It appears that Mike Sanford will get a chance to call all the shots, as several sources indicate he will be named the next head coach at Western Kentucky. The Hilltoppers, whose mascot has somehow avoided legal action from McDonald’s regarding his likeness to Grimace, saw former head coach Jeff Brohm leave for a job at Purdue.
As a result, Sanford will get his first chance in the drivers seat.
Sports Illustrated’s Pete Thamel was first to report the news.
Sanford, still only 34 years old, has run roughshod through the coaching ranks and will be the youngest head coach this upcoming season. It appears that Sanford is coach on the rise, with a number of factors convalescing and manifesting themselves as another opportunity for him.
With the pedigree of a coach, his father was head coach at UNLV, and having served as the quarterbacks coach at Western Kentucky just six years ago, this was in the making for a long time.
He will have big shoes to fill, though, and expectations will be high right off the bat. Jeff Brohm was 30-10 as Western Kentucky head coach, won two bowl games there, and guided the Hilltoppers to their first and only appearance on the AP top 25 list.
Sanford will not be starting from scratch and trying to build a program from the ground up, so he will need to find success immediately if he hopes to stick around.
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