Trent Johnson has been fired as head coach at TCU after four seasons with the program.
Johnson went 50-79 in those four seasons, winning just eight Big 12 games in four years. He had previously spent 13 seasons as a head coach at Nevada, Stanford and LSU as a head coach, getting to the NCAA tournament just five times in his 16 years.
Johnson had two seasons left on the deal he signed in 2012.
There are some intriguing candidates for the TCU job, which is a better gig than it’s going to get credit for. Dallas is tricky to recruit, but there is a ton of talent within driving distance of their campus. Stephen F. Austin’s Brad Underwood is a name you’re going to hear a lot, as is native Texan Buzz Williams. Rick Stansbury is a former head coach and currently an assistant at Texas A&M that helped the Aggies build a pipeline for in-state kids. Fresno State’s Rodney Terry and Pitt’s Jamie Dixon -- a TCU alum -- are also intriguing candidates.
And then there is Billy Gillispie, who built programs at UTEP and Texas A&M and who is currently coaching in the JuCo ranks. I seriously doubt he’ll be able to get the job there -- it would take an AD with some cajones who isn’t worried about losing his job when it goes south -- but I also seriously doubt he’d do anything other than win there.