I evaluated prior head coaching experience, familiarity with the school and surrounding recruiting area while also taking into consideration the state of the program and realistically, who they could have hired in their current state of affairs.
1. Mark Richt, Miami, Fl. In 15 seasons at Georgia, Richt went 145-51, had 11 Top 25 finishes and 7 Top 10 finishes but got fired due to his inability to win the “big” game. Meanwhile, in the last 10 years Miami is just 71-56 with only one Top 25 finish and 0 bowl wins. While those “big game” questions remain for Richt, the Hurricanes, in my opinion, hit a home run here getting a former “U” QB who was successful in the tougher SEC conference. Richt is quite familiar with the South Florida recruiting area and with 15 returning starters in 2016, the Hurricanes can make a run for an ACC title in year one under Richt. Grade: A
2. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech. Fuente was in hot demand this off-season and for good reason. He inherited a Memphis team that went 5-31 the previous three seasons and he would lead them to a 26-23 mark in four years including 19-6 his final two. Fuente’s offenses averaged 39 ppg those final two seasons and he made a great move in retaining longtime defensive coordinator Bud Foster. With 15 returning starters in 2016, Fuente can win right away in Blacksburg. Grade: A
3. Lovie Smith, Illinois. Originally, Illinois was graded as a “F” with their retainment of interim coach Bill Cubit. However, new AD Josh Whitman fired Cubit on his first day on the job (March 5) and two days later shocked many by hiring the long-time NFL head coach. Smith was a decent 92-90 in 11 seasons in the NFL and obviously is familiar with the Chicago recruiting area. While Smith hasn’t coached at the college level since 1995, he made a bold hire bringing in Garrick McGee as his offensive coordinator and while the timing might not be ideal for 2016, I think Illinois will be competing for Big Ten West division titles soon. Grade: A-
4. Dino Babers, Syracuse. Babers guided Bowling Green to a MAC championship last season and he also coached Jimmy Garoppolo at Eastern Illinois while making the FCS playoffs in each of his two years there. He is a disciple of Baylor head coach Art Briles and has vast experience as an offensive coordinator at Power 5 schools. His Bowling Green offense averaged 43 ppg last year and his wide-open style should work quite nicely inside the friendly Carrier Dome. Grade: A-
5. Matt Campbell, Iowa State. Campbell was the youngest head coach in the FBS (32) when he took over at Toledo in 2011. He would guide the Rockets to 9 wins in three of his four years there while compiling a solid 35-15 record. While Iowa State is one of the toughest places to win in major college football, Campbell hit the recruiting trail hard on his first two months on the job and finished with one of Iowa State’s best recruiting classes in school history. That’s a promising start. Grade: A-
6. Willie Fritz, Tulane. While this is a great hire for Tulane, we were a bit shocked to see Fritz make this move from Georgia Southern. Fritz isn’t a flashy name, but he has more head coaching experience than any coach on this list winning 69% of his games at three different schools in the last 19 years. He did a terrific job at Georgia Southern guiding the Eagles to a 17-7 record in their first two years at the FBS level and now takes over a Tulane program in a very fertile recruiting area. Grade: A-
7. Everett Withers, Texas State. Withers has been a college coach for 20+ years while also having a couple of stops in the NFL. He’s been a DC at Minnesota, N Carolina and Ohio St. He led the Tar Heels to a 7-6 mark as interim head coach in 2011 and then was 18-7 the last two years at James Madison while leading them to the FCS playoffs each year. This is about as good as it gets for a Sun Belt school. Grade: A-
8. Jay Hopson, Southern Miss. Hopson grew up in Mississippi and played DB for the Rebels. He was the DC here from 2005-2007. In the last 4 years, he was the head coach at Alcorn State and led the Braves to a 32-17 record including back-to-back SWAC championship. He did get hired just a few days before signing day but hauled in a nice class and obviously knows the state very well. Grade: A-
9. Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia. This was one of the more shocking hires of the season with Mendenhall leaving BYU after 11 seasons where he guided the Cougars to a 99-43 record while making a bowl in every season. He has spent nearly his entire career on the West Coast so there isn’t a lot of familiarity with the area but he’s a proven winner and he made a great hire bringing in former East Carolina head coach Ruffin McNeill as an assistant. Grade: B+
10. Matt Viator, Louisiana-Monroe. ULM did a great job bringing in Viator who spent the last 10 seasons at FCS McNeese State. He compiled a solid 78-33 record there including a 10-1 mark last year and went to the playoffs five times. He knows the recruiting region well and should get ULM right back in contention. Grade: B+
11. Kirby Smart, Georgia. There’s no question Smart was the most sought after assistant coach in college football for the past several seasons. His defenses at Alabama were routinely the best in the country and he’s also known as one of the best recruiters (see his incoming Top 10 class here). He played defensive back here so obviously he knows the area. However, he is replacing a coach that averaged 10 wins per season the last 15 years but was still fired. Smart is a first-time head coach in the rugged SEC so there’s a bit of a roll of the dice here. Grade: B+
12. D.J. Durkin, Maryland. Durkin may not have been the flashy name the Terps were originally looking for but he’s an experienced DC and last year his Michigan defense ranked No. 4 in total defense. He’s served under Jim Harbaugh and Urban Meyer and was named national recruiter of the year while at Florida. Durkin hired three ex-head coaches in Scott Shafer (Syracuse), Mike London (Virginia) and Pete Lembo (Ball State) but Shafer did step down for personal reasons. While it’s an uphill climb competing in the same division as Ohio State and Michigan, I think Durkin will have the Terps as a perennial bowl team in the near future. Grade: B+
13. Tracy Claeys, Minnesota. The Golden Gophers made a sensible hire in promoting Claeys to head coach following the retirement of Jerry Kill. Claeys had served on Kill’s staff for 20 years (mostly as DC) and multiple times served as interim head coach due to Kill’s health issues. Claeys has been at Minnesota since 2011 and was 2-4 last year but the Gophers were 5-1 ATS in those games. Claeys did bring in a new OC in Jay Johnson who served as the OC at UL-Lafayette the last 5 years. Grade: B
14. Barry Odom, Missouri. Odom played linebacker here in the mid-90’s and was on the staff from 2003-2011. He was the Memphis DC from 2012-2014 but returned to Columbia last year as DC. His defensive unit limited opponents to just 16 ppg ranking No. 5 in the country. The off-field issues on Missouri’s campus probably didn’t make it an attractive job and the Tigers tried to keep it in the family considering how successful the Pinkel era was here the last 15 years. Grade: B
15. Scott Frost, UCF. Frost was one of the more sought out assistant coaches in the country after serving as the Oregon offensive coordinator the last three years. While he should have no problem on the recruiting trail in the state of Florida, I would have liked to see him hire more experience on his staff. Neither of the two coordinators have OC/DC experience at this level. Grade: B
16. Jason Candle, Toledo. Candle has a very similar resume to his predecessor Matt Campbell who also started his coaching career at Division III powerhouse Mount Union. Candle has been the OC at Toledo the last 4 seasons where his offenses have topped 32 ppg each year and in his coaching debut, Toledo upset a very good Temple team 32-17 in the bowl game. Grade: B
17. Chris Ash, Rutgers. It is safe to say that the entire Rutgers athletic department has been a total mess in recent years but they did a nice job here getting an experienced DC at multiple Power 5 programs. Ash’s last two defenses at Ohio State both finished in the top 20 but this is a very tough job considering they are in the same division as traditional powers Ohio St, Michigan, Michigan St and Penn State and Ash doesn’t have any head coaching experience. Grade: B
18. Mike Norvell, Memphis. While Norvell doesn’t have any head coaching experience, he has been the OC at Arizona State the last four seasons and was a hot commodity among young assistant coaches. His offenses averaged 37.5 ppg and he inherits a Memphis program that already has a solid offensive identity. Grade: B
19. Seth Littrell, North Texas. Littrell recently spent the last two years coaching offense at North Carolina and has also had stops at Indiana, Arizona and Texas Tech while serving as the OC at multiple spots. He’ll run a Texas Tech-style of offense here which suits the Texas recruiting area. Grade: B
20. Frank Wilson, UTSA. Wilson has spent the last 6 years as a recruiting coordinator and running backs coach at LSU. He has been named the national recruiter of the year by several different sources and should be right at home in the talent rich state of Texas. Grade: B
21. Nick Rolovich, Hawaii. Rolovich played quarterback at Hawaii under former coach June Jones and was also the offensive coordinator here for two years before spending the last four years as the OC at Nevada. He certainly understands the culture here but he has no head coaching experience and Hawaii has become an increasingly tough place to win considering their budget and facilities. Grade: B-
22. Will Muschamp, South Carolina. Like USC below, South Carolina gets graded a little harsher than most schools considering the conference they’re in and the last two hires they’ve made (Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier). Muschamp has a great pedigree as a DC at schools like LSU, Auburn and Texas but he only went 28-21 in 4 seasons as a head coach at Florida. If he couldn’t win at a football powerhouse like Florida, he could have his hands full here where the Gamecocks still haven’t won an SEC championship. Grade: C+
23. Kalani Sitake, BYU. Sitake certainly wasn’t BYU’s first choice as Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo was heavily courted by the Cougars. However, Sitake did play here in the 90’s and was a coach in the state of Utah for the better part of a decade. That included being the Utah DC from 2009-2014 before leaving for Oregon St as DC last year. Neither of his coordinators including famous alum Ty Detmer have ever been a coordinator at the college level. Grade: C+
24. Tyson Summers, Georgia Southern. Summers was a DC at Colorado State and Central Florida the last two years but has no prior head coaching experience and has some big shoes to fill (see Fritz at No. 6 on this list). On the bright side, Summers will continue the tradition of a triple-option offense here. Grade: C
25. Scottie Montgomery, East Carolina. East Carolina controversially fired Ruffin McNeil who had a 42–34 record with the Pirates in 6 seasons. Montgomery has only two seasons of coordinator experience (OC at Duke the last two years) and this certainly was a head-scratching hire. Grade: C
26. Mike Neu, Ball State. Neu graduated from Ball State in 1994 as the school’s all-time leading passer. He spent the past two seasons as the quarterback coach for the New Orleans Saints and has been a head coach and coordinator in the AFL. However, he’s never been a college head coach or coordinator. Grade: C
27. Mike Jinks, Bowling Green. Jinks inherits a Bowling Green program that has won two MAC championships in the last three years. While Jinks should be able to continue the up-tempo offense (assistant under Kliff Kingsbury at Texas Tech the last two years), he has never been a coordinator at the college level and doesn’t have much ties to the area. Grade: C-
28. Clay Helton, USC. Is Helton the worst coach on this list? No, but USC is graded on a much different scale than most schools as they have all the tradition and a fertile LA recruiting area. Quite simply, it’s a Top 10 job in the country. Helton was able to go 5-2 last year as the interim but he did lose to Notre Dame and Oregon by double-digits. After he was named full-time head coach, the Trojans were then blown out in the Pac-12 title game and lost their bowl game. Helton redeemed himself with a Top 10 recruiting class but this was an underwhelming hire. Grade: C-