Sometimes, the less sexy, more blue collar name is the best man for the job. That is not the case at USC.
The betting website Bovada posted the odds of the top dozen coaches in line to succeed Steve Sarkisian with the Trojans football team, according to Bleacher Report.
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No. 1 on the list at 7/2 odds is current Utah coach Kyle Whittingham.
And why not? The Utes currently are the No. 4 team in the nation. Whittingham already led Utah -- when the school was part of the Mountain West -- to an undefeated season in 2008 and a Sugar Bowl win over Alabama. He has compiled a 90-43 at a school more recognized for its basketball program.
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Whittingham did it by navigating the Utes from the ranks of the non-BCS to the nation's elite.
In just 11 short years.
Which is why he's not a good fit for the Trojans.
Whittingham, who was a Utes assistant from 1994-2004, had the unenviable task of replacing Urban Meyer, who was the first coach to guide a non-BCS program to a BCS postseason game with a 34-7 win over Pittsburgh in the Fiesta Bowl for the 2004 season.
The Utes went 7-5 in Whittingham's first season, having to win their last three games to salvage what had been a losing season. In his first three years, Whittingham guided Utah to a respectable but hardly sexy 24-14 record.
Then, the Utes went 13-0 in 2008, which started the school on its journey from the Mountain West to the Pac-12 in 2011.
Whittingham had an OK 8-5 record in his first year in the Pac-12, but followed that with a pair of 5-7 seasons at the program experienced growing pains in the new football league. He was 18-19 in his first three seasons before going 9-4 in 2014 and 5-0 this year.
You know what 18-19 gets you in three years at USC? Fired.
His history suggests Whittingham is a great builder of programs, having done it twice at Utah. He just has to remake the culture, which requires time.
Patience is not a virtue for USC football, although it should be for Whittingham.
The Trojans would figure to make runs at Philadelphia Eagles coach Chip Kelly (second on the Bovada list with Boise State coach Bryan Harsin) or Baltimore Ravens coach Jim Harbaugh (not ranked) for more immediate results.
Harbaugh joined Kelly in the denial of interest in the USC job in a conversation with ESPN -- but what else are both supposed to say? Both those coaches are just five weeks through a 16-week NFL season. Kelly's Eagles are 2-3, and the coach may not have a job after making wholesale changes - if Philly doesn't make the playoffs.
Harbaugh's job with the Ravens likely is much safer - He did lead the team to a Super Bowl win after the 2012 season. But Baltimore is 1-4 this year, and if that doesn't improve, Harbaugh may see USC as a new challenge.
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