The NFL takes the week off to get you pumped for the Super Bowl. Time for the annual Coaching Carousel review.
This year's was the strangest yet. Teams weren't waiting until the end of the season - the were firing all throughout the season. Some even started before the season began.
Add in multiple resignations for health reasons and getting canned for drinking on the job - when you add it all up a full 28 teams hired new coaches for 2016.
After kicking back with some Four Roses here's my take on all of them.
This year's was the strangest yet. Teams weren't waiting until the end of the season - the were firing all throughout the season. Some even started before the season began.
Add in multiple resignations for health reasons and getting canned for drinking on the job - when you add it all up a full 28 teams hired new coaches for 2016.
After kicking back with some Four Roses here's my take on all of them.
| TEAM  Ball State  Bowling Green  BYU  East Carolina  Illinois   Georgia   Hawaii   Memphis  Miami (FL)  Minnesota  Missouri    South Carolina   Syracuse  Texas State   Tulane  Central Florida  Louisiana Monroe  Southern Cal  Texas - San Antonio  Virginia  Va Tech | Out with the Old Pete Lembo Dino Babers Bronco Mendenhall Ruffin McNeill Tim Beckman Paul Rhoads Mark Richt Willie Fritz Norm Chow Randy Edsall Justin Fuente Al Golden Jerry Kill Gary Pinkel Dan McCarney Kyle Flood Steve Spurrier Todd Monken Scott Schafer Dennis Franchione Matt Campbell Curtis Johnson George O'Leary Todd Berry Steve Sarkisian Dennis Coker Mike London Frank Beamer | In with the New (and former Position) Mike Neu QB Coach New Orleans Saints Mike Jinks RB Coach Texas Tech Kalani Sitake DC Oregon State Scottie Montgomery OC Duke Bill Cubit OC and Interim HC Illinois Matt Campbell HC Toledo Kirby Smart DC Alabama Tyson Summers DC Colorado State Nick Rolovich OC Nevada DJ Durkin DC Michigan Mike Norvell OC Arizona State Mark Richt HC Georgia Tracy Claeys DC and Interim HC Minnesota Barry Odom DC Missouri Seth Littrel OC North Carolina Chris Ash DC Ohio State Will Muschamp DC Auburn TBD Dino Babers HC Bowling Green Everett Withers HC James Madison Jason Candle OC Toledo Willie Fritz HC Georgia Southern Scott Frost OC Oregon Matt Viator HC McNeese State Clay Helton OC and Interim HC Southern Cal Frank Wilson RB Coach LSU Bronco Mendenhall HC BYU Justin Fuente HC Memphis | Thoughts after a few Bourbons Ball State went outside the box with their hire,. Sure, hiring a former player is routine but a former HC in the Arena league who then went to be a QB coach for Tulane and then the Saints? Not exactly someone with recruiting chops nor a ton of experience in the college ranks. Sounds like a desperation hire after Lembo left them high and dry to be an assistant at Maryland. Ball State is going to struggle. Jinks was hired to keep the offenses rolling at BGSU. Texas Tech knows how to light up the scoreboard. But Jinks has little experience at the college level having spent most of his 20 year career at the high school level. And he his little experience outside of his native Texas. This was a stretch by the Falcons. BYU's pool of candidates is always limited - you have to be a Morman. BYU didn't get their first choice (Navy's Ken Niamatalolo) but Sitake isn't a bad runner up. He knows BYU's recruiting trail from his time as Utah's DC. His record is mixed. In 2011 Utah led the Pac 12 in scoring defense. Last year, at Oregon State, the Beavers finished last. BYU will fade a bit before rebounding. Not sure why ECU decided they needed a new coach. Ruffin was averaging 8 wins a season. Montgomery knows North Carolina both as a player and coach at Duke. He's young (37) has only two years an OC and has never been a head coach. ECU is rolling the dice on this pick. Not sure tehy will come up 7's Arguably the worst hire of the year. But don't blame Cubit - the Illinois athletic department is a mess. Cubit took the Illini to a 5-7 record (bringing his overall record to 56-54) which earned him a 2 year contract. In other words Cubit is a placeholder until a new AD is hired. Expect to see Cubit on the Hot Seat next year. Got to give credit to the Iowa State administration. Ames has been a graveyard for coaches yet they were able to nab a real up and comer. Campbell is only 36 yet has 35 wins under his belt in four years of being a HC. He knows the Midwest recruiting area and has a lunch bucket work ethic that will fit in just fine in Ames The knock on Campbell is he never won a MAC West crown as Northern Illinois reeled of 6 straight. All in all, ISU couldn't have done any better. The Saxy Lady reflected the opinions of the Dawg fan base. She liked Richt - he averaged 10 wins a yeear, was an upstanding citizen and represented Georgia well. But, there was also a felling that Georiga should do better. With all the in state talent why shouldn't Georgia be a lock to win the SEC East consistently? Enter Kirby Smart Smart has been on the radar for HC positions for several years. His defenses at Alabama have been crushing. He knows the SEC recruiting territory and he is young (40) It's being a Georgia alum that made the fit a natural. Now, can the first time HC meet those high expectations in Athens? I'm going to go with yes - at least in the short run. This s a curious one. Summers is a South Georgia boy - born and bred. so he knows the recruiting landscape. But he was a defensive coordiantor and has given no indication as to what kind of offense he will run. Georgia Southern has been running some form of the read option attack from Paul Johnson to Willie Fritz to Paul Monken. The Eagles have an identity - will Summers risk changing it. Could be a game changer and not for the better for Georgia Southern. Well at least Hawaii didn't take its program and throw it into a volcano. There was talk of shutting it down but they decided to hire a new HC anyways. You would think coaching in Hawaii would be an easy hire but lack of resources and trying to get recruits to commit and not just take an official visit makes it a very tough job. So the Rainbow Warriors turned to its former quarterback Nick Rolovich. Nick had success as the OC at Nevada typically leading the Mountain West in scoring. Now can he do the same with less resources at his disposal? Doubt it. Hawaii will give it a couple of years and then throw in the lei This was supposed to be a "Big TIme Hire." Maryland is floating in Under Armour and Bit Ten money. And then - Durkin. Nothing wrong with him. He has been a pretty good DC at Michigan and Florida. It was just that Terp fans were hoping for a brand name coach not the typical young (he's 37) rising coordinator with no HC experience hire. That said, fans wanting a wide open offense were pleased with the hiring of Walt Bell from Arkansas State as the OC It''ll work out Terp fans. Duekin should attract more of the area talent to College Park. Just don't expect to overtake Ohio State, Michigand State and Michigan any time soon. Memphis caught lightning in a bottle with Fuentes. Now they are trying to keep a good thing going by hiring Norvell. Norvell brings a similar high tempo offense from his stint at Arizona State. But his stock took at hit after the Forks went 6-6 last year. Another young hire (he's 34) he knows the area well coming from Central Arkansas and four years at Tulsa. He won't match Fuente's success but should stick around for 3-5 years. This is the most intriguing hire of the year. It started with the Canes looking to hire former players or tainted retreads like Butch Davis When it was all done they ended up with a former player, with 145 wins and two SEC titles. Richt knows how to coach and he can recruit. The only question is whether his laid back style and Christian values fit in with the fast times on South beach. It's going to be fun to see how Miami (FL) and Georgia compare over the next several years. The ACC has a new challenger on their hands. Minnesota went with continuity. They weren't looking for a new HC - Jerry Kills resigned for health reasons. Claeys kept the staff and recruiting together. But the doubts are starting to surface. the Gophers lost 5 of their last six including a bumbling last second loss to Michigan. Expectations were raised under Kill. Not sure if Claeys will meet them. Don't be surprised to him to be on the Hot Sb eat after next year. What else could Miissouri do? They were a bad combication of high expectations, having to follow the "Big Name" on campus yet with a series of troubling issues like a players strike and knuckle head for a QB. Odom led some decent defenses (at least for the SEC East), obvviously knows the recruiting territory and is a young (39) up and comer. But there are serious problems in Columbia and the arms race in the SEC never lets up. Odom is going to struggle and it won't be his fault. Nice job North Texas. Dan McCarney ran the program into a ditch (as expected) making this a difficult hire. Who wants to go up against all those programs in Texas. And yet they were able to land an up and comer like Littrel. He is coming off a season where North Carolina 10th in scoring and 1st in yards per play. He's from the area having played at Oklahoma and coached at Texas Tech so he knows the recruiting trail. Littrel will get the Mean Green back in the CUSA title hunt and then bolt fot a better job. Ash certainly has his work cut out for him. The Athletic department is a mess, the program is in steep decline while playing in the Big Ten East and he has no natural recruiting ties to the area. Ash may be competent but the hill is too steep to climb. The only saving grace is that expectations are low. He'll be a small hero if he can jiust get to a bowl consistently. I doubt it. Ash's success most likely will be found to be the strength of the Buckeye program more than any special talent. The Athletic department will right itself and Ash will be gone in 3-4 years. Muschamps's hiring says all you need to know about the state of the Gamecock program. Thtat's the best they could do? Did they forget about his years iin Flordia? Was the TV off when he was going ape shite on the Auburn sidelines. South Carolina had a two month head start yet decided to take a mulligan in this years coaching carousel. They will be back in 2-3 years. Monken left his program in the lurch when he decided to bolt fo the NFL. No successor has been named yet But Doug Nussmeier's name is being floated. Yup, he was QB at Michigan State for Jeff Smoker and Drew Stanton. His latest gig is OC at Florida. Syracuse's glory days are long gone. They play in a decrepit dome and the recruiting territory is barren. It's a tough spot to land a HC But they outdid themselves in landing Babers. His offenses learned at Baylor and then brought to Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green have been a nightmare for defenses. He rarely sticks around for more than two years but at 54 this may be his final landing spot. Football is going to be fun again in northern New York. Sneaky good hire by the Bobcats. Wihter has had pretty good success wherever he goes. His first HC gig was interim HC for North Carolina after Butch Davis left in a scandal. Despite the turmoil and sanctions the Heels went 7-6 Aftter UNC he was DC at Ohio State and then HC at James Madison. Last year the Dukes were seeded fifth in the Div 1AA playoffs. Perhaps the crowning achievement was getting ESPN Game Day to come to JMU. He knows the recruiting territory from having coached at Texas, Austin Peay, Tulane and Southern Miss. And that's the problem with being an AD in the MAC. If your coach is good you lose him to a Power 5 team and if he sucks you have to fire him Either way your always on the lookout for a new HC. Toledo has decided to take a different route. When the HC leaves promote from within. It worked last time when Tim Beckman left for Illinois so they promoted their OC Matt Campbell. Lets see of it works again. Candle earned his shot as the Rocket's high flying offense were a constant threat in the MAC. Back to back bowl wins helped too including a stunning blow out of Temple this year. Wow, nice hire Tulane! Fritz is a proven winner. He transitioned Georgia Southern from Div 1AA to 1A and prmptly went 14-2 in the Sun Belt. Before that he coached Sam Houston State to back to back Southland titles. He probably won't run the triple option at Tulane. It was an offense he inherited at Georgia Southern but started incoprporatings more spread concepts. He knows the recruiting area. Tulane is going to surpise teams in the American Conference. I've never seen a team disintegrate as fast as UCF did last year. George O'Leary was a great coach who ran solid defense but it all went bye bye in 2015. So the Knights decided to shift gears and lead with the offense. No doubt, Frost's Quack Attack is state of the Art but it will take a few years to get the players to run it. He is new to the area but knows how to recruit. There will be a couple transition years and then he will be off to his alma mater Nebraska. Another one of the better hires. Viator has been successful for a long time in Louisiana. He went 77-33 with four conference titles in 10 years at McNeese State. He also has plenty of coaching experience at Louisiana high schools Viator will find overlooked diamonds in the rough in a fertile recruiting area and coach them up. Watch out for the Warhawks in the Sun Belt. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. USC searched far and wide and found the best coach in the nation was on their sidelines all along? Doubt it. This is the result of a Administration in total disarray. There was no search. No one wants to come until USC fixes the Athletic department. Helton took over after Sarkasian drank himself out of a job. He went 5-3 with narrow wins over Arizona and Colorado and getting blown our by UCLA and Notre Dame. No telling how long Helton will last because of the AD's incompetence but a normal program would have him out in 2 years. Uh Oh its the dreaded recruiting coordinator hire. Those rarely if ever work out. Wilson has no coordinator experience let alone HC experience. Start fading the Road Runners next year. Mendenhall was starting to feel the heat at BYU so he bolted while the getin' was good. After 11 years of good but not great success in Provo, Mendenhall will venture for the first time east of the Mississippi. He is new to the recruiting area and will find out what life is like without 25 year olds coming off a mission trip. I have my doubts. Virginia will be tougher and slightly better. But they won't do much better than consistent middle of the pack bowl games. This was probably the splahiest hire of the year. Sure, Richt and Muschamp may have been bigger names but Fuentes is the hottest name in HC circles. I underrated him when he took over Memphis but he had great success. After Memphis got promoted from the CUSA to the American he went out and won 19 games in tow years. Not only did the Va Tech athletic office get the splashiest hire but the also kept continuity when the convinced long time DC Forster to stick around Marrying Fosrter's defenses with Fuente's offense is giving ACC teams hearburn right now. Va Tech will be back to being a power team in the ACC. |
