This week, Rivals.com will be releasing its Next Up series looking across Power Five football at 10 coaches or recruiting department staffers who could emerge as the next big-time names in the sport. We start in the Big Ten.
Khalil Ahmad – Penn State
Title: Recruiting Coordinator for Personnel and Recruitment
Overview: Ahmad has only been at Penn State for a short time but one of his focuses in the recruiting department will be New Jersey because of his numerous connections in the state and the Nittany Lions are already doing better there. Penn State has done better in recent weeks since Ahmad came to Happy Valley from Syracuse.
With Vaboue Toure, Jaylen McClain and other targets from Jersey on the Penn State watchlist, Ahmad could be a huge addition. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was in a general manager or director of player personnel role shortly.
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Evan Cooper – Nebraska
Title: Secondary/Defensive Pass Game Coordinator
Overview: Cooper is essentially Matt Rhule’s right-hand man not only as an on-field coach but in recruiting, which makes him even more valuable to the Huskers – and as a potential head man sometime down the road. He has college coaching experience, NFL coaching experience and he does an excellent job of finding hidden gems in recruiting, which could be a tremendous asset if given a lower-level head coaching job to find overlooked players.
He’s respected by his fellow coaches and players love him, plus he can recruit and has NFL experience. That sounds like the complete package.
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Joe Dineen – Purdue
Title: Outside Linebackers Coach
Overview: Dineen has playing experience in the Big 12 where he was a tackling machine at Kansas and then he played briefly in the NFL before starting his coaching career. Stops at SMU and Illinois have led him into a spot as the outside linebackers coach on Purdue first-year coach Ryan Walters’ staff.
If things go really well in West Lafayette, Dineen could easily become a top early target for a higher-profile job given his recruiting ability, NFL experience and youth.
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Brian Hartline – Ohio State
Overview: If there is a model for what an up-and-coming head coach looks like, Hartline would be a perfect example – and it might’ve even gotten close this offseason as it was reported he would interview for the Cincinnati job. Hartline, 36, played at Ohio State, played in the NFL and then moved up in the ranks for the Buckeyes to become offensive coordinator and receivers coach.
His recruiting acumen is also off the charts as Hartline is one of the best recruiters in the country and has landed numerous five-stars in his time in Columbus.
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Aaron Henry – Illinois
Overview: The 34-year-old has not loaded up with five- and four-star prospects but what’s even more impressive is that he helped develop Devon Witherspoon into a probable first-round NFL Draft pick and others during his short time at Illinois.
Henry, who was a high three-star cornerback himself out of Immokalee, Fla., in the 2007 class, has also identified a lot of undervalued three-stars such as Saboor Karriem, Kenari Wilcher and others. He has quickly moved up the coaching ranks as well going from a GA at Arkansas for the 2014 season to a position coach at Rutgers, NC State, Vanderbilt and Illinois before being promoted to defensive coordinator.
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Jesse Minter – Michigan
Title: Defensive Coordinator
Overview: Minter feels like he’s following a similar career path as Boston College coach Jeff Hafley, who started small, built his way up, got NFL coaching experience, returned to a bigger college job and then landed a head coaching job in Chestnut Hill. The 39-year old started as a defensive intern at Notre Dame before stops at Cincinnati, Indiana State and Georgia State. Then Minter went to the Baltimore Ravens before becoming the DC at Vanderbilt and now at Michigan. He interviewed for the same role with the Philadelphia Eagles but has returned to Ann Arbor.
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Matt Simon – Minnesota
Title: Co-Offensive Coordinator / Wide Receivers
Overview: Receivers Corey Davis at Western Michigan and then Rashod Bateman and Tyler Johnson at Minnesota have been some of the best Simon has coached but there is no questioning his ability to develop players at that position and his mind on the offensive side of the ball.
Simon, 37, has already coached for more than a dozen years, has deep roots across the Midwest and could be an appealing head coach option in the coming years.
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Damiere Shaw – Rutgers
Title: Running Backs Coach
Overview: Shaw, 28, was a Temple signee in the 2012 class and since his college days he’s been very busy moving up the coaching ladder and getting outstanding experience. Now the running backs coach at Rutgers, Shaw spent the last two seasons as the director of player development and before that coached with the Carolina Panthers along with stops at Baylor and Temple.
With vast connections through the Northeast and a brief excursion to coaching in the NFL, Shaw is moving up fast on coach Greg Schiano‘s staff.
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Maximus Stienecker – Wisconsin
Title: Director of Player Personnel
Overview: A 2021 Cincinnati graduate, Stienecker is believed to be the youngest director of player personnel in FBS history. Luke Fickell completed an entire overhaul when he got to Madison and with him he brought Stienecker, so the trust level is there and Stienecker is already well-connected throughout the sport. For a story about the next big-time guys in the conference, Stienecker might already be one in his DPP position at Wisconsin.
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LeVar Woods – Iowa
Title: Special Teams Coordinator
Overview: Woods, who at 44 is slightly older than everyone on this list, has the experience and the recruiting chops to have a head coaching opportunity soon. After playing in the NFL, he came back to Iowa City and started at the lowest levels inside the football program before moving up the ranks. He is now special teams coordinator. Woods has also done a lot of work recruiting for the Hawkeyes so everything is in place for him to get an even bigger job soon.
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