Brigham Young Cougars head coach Mark Pope calls out instructions as BYU and Houston play at the Marriott Center in Provo on Tuesday, Jan. 23, 2024.
Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
The college football coaching carousel hasn’t yet come to a complete stop for this offseason, but already the college basketball version of it has gotten going with still more than a month before a team is crowned national champion.
On Thursday, ESPN’s annual coaching carousel preview by Jeff Borzello was published, and BYU’s Mark Pope and Utah State’s Danny Sprinkle are prominently mentioned.
In a section titled “Guys who could look around,” Pope is included alongside 10 other sitting head coaches.
“Never before has there been so much talk of high-major coaches looking to move — or at least being willing to listen to other opportunities,” Borzello wrote. “Some of this has to do with … NIL, some has to do with wanting to start fresh.”
In a section titled “Trending toward opening,” in which Borzello examines jobs that could become available, Washington is listed, with Pope being mentioned as a potential candidate there.
Finally, in a section titled “High-profile names to watch,” Pope was among a list of 13 coaches who got full paragraphs dedicated to them by Borzello.
“There’s been buzz Pope could look at other opportunities this offseason after leading the Cougars into the Big 12 and the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2021,” Borzello wrote.
“He could theoretically be a candidate at Washington or Oregon if either opens, but could also look to come back east.”
Pope, 51, has been the head coach at BYU since 2019 and has a record of 106-48 with the Cougars.
Borzello did not mention any candidates who could replace Pope if he does in fact take a job elsewhere.
Meanwhile, Sprinkle was also mentioned as a potential candidate if the Washington job opens (Colorado State’s Niko Medved, Boise State’s Leon Rice and South Florida’s Amir Abdur-Rahim were the others mentioned).
Sprinkle was also one of the 13 coaches to get a paragraph dedicated to him by Borzello.
“It’s been an incredible first season (at Utah State) for Sprinkle, who guided Montana State to back-to-back NCAA tournament appearances before moving to Utah State — where he has the Aggies competing for a Mountain West championship. He could be an option at Washington or Oregon if either opens,” Borzello wrote.
By now, the story has been oft-told how Sprinkle had to essentially rebuild the entire Utah State roster when he got the job last spring, but the Aggies are primed for an NCAA Tournament berth.
As for Utah and head coach Craig Smith, he was not mentioned at all by Borzello, even as there has been growing frustration among some fans that the Utes are very much on the bubble of making this year’s NCAA Tournament in Smith’s third season at the helm.