Let's Set Odds: Who Will Replace Brian Kelly as Notre Dame Head Coach?

The college football coaching carousel is becoming better than any reality tv show you can think of.

Lincoln Riley left Oklahoma to accept the head coaching job at USC, and now more breaking news took the college football world by storm on Monday night. It was announced that Brian Kelly would leave Notre Dame to accept the head coaching job at LSU, which was vacant due to moving on from Ed Orgeron just two years after winning the national championship.

Now the next big question is, who is going to replace Kelly as Notre Dame head coach? Unfortunately, it's not something that you can actually bet on, but I decided to make my own odds.

So here they are, my odds to be the next head coach of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Odds to be the Next Notre Dame Head Coach

Ed Orgeron +2000

Coach O is far from a good culture fit for Notre Dame, which is why he has the longest odds on the list at +2000, but it's rare for a national championship winning head coach to be a free agent just two years after leading his team to the promise land.

It's unlikely, but Notre Dame should look at any option that is available to them.

Matt Rhule +1500

Yes, Matt Rhule is currently the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, but there's whispers going around that he plans to return to the college game sooner rather than later. Not only is he frustrated with the front office, but fans are starting to think the Rhule era should come to an end after two years.

If he returns to the college football world, Notre Dame would be a perfect fit. If we knew the Panthers planned on letting him go, his odds would be quite a bit shorter.

Luke Fickell +800

The Notre Dame head coaching job becoming available is a nightmare for fans of the Cincinnati Bearcats. Luke Fickell is on the verge of leading the first ever "Group of Five" team to the College Football Playoff, but one of the only coaching jobs that he would ever leave Cincinnati for just became available. Uh-oh.

Matt Campbell +500

Matt Campbell has done a fantastic coaching job at Iowa State, taking over an abysmal program and turning them into legitimate Big 12 contenders. He currently has a 42-33 record at Iowa State, including two bowl victories and a berth in the conference championship game last season.

There are also reports that he's extremely interested in the open position with Notre Dame.

Urban Meyer +300

We all know that the NFL experiment with Urban Meyer has not gone well, and there's almost no doubt that his time in Jacksonville will come to end when the season concludes. Controversy, selfishness, and one of the worst records in the NFL will do that to a guy.

What we do know, is that the Notre Dame head coaching position has been Meyer's dream job for his entire career. It makes too much sense for him to take that position in his return to college football.

Marcus Freeman +170

The current defensive coordinator for Notre Dame makes the most sense in this scenario. Many believe that he was being trained to be Brian Kelly's eventual replacement, but that time has come sooner than most people expected.

He's familiar with the program, and all signs indicate that the players and fanbase loves him as a coach. It would be the most uncontroversial decision and one that would leave most people feeling satisfied.

Dan Morrison of Slap the Sign wrote about why the Fighting Irish needs to hire Freeman immediately.