I wonder if he would still be married if he stayed retired the first time The 2022 college football season is over with one ecstatic team (Georgia) plenty of happy teams (TCU) and a lot of teams that couldn't stand it one more year. Their guy had to go. So they headed out to the Carnival, bought a ticket on the Carousel and took a spin.
The Coaching Carousel version 2022 may have been down a bit from last year but, wow, did a lot of dominoes fall. It started with Wisconsin giving up on defensive wunderkind and interim head coach Jim Leonhard. Bucky then grabbed Luke Fickell from Cincinnati, who then nabbed Scott Satterfield from Louisville. The Cardinals went and got back alum Jeff Brohm from Purdue.
Another domino train started when Auburn fired Bryan Harsin and hired Hugh Freeze from Liberty. The Flames then poached Jamey Chadwell from Coastal Carolina.
Add in the usual taking high profile coordinators as well as a fired NFL coach, a high school coach, a former ESPN analyst and a former Investment Banker and it was a spicy year.
Here's my take on the 24 moves so far. You never know, the NFL might try a college coach again. If Saban couldn't do it and Rhule was a failure why they think our favorite whipping boy will do any better?
The Coaching Carousel version 2022 may have been down a bit from last year but, wow, did a lot of dominoes fall. It started with Wisconsin giving up on defensive wunderkind and interim head coach Jim Leonhard. Bucky then grabbed Luke Fickell from Cincinnati, who then nabbed Scott Satterfield from Louisville. The Cardinals went and got back alum Jeff Brohm from Purdue.
Another domino train started when Auburn fired Bryan Harsin and hired Hugh Freeze from Liberty. The Flames then poached Jamey Chadwell from Coastal Carolina.
Add in the usual taking high profile coordinators as well as a fired NFL coach, a high school coach, a former ESPN analyst and a former Investment Banker and it was a spicy year.
Here's my take on the 24 moves so far. You never know, the NFL might try a college coach again. If Saban couldn't do it and Rhule was a failure why they think our favorite whipping boy will do any better?
| Team | Out with the Old | In with the New | |
 | Herm Edwards | Kenny Dillingham OC Oregon | No more CEO hires. No more “Playoffs?” quotes and a nice parting gift of an NCAA investigation. The Forks went down the traditional path of hiring an up and coming coordinator. He worked wonders with Bo Nix last year. He’s got a great track record at Memphis, Auburn, Florida State and Oregon. He’s an alum but he’s very young (32) and has only one year of calling plays. There could be a steep learning curve but he has a huge upside. |
 | Bryan Harsin | Hugh Freeze HC Liberty | Harsin never quite fit in. He was on the hot seat from Day 1. Freeze was 39-25 (technically 0-25 given he had to vacate wins) in his five years as the head coach at Ole Miss. He resigned from Ole Miss, under the cloud of "pattern of misconduct" Liberty didn't seem to mind. He went 31-15 there. Auburn won't mind either. They like his 2-3 record versus Saban. Auburn returns to annual rankings, bowl games and a power in the SEC West. |
 | Will Healy | Biff Poggi AHC Michigan | WTF? Has Charlotte given up on football? They are joining the AAC next year but maybe it’s a head fake. Poggi's been a HC but it was at two Baltimore area high schools. He joined scUM as an assistant and near as I can his primary responsibility was to press Harbaugh’s khakis. He’s a 64 former investment banker who goes by “Biff”. This is the worst hire in the history of the Big Book of Guesses. |
 | Jamey Chadwell | Tim Beck OC NC State | Coastal has been an exciting, entertaining, offensive minded program for years. So when they needed a new HC, bringing in an experienced OC made sense. But this didn’t make sense. None of Beck's three Wolfpack offenses finished in the top half of the ACC, and two of this three offenses at Texas finished in the bottom half of the Big 12. Turn out the lights - the party’s over Chant fans. |
 | Luke Fickell | Scott Satterfield HC Louisville | Sometimes you do get a second chance. He came into the season on the hot seat and managed to get into a better situation. Satterfield would like you to forget those last four years at Louisville. He went 25-24 and never took the program to the next level in the ACC. He does want you to remember when he was a superstar at Appalachian State where, after taking the program from the FCS to FBS, went 44-19 over his last four years and won three straight Sun Belt titles. That experience could help Cincinnati transition to the Big 12 but he hasn't had much success at the Power Five level.. The Bearcats streak of good hires comes to an end. |
 | Karl Dorrell | Deion Sanders HC Jackson State | It was the splashiest hire of the year if not the century. The Buffs went from one of the most uninspiring, least energetic programs to the flashiest, most talked about overnight. Sanders went 27-5 at FCS Jackson State, including an undefeated 2022 season. His ability to recruit high schoolers and transfers, develop players and market the program should put the Buffaloes on the map in a hurry. But it comes at a massive risk for Colorado. Their betting on a coach with limited coaching experience who largely won because he brought in top recruits who dominated against a lower level of competition. And at what point does it become all about Coach Prime versus the team, the players and the University. The talent will come but will the player development, game planning, and play calling be there? I have my doubts. |
 | Wille Taggert | Tom Herman Ex HC Texas | FAU has become the juvenile diversionary program for college football. A chance for head coaches to expunge their record and get a second chance. The latest enrollee is Tom Herman. Remember when Herman was the up and coming coach. He was a Broyles Award winner, (2014 at Ohio State) and turned Houston into a top-10 program, winning AAC coach of the year on 2015. But he got pushed out at Texas following the 2020 season, yet still finished with a winning record (32-18) and went 4-0 in bowl games. His track record at Houston and Texas checks out fine. He’s a good coach. He can win here. |
 | Geoff Collins | Brent Key OL Georgia Tech | Georgia Tech liked what they saw from Key. After firing Collins who went 7-19 in ACC play, Key rallied the team and did a nice in season turnaround. He went 4-3 in the ACC including upset wins over #13 North Carolina and #24 Pitt. He's a Georgia Tech alum who knows the challenges that the program faces. With that said, he's a first-time head coach at a Power Five school that has to fight recruiting battles with all of the top-tier teams in the country. Tech will see what he can do, after the emotional kick start from being interim wears off, and he gets to coach a full season and get a few recruiting cycles under his belt. Tech is a tough place to coach, getting to a bowl will be considered a success. He should be able to do that. |
 | Sean Lewis | Kenni Burns RB Minnesota | Burns decided to row his boat to Kent State. He brings significant experience as an assistant under P.J. Fleck at Minnesota and Western Michigan. Kent State is hoping that his seven seasons with Fleck offers a blueprint for how to build and compete in the MAC. He’s a good recruiter, knows the area well, and can develop players but he has no coordinating let alone head coaching experience. The Flashers are going to struggle |
 | Hugh Freeze | Jamey Chadwell HC Coastal Carolina | He’s been one of my favorite coaches. Chadwell put Coastal Carolina into the national spotlight with back-to-back 11-win seasons in 2020 and 2021. His explosive offenses will mesh well with what Hugh Freeze left behind at Liberty. In fact, he’s a version of Freeze without the baggage. My only concern is – is this just a lateral for Chadwell? Liberty fans should be excited as they are off to a great start to their inaugural season in the CUSA. |
 | Scott Satterfield | Jeff Brohm HC Purdue | I never understood the love fest for Brohm. Sure he won the Big Ten West but he backdoored in when Wiscy imploded and Iowa had the worst offense ever. He was just 36-34 overall and 26-25 in the Big Ten. The last time a fan favorite alum quarterback and high profile head coach returned home, Scott Frost was going to put Nebraska back on the map. We all know how that worked out. Expect a similar fate. |
 | Mike Leach | Zach Arnett DC Miss State | I’m going to miss Mike Leach. His life philosophy and one liners were a joy. With his sudden passing, Mississippi State did what they needed to do and take the interim tag off Arnett He earned a shot. He took the Bulldog defense from 62st when he arrived to 13th last year. He is a first-time head coach in the SEC, though. That's a big jump. The other MSU will stay in the lower rung of the SEC West. |
 | Ken Nuimatalolo | Brian Newberry DC Navy | There are two rules to being the head coach at Navy. 1. Beat Army 2. See Rule 1 Niumatalolo went 2-5 versus Army and 2-5 versus Air Force over the last seven years and won four or less games for three straight years. So Navy did what they did the last time they needed a new head coach, they promoted one of their coordinators. Arnett has been Navy's defensive coordinator for four years and was a semifinalist for the Broyles Award in 2019. It’s a service academy so you know what is coming. Run the triple option, limit mistakes, shorten the game and hope to win in the end. Forget about recruiting. You play the hand you are dealt. This is Newberry's first head coaching gig.. The familiarity with the challenges that exist at Navy is important, but inexperience is a concern. The Commander in Chief trophy won't be coming back to Annapolis any time soon. |
 | Scott Frost | Matt Rhule HC Carolina | Another college coach comes back from the NFL with his tail between his legs. Rhule is a master at building college programs. He took Temple from 2-10 to back to back 10 win seasons and an AAV championship. He then took over a dumpster fire at Baylor and went from 1-11 to 11-2 and a Sugar Bowl berth. Some guys are just meant to be college coaches, right Nick? Nebraska is going to be a power in the Big Ten West. The Rhule/Fickell matchups are going to be epic. |
 | Seth Littrell | Eric Morris OC Washington St | Morris has plenty of experience as an assistant coach in the state of Texas, including stints at Houston, Texas Tech and was HC at Incarnate Word. In fact his entire career outside two years at Washington State has been spent in the Lone Star state. His work at Incarnate Word was one of the best in the FCS. He took an 1-11 team to 10-3 in 2021 and a FCS playoff berth. He’s a Mike Leach Air Raid disciple and runs prolific offenses. He knows the recruiting landscape. Excellent hire. |
 | Jeff Brohm | Ryan Walter DC Illinoiss | I had my doubts about the Fat Man at Illinois but perhaps the turnaround was really due to the DC Ryan Walters. In two short years he took a dreadful defense to 2nd in scoring, 1st in takeaways. 1st in interceptions and 3rd overall. His defenses at Mizzou were excellent as well. It’s a cultural shift for Purdue which has been offense first ever since Joe Tiller and basketball on grass. But his coaching ability has been demonstrated. The Big Ten West has upped its game with the hiring of Fickell and Rhule. Walters is Purdue’s best hope to keep pace. |
 | Jeff Scott | Alex Golesh OC Tennessee | What Walters did for the Illini defense, Golesh did for the Tennessee. The Vols finished first in both scoring and total offense last year and total offense. But you wonder how much Golesh has ridden the coattails of Josh Heupel at UCF (2020) and at Tennessee (2021-22) South Florida is taking another chance on an outsider who is unproven as a head coach. But for a team that borders on irrelevancy there is only upside. The Bulls likely wont challenge for the AAC title but they should start getting into bowl games again. |
 | David Shaw | Troy Talyor HC Sacremento St | Taylor comes from Sacramento State where he had success going 30-8 and reaching the FCS title game But his record before that is quite meager. He started out as a high school coach in 1995 then took a long break to be a radio announcer before returning to the high school ranks. He followed QB Jake Browning to Eastern Washington and then to Washington State before taking the HC position at Sacramento State. It's hard enough to be the coach at Stanford given the restrictions that exist. It'll be even more difficult for a first-time FBS coach trying to move on from “Intellectual brutality” to high flying passing game. Stanford has been regressing. It won’t recover any time soon. |
 | Jake Spavital | GJ Kinne HC Incarnate Word | Kinne has worked under some of the best offensive coaches in college including Gus Malzahn, Chad Morris, and Sonny Dykes. He took what Eric Morris started at Incarnate Word and took it up a notch, going 11-1, The Cardinals made it all the way to the national semi-finals , beating new Stanford head coach Troy Taylor in the process. He’s young (just turned 34) but experienced. The Bobcats haven't had a winning season since 2014. They should be able to achieve that goal. |
 | Philip Montgomery | Kevin Wilson OC Ohio State | An ugly choice. Wilson was run out of Indiana after reports of his treatment of players. Going 26-47 with no winning seasons there didn’t help either. For the last six years he’s attempted to resurrect his career as OC at Ohio State. It’s fairly easy to win when you have superior talent. He won’t have that at Tulsa. The Golden Showers will be moving on from Wilson soon. |
 | Bill Clark | Trent Dilfer HC Lipscomb Acad HS | Dilfer checks off two of my boxes as a terrible hire 1) moving up from the high school ranks and 2) former ESPN analyst. They haven’t worked out in the past and won’t here. Dilfer finishes a close second to Poggi as the worst hire of the year, with Wilson nipping at their heels. Too bad, Bill Clark has shown you can win at UAB. |
 | Marcus Arroyo | Barry Odom DC Arkansas | Odom gets another shot as HC. At Missouri he went 25-25, not bad for a Mizzou team playing in the SEC. He’s spent the the last three years as DC at Arkansas where his defense helped the Razorbacks to a 9-4 record. He’s had to develop talent as Missouri and Arkansas are going to get 2nd and 3rd tier SEC recruits. It’s a good fit. Odom is a good coach and stepping down a level will work out for both sides. UNLV hasn't had a winning season since 2013. That streak will end very soon. |
 | Tim Lester | Lance Taylor OC Louisville | Louisville's offense was below average (76th) under Taylor which put HC Satterfield on the hot seat. Amazingly both ended up on their feet. Tim Lester squandered all the momentum generated by PJ Fleck but he had only one losing season. Taylor will get those losing seasons up and running. |
 | Paul Chryst | Luke Fickell HC Cincinnati | The first coach to lead a Group of 5 team to the College Football Playoff, Fickell has been jonesing a Big Ten job for a while now. He spurned State so he’s on my life time manure roster, got tired of waiting for Ohio State and jumped at the opportunity in Madison. He’s not from the Alvarez coaching tree and will open up the Badger attack with the hiring of Air Raid OC Phil Longo from North Carolina. He has that Dantonio ability to coach up 3 stars. If he can take Cincinnati to the CFP he can take Bucky. Likely the best hire of the year. |
