College football: State of Oklahoma has become popular spot for schools searching for head coaches

“They need to get in the other room if they ever want to be a head football coach,” Young tells those coaching hopefuls.

“The other room” is, of course, where the offensive coaches meet. And while Young assures that message is delivered in a semi-joking fashion, the results of recent coaching carousels seriously support Young's claim.

With the shopping season — shopping for head coaches, that is — now underway, there's arguably no better time to be an offensive assistant coach or coordinator, with high-powered attacks producing points, energizing fan bases and creating attractive candidates for head coaching gigs.

And the state of Oklahoma has become a popular spot to find one of those offensive minds looking to take the jump.

Since 1999, Oklahoma has had five offensive coordinators — Kevin Wilson, Kevin Sumlin, Chuck Long, Mark Mangino and Mike Leach — hired as head coaches. At OSU, former offensive coordinators Dana Holgorsen, Larry Fedora and Mike Gundy himself are now head coaches at BCS schools.

And this offseason, current Cowboy offensive coordinator Todd Monken is sure to be a hot candidate after directing an OSU offense that has remained one of the nation's best, despite losing Brandon Weeden and Justin Blackmon to the NFL Draft, needing three starting quarterbacks and a barrage of injuries on that side of the ball.

The motto that defense wins championships is still largely true in college football, as evidenced by the heavy-hitting SEC's six consecutive BCS national titles. But programs making a coaching change aren't often trying to win a championship, at least immediately. They're trying to create a buzz among fans, boosters and recruits, sell tickets and elevate the program from poor or mediocre to good, then maybe great.

That helps explain why 20 of 28 Football Bowl Subdivision hires, including 10 of 14 at BCS schools, following the 2011 season were coaches with an offensive background.