I heard a new name yesterday in the search for a new OC at Tennessee. The name was Matt Canada. This name has started circulating in Knoxville sports talk and at the water cooler after he was not named the head coach at Maryland on Tuesday. That job went to former Alabama OC, Mike Locksley.
I'm sure Canada was not very happy being passed over by Maryland after he was put in charge of the program following the death of Maryland offensive lineman, Jordan McNair. Canada lead the Terrapins to a 5-7 record this season. While it isn't a great record, the dark cloud that was former head coach D.J. Durkin loomed over the entire season and made it very challenging for the entire program to focus on playing football.
To make things worse for Canada, Mike Locksley's career head coaching record is 3-31. But Locksley has no ties to the prior staff, like Canada does. So I can see why Maryland would want to cut all ties to Durkin and his entire staff.
So Matt Canada is now available. Instantly he should be in consideration for Tennessee. He has had great success as an OC at Pittsburgh, NC State, Wisconsin, Northern Illinois, Indiana and LSU. Canada is considered to be one of the best offensive minds in college football and is known for his smart scheming.
However, we need to pump the brakes. Canada was the highest paid OC in college football at $1.5 million when he was at LSU...for one season. Canada and LSU head coach Ed Orgeron clashed throughout the entire 2017 season. Why? Because Orgeron is a headstrong coach who wants it his way. Sound familiar?
