Next UNI football coach? Here are some potential candidates

CEDAR FALLS — For just the second time this century, the University of Northern Iowa is searching for a head football coach.

Mark Farley formally announced his retirement Monday — effective at the end of the 2024 season — after 24 seasons leading the Panthers, leaving first-year Director of Athletics Megan Franklin to search for a successor who will have to step into the big shoes.

A UNI-Dome under renovation and the potential for reciprocity being approved for UNI are two considerable additives to the attractiveness of the position. But the program currently has the Missouri Valley Football Conference’s smallest annual operating budget, meaning it’s highly likely some candidates will decide against appealing for the job.

Franklin revealed Monday that Collegiate Sports Associates — a consulting and search firm based out of Raleigh, N.C. — has been hired to spearhead the search for Farley’s replacement. Given CSA’s east coast existence, it’s easy to wonder if UNI’s next head football coach may be someone unpredictable, but it’s also hard to see the Panthers’ next coach not having previous experience coaching somewhere in-state or at least the Midwest.

Here are some potential candidates:

Consensus candidates

Jeremiah Johnson

Louisiana Tech defensive coordinator; former UNI defensive coordinator (2007-2021, 2023)

Johnson was Farley’s defensive coordinator for 11 of the 16 seasons he was with the Panthers and UNI won four MVFC championships during his tenure in Cedar Falls.

Johnson is highly regarded for his acumen of the Xs and Os and his ability to connect with players and get the best out of them.

He has all sorts of institutional knowledge of the program’s donors, its economics and recruiting infrastructure. He has relationships with numerous current UNI administrators and his wife and two kids still live near Cedar Falls.

His recent experience beyond UNI at Kent State (2022) and Louisiana Tech can only have added to his exploits to get a first opportunity to lead a program, and there’s no better fit than the Panthers.

Bryce Paup

UNI assistant head coach and defensive line coach/run game coordinator (2013-2016, 2018-present)

A source confirmed to The Gazette that Paup has interest and UNI should certainly have interest in Paup.

The former NFL defensive player of the year has been the architect of numerous formidable UNI defensive lines and played an integral role in the development of defensive ends Karter Schult — who became the program’s only Buck Buchannan defensive player of the year award winner in 2016 — and Elerson G. Smith, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2021 NFL Draft by the New York Giants.

UNI players at all positions have spoken with high regard throughout Paup’s tenure about his ability to develop student-athletes in their personal life. He also boasts institutional knowledge of the program’s donors and recruiting base.

Known name candidates

Bodie Reeder

Middle Tennessee State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach; former UNI offensive coordinator (2022-2023)

Besides former longtime offensive coordinator Bill Salmon — who Farley said was his best hire at Monday’s retirement news conference — a convincing argument could be made that Reeder’s brief stint at UNI proved to be 1B to Salmon’s 1A of offensive coordinators in Farley’s 24-year tenure.

In 2022, Reeder had UNI ranked first in the MVFC in total offense, yards per game, third-down efficiency, pass efficiency, passing yards and passing touchdowns. In 2023, UNI ranked ninth nationally in red-zone efficiency, 15th in passing offense and 39th in total offense.

A native of Mahomet, Ill., Reeder played quarterback at Eastern Illinois. Stints at Oklahoma State, Eastern Washington, North Texas, Utah State and Auburn offer a well-rounded wealth of knowledge.

Ryan Clanton

Iowa State offensive line coach/run game coordinator; former UNI co-offensive coordinator (2018-2022) and offensive line coach

Clanton’s career continues to ascend after doing impressive work with recruiting and development of UNI’s offensive line in his five seasons in Cedar Falls, most notably first- and third-round NFL Draft picks Trevor Penning and Spencer Brown.

It’s quite possible an FBS coordinator job or assistant position in the NFL is what Clanton is eyeing next, but if becoming a head coach is of interest to him, he should be a candidate of interest for UNI.

Joe Woodley

Grand View University head coach (2019-present)

Woodley boasts a 67-5 record in his six seasons as the Vikings head coach and they’re 9-0 this season. Woodley was born in Clive and is an Iowa State alumnus. His experience would set him up well in recruiting, but his ability to handle the transfer portal and NIL would be a question mark coming up from the NAIA.

Scott Strohmeier

Iowa Western Community College head coach (2009-present)

A Minnesota native, the 48-year old Strohmeier has been the Reivers’ only head coach in their 15 years of existence and has built the program into a national power in the National Junior College Athletic Association.

Iowa Western has won three of the five NJCAA national championship games it's been to under Strohmeier, but similar to Woodley, there’d be questions about the ability to navigate the transfer portal and NIL in a step up to the FCS.

Other notable candidates

Erik Chinander

Boise State defensive coordinator; former UNI tight ends coach (2004-2009)

An Allison native, Chinander played at Iowa and after six years as an assistant at UNI has gotten a wide array of experience with Oregon, the Philadelphia Eagles, UCF, Nebraska and now Boise State.

He’d likely have to take a moderate pay cut if he was offered the UNI job, but it may be worth it to him to get his first opportunity as a head coach after two decades as an assistant.

Scott Frost

Los Angeles Rams senior analyst; former Nebraska, UCF head coach; former UNI co-defensive coordinator and linebackers coach (2007-2008)

Frost was college football’s hottest head coach candidate after the 2017 season when he led UCF to a 13-0 record that included a Peach Bowl win over seventh-ranked Auburn.

A reunion at his alma mater Nebraska didn’t go as planned with a 16-31 record getting him fired in Week 3 of his fifth season in Lincoln, but if the former Panthers assistant wants another crack at being a head coach, doing so in Cedar Falls may be just the place.