SoxBrewersMarlins also made a good point. The coaching carousel takes into account your alma mater and your playbook. Teams will hire an alumni of their school over another coach that has a slightly better resume. They'll also go with a coach that uses the same type of playbook (i.e., pro style, option, spread). It doesn't need to be that teams exact playbook, just the same type. Here are the following factors that go into getting job offers (I've found these from the developers blog, from other users experiences and from my experience):
- Alma Mater - Being an alumni gives you a better shot at getting offered.
- Playbook - Do you run their style of offense or defense. Sometimes they may decide to switch up their playbooks by hiring a coach that runs something different than what they currently use but that happens less than them simply hiring a coach that matches their style. Make sure your offense and defense match theirs if you want that job.
- Goals - Complete your coaching goals to get a better offer when your contract is up.
- Awards - If your an OC or DC, make sure your players win awards, win the Heisman and/or are selected as All-Americans.
- Championships - If you are able to, win your conference, win bowls and win a National Title.
All of these things contribute to your resume when being looked at by schools that are looking for coaches. Lastly, sometimes a school may fire a coach if you're too good to pass up. This happens if your contract expires and they see that you are available, they'll fire their coach and offer you.
P.S. Complete your contracts. The developers said that they designed the game to benefit coaches who complete their contracts instead of leaving early for another job. I'd only leave without finishing all the years of my contract if my dream job was offered to me. Otherwise, constantly jumping from school to school without completing a contract may hurt you a little when it comes to big time offers. And don't sign contract extensions if you don't plan on staying for the full time of the contract. It doesn't hurt to deny a contract extension and just finish up your current contract to then test the market.