3 reasons your football team should hire Wall Street CEO coach Joe Moglia

It’s not often that a power-conference school should hire a coach straight from FCS, but Coastal Carolina’s Joe Moglia isn’t most coaches.

The former CEO of TD Ameritrade, Moglia stepped back into coaching in 2009 as a volunteer assistant at Nebraska. In 2011, he became the head coach of the United Football League’s Omaha Nighthawks, and in 2012, he got his first job as a college head coach at Coastal Carolina.

Moglia led the Chanticleers to an 8-5 record and top 25 finish in 2012, then 12-3 the next year and 12-2 this year, with a Big South Conference title each year. His team just nearly upset juggernaut North Dakota State on the road in the FCS playoffs and will likely end up with its second straight top-10 finish. He was the FCS’ Coach of the Year runner-up this year.

From a record standpoint, that’s probably not enough to get a top FBS job. But given Moglia’s other qualities, there’s reason to believe he could be a solid hire for someone thinking outside the box.

Football recruiting is not all about academics. However, strong academic schools have been able to beat out blue blood programs for recruits. The talk of “life beyond football” resonates with a lot of kids, and if you give Moglia a good football school and a good academic school — hey, Michigan — combined with his personal track record, he could have a really good pitch.

And he could recruit boosters, who like having successful people leading their programs.

Moglia hasn’t just been an average coach in his three years at Coastal Carolina. He’s taken the program to the FCS elite.

He’s proven himself among his fellow coaches, and he had players in the top 10 nationally in passing yards and rushing yards. He’s clearly a smart guy, and his team’s spread offense is inventive and effective. And he wrote a book on coaching during his first run as a coach, at high schools and the I-AA level from 1968 to 1983.

But Moglia isn’t an FBS outsider. He’s learned from Bo Pelini and says he still gets advice from Tom Osborne.

Is your school in a rut of hiring moderate coaches from lesser FBS jobs? Or hiring coordinators from big schools? Those are the hires you’re expected to make, and they’re safe, because it’s hard to get angry about them. College coaching circles are inspired by groupthink.

But how much does hiring another MAC coach really fire up fans and recruits? When you’re reaching into those circles, it’s often better to think outside the box. Moglia might be an unorthodox hire, but he has the potential to bring a lot of things to a job that other coaches can’t offer.