As the second half of the college football season continues to roll on for the Mid-American Conference (MAC), many in the industry continue to speculate the possible names that could be on the hot seat for head coaching roles at year’s end as the schedule presses on.
Here are the potential candidates for Around The MAC.
Joe Harasmyiak- Massachusetts
Not only do the Massachusetts Minutemen (0-7, 0-3) possess the worst record since returning to the conference, but they also rank as the 136th and last team in the Football Subdivision (FBS). Joe Harasymiak of the Minutemen was named as the 32nd head coach of the program back in December of last year. So far, however, the time has been nothing short of disappointing.
Since 2019, UMass has seen five different head coaches come and go with an overall record of 8-58 over the last seven seasons so far, and Harasymiak’s tenure has started to continue that very trend.
The theme of UMass’s season was summed up during Harasymiak’s postgame interview after the loss to the Buffalo Bulls (4-3, 3-0) on Saturday, where UMass would intercept the ball with less than a minute remaining, but the Bulls would storm back and win, 28-21.
“We had a chance to run the clock out and get a first down to win the game,” Harasmyiak said. “We didn’t do that.”
Joe Moorhead- Akron
Since his hiring in 2021, Joe Moorhead, for the Akron Zips (2-6, 1-3) in his first three seasons as the head coach, has finished below .500 all three times. With the current record, Moorhead now sits at an 8-28 overall record.
The times for Moorhead have gotten more treacherous, even going past the level of frustration after the most recent loss to the Miami RedHawks (4-3, 3-0), 20-7.
We had an opportunity to win a football game against one of the top teams in the MAC,” Moorhead said, postgame. “All week, we talked about a lack of precision being dangerous when the margin of error is small. And we pissed it away.”
Time will only tell if Moorhead and the Zips will find a sense of rhythm, but the time could be running out sooner rather than later.
Mike Carney- Kent State
While the Kent State Golden Flashes (2-5, 1-2) have ended multiple droughts this season, it is clear that more work needs to be done within the program under interim head coach Mike Carney.
While Carney may not be at the bottom of the barrel regarding other coaches in the conference, his chances of proving himself to be the next leader for the Flashes are running thinner as the season presses on, with Kent State still struggling to find any momentum with another brutal loss from the Toledo Rockets (4-3, 2-2), 45-10.
Carney, as of now, is only in an interim position, as the Flashes look for the next man up after the firing of former head coach Kenni Burns.
