
His best year came in 2014, when Mississippi State spent five weeks at No. 1 in the AP poll and finished the regular season 10-2. Along the way, he helped shape Dak Prescott into one of the most important players in school history.
After Mississippi State, Mullen moved on to Florida, later stepped away from coaching, and then resurfaced at UNLV in 2025. He made an immediate impact there, leading the Rebels to a 10-4 record and proving he could still build something after time away from the sideline.
That’s why a return to Starkville would be worth a hard look if Mississippi State needs a new coach. Mullen already knows how to recruit and develop in Mississippi, how to handle the SEC grind and how to build without the kind of resources Alabama or Georgia can lean on. He also knows exactly how high the ceiling can be in Starkville.
In Other News...
Ole Miss Pros Face A Tense NFL Roster Reality
Several former Ole Miss standouts are navigating one of the hardest days on the NFL calendar, with initial 53-man rosters set across the league after training camps wrapped. For some Rebels alumni, the first wave of news brought a practice-squad opportunity and a chance to keep developing nearby. For others, it meant the end of camp with a cut or an injured-reserve designation, the kind of roster churn that can quickly change the outlook for a players immediate future.
A few of the players let go did not stay on the market long, since other teams moved in and claimed them for their own 53-man groups. That scramble is part of the reality for college programs with deep pro pipelines, and Ole Miss is again seeing how quickly a summer of promise can turn into a race for jobs, depth-chart space and another shot somewhere else. [Read more 🡒]
Ole Miss Is Going Big To Push Its Heisman Stars Into View
Ole Miss is taking an aggressive public-relations swing to elevate Trinidad Chambliss and Kewan Lacy into the national Heisman conversation. The programs new #H6I5MEN campaign is built around both players, with branding set to show up on the Sphere in Las Vegas beginning Aug. 30 and on a billboard in Times Square, giving the Rebels a high-profile way to put their quarterback and running back in front of a much bigger audience.
Athletic director Keith Carter framed the effort as more than just an awards push, pointing to it as a chance to celebrate the two players and tell their stories on a national and even international stage. For Ole Miss, the campaign is a reminder that the race for attention can be just as important as the race for trophies, especially when the goal is to make sure its stars are impossible to overlook. [Read more 🡒]
Trinidad Chambliss Addresses The Ole Miss Debate He Couldnt Avoid
Trinidad Chambliss has already been through the kind of eligibility fight that tends to follow a player around, so it made sense that he was asked this week about another Ole Miss-related case drawing attention. Former Rebels tight end Dae'Quan Wright, who went undrafted and spent brief stretches with NFL teams, was granted a court order allowing him to return to college football before transferring to LSU, a path that has put a familiar legal wrinkle back in the spotlight for anyone around the program.
Chambliss, who also secured eligibility to play in 2026 through a legal injunction, said he understands there are plenty of opinions out there but made clear he is keeping his focus on his own team and the upcoming game. It is the kind of answer a quarterback in his position almost has to give, especially with the outside noise never far away, and it leaves the bigger debate about how these situations are handled in college football still hanging in the background. [Read more 🡒]