Texas Coaching Search: 5 Candidates Who Make No Sense

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5. Nick Saban

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This was the hottest rumor surrounding the job when Mack Brown first seemed like he would be on the way out at Texas. But getting Nick Saban away from the Alabama Crimson Tide was little more than an unrealistic pipe dream that Saban quickly put to rest by signing a new extension to stay in Tuscaloosa. Texas is not the only college job that matters, no matter how much the Horns would like to think it is. There are a number of “destination” jobs in college football that are big enough to keep coaches in town for the long term, even if jobs like Texas come calling. Alabama is one of them. No matter how many homes Nick Saban’s wife allegedly looked at, there was never any chance of Saban making a move.

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4. Jim Harbaugh

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Jim Harbaugh rose quickly through the college football ranks in the state of California before taking the San Francicso 49ers job. There, he’s quickly built San Francisco into a perennial Super Bowl contender and came just short of winning it all last season. He’s not a coach with natural ties to the Texas area, doesn't really fit the required "cowboy boots" dress code, and seems like a better fit in the NFL than in college. With the success he’s enjoyed with the 49ers already in his short head coaching career, there’s not a lot of reason to think he would walk away from that to head back to college and the Texas job.

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3. Chip Kelly

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Let’s forget the show-cause hanging over the head of Chip Kelly handed down by the NCAA, the first-year Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach is not a fit for the Texas job. He is an innovative offensive mind but does not glad-hand well. Being saddled with the Longhorn Network would be a major issue for Kelly who also has no natural ties to the state of Texas beyond his recruiting of the state while he was with the Oregon Ducks. That doesn’t even get into the fact that he is just getting into coaching in the NFL and doing a pretty good job so far. With a win in Week 17, he’ll win an NFC East Division title and make the playoffs. Why would he walk away from that now?

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2. Urban Meyer

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While Urban Meyer has moved around a bit as a head coach and traded in one elite program for another when he moved from the Florida Gators to the Ohio State Buckeyes, there’s no chance that Meyer makes the jump to Texas. When he went from Florida to Ohio State, he took a year off in between making the move less jarring and he also stepped into a situation that was tailor-made to compete right away. Meyer is now 24-1 in two seasons in Columbus and came one Big Ten Championship away from playing for a BCS National Championship. That’s not a situation that you just up and leave, especially when you consider that Ohio State is going to throw whatever money they have to in order to keep Meyer on their sideline.

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1. Jon Gruden

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The best thing to happen to Jon Gruden as a head coach was for him to STOP coaching. After winning Super Bowl XXXVII in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002, Gruden struggled to keep his team together. He would go 45-51 over the next six seasons, including 0-2 in the playoffs, and posted losing records in three of six seasons, highlighted by high-profile blowouts with players like Keyshawn Johnson. However, since become an ESPN analyst, Gruden’s coaching profile has sky-rocketed and he gets attached to just about every job opening there is. While he would be an excellent ambassador with his big personality, his complete lack of experience with recruiting and the college game make him an illogical choice for the Horns.