Sources: Colorado State Expected to Fire Head Coach Mike Bobo
Ron Chenoy-USA TODAY Sports
Colorado State is expected to fire football coach Mike Bobo within 24 hours, multiple sources have told Sports Illustrated.
Bobo and the Rams finished a 4-8 season Friday with a loss to Boise State. His five-year record at the Mountain West Conference school was 28-35. Most problematically, Bobo's record against rivals Colorado, Wyoming and Air Force was 2-13, and he lost the last 12 in a row. Defeats at the hands of the Falcons and Cowboys Nov. 16 and 22 went a long way toward sealing Bobo's fate.
Colorado State would join MWC schools UNLV and New Mexico in the job market. The Rebels have a new NFL stadium and attractive city to use as a lure, but the Rams are not far behind in terms of modern amenities—they moved into a new, on-campus stadium two years ago.
A former offensive coordinator at Georgia, Bobo likely will be viewed as a viable OC candidate at Southeastern Conference schools looking to shake up their staffs this offseason.
With CSU athletic director Joe Parker now turning his focus to replacing Bobo, Ohio State assistant coach Tony Alford figures to be a prime candidate. Alford played at Colorado State from 1987-90, and was a 1,000-yard rusher as a junior under Earle Bruce. Alford has spent the last five seasons at Ohio State, first under Urban Meyer and now under Ryan Day. Meyer was an assistant at CSU when Alford played for the Rams and would be an influential voice in Alford's corner.
Alford has been a key recruiter for Ohio State, and prior to that was the recruiting coordinator for Brian Kelly at Notre Dame.
Another potential candidate could be Utah defensive coordinator Morgan Scalley, who also comes with Meyer connections. Scalley played for Meyer at Utah and went into coaching at the school under Meyer's successor, Kyle Whittingham. Both men have stayed at the school ever since, but Scalley has become a hot name within the industry as the Utes' defense has become one of the best in the nation.
In addition to being a potential CSU candidate, Scalley is believed to be a focus of UNLV's search. The opening of the new NFL stadium in that city has been seen as a vehicle that could make the historically underachieving UNLV job much more attractive.
Hawaii coach Nick Rolovich has interest in the CSU head coaching job, per a source with knowledge of the situation.
Both Alford and Scalley are involved in conference championship games this week, so any activity involving them would not be likely until after those games are played. Utah takes on Oregon in the Pac-12 championship game Friday night, and Ohio State plays Wisconsin in the Big Ten title game Saturday night. Both teams also could be part of the College Football Playoff–Ohio State seems a sure thing, while Utah's fate will be decided this weekend–which could delay their ability to dive full-time into a new head-coaching job.
