The head coach-in-waiting role has become a relic in college football, especially as modern recruiting moves away from players staying on campus for five years. Even with internal promotions remaining common, athletic departments are much more reluctant to commit. But while most of the sport moved away, Utah steered directly in.
The Utes named Morgan Scalley head coach-in-waiting back in 2024 to help retain the heralded defensive coordinator. Finally, in 2026, the program moved on from Kyle Whittingham and handed the keys to the former All-American Utes safety. Through seven games, the Utes are 7-0, with six wins by at least two touchdowns.
This week, they face their first big test as No. 14 Houston comes to town for a historic moment with Big 12 and College Football Playoff implications on the line. So how does Scalley's performance so far rank among the other notable head coaches-in-waiting of the 21st century? It's still early, but there's a lot to like.
However, we begin our list with two assistants that never stuck around and ultimately landed other head coaching jobs. Muschamp was only 32 when he won a national championship with Nick Saban at LSU, and helped lead Texas to a national title game as defensive coordinator. In 2008, Texas named Muschamp its coach-in-waiting behind Mack Brown to convince him to turn down interviews with major openings.
However, Brown had no timeline for leaving the role, and Muschamp was ultimately poached as head coach at Florida. Brown coached through 2013 before he was pushed to resign. Muschamp had one successful season in 2012, but otherwise posted a 10-14 conference record with the Gators before he was fired in 2014.
Franklin was a longtime Maryland assistant and a perfect successor to Ralph Friedgen, given his DMV recruiting ties. He was named coach-in-waiting in 2008 when he returned to College Park after stints with the Green Bay Packers and Kansas State. Instead, new athletic director Kevin Anderson came in and did not clearly commit to following the agreement.
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