Tag: College Football Head Coaches

Expectations For The New Head Coaches: 21 For 2021 College Football Topics, No. 16

21 for 2021 College Football Topics, No. 16: What are the reasonable expectations for the new college football head coaches this season?

21 for 2021 College Football Topics, No. 16: What are the reasonable expectations for the new college football head coaches this season?

New Head College Football Coach Expectations For 2021

There are 17 new college football head coaches going into the 2021 season. That’s not a ton compared to some years, but there are plenty of big jobs being filled with plenty of big names moving around.

21 for 2021 College Football Topics 
21: 21 Thoughts, Wishes, Hopes
20: 5 Best Programs To Not Make CFP
19: 5 Teams That Will Rebound
18: 5 Teams That Will Take A Step Back
17: Every Power 5 Team’s Letdown Game

[mm-video type=playlist id=01f1343a1wt7q817p7 player_id=none image=https://collegefootballnews.com/wp-content/plugins/mm-video/images/playlist-icon.png]

What can fans hope for out of each new coach, and what can they look forward to over the next five seasons? Here’s the breakdown of all the new guys in four categories.

– Total rebuild with no instant expectations
– Lowered expectations … but go bowling
– Go bowling, and maybe do more
– You get a year, sort of. WIN NOW

Coaches in each category listed in alphabetical order

2021 New College Football Head Coaches: Total Rebuild. Do What You Can.

There’s little to no real pressure on these four coaches. All of them are walking into a tough situation with no real expectations other than to start building things up.

Terry Bowden, ULM

Top Lines of the Resumé: Led Auburn to an 11-0 season in 1993 when the program was on probation. Named Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.
– Took Auburn to the 1997 SEC Championship Game (lost) and Akron to the 2017 MAC Championship Game (lost).

Realistic Expectations In Year One: Three wins and a spark for the offense. ULM had the worst record – 0-10 – in college football in 2020. It’s going to be a total overhaul.

Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Take ULM to a winning record within three seasons. 2012 was the only time the program finished better than .500 since 1980. It took three years for Bowden to get Akron to a bowl game.

Clark Lea, Vanderbilt

Top Lines of the Resumé: Notre Dame defensive coordinator for the last three seasons.
– Top assistant and linebacker coach at six places before rising up to the DC job at Notre Dame.

Realistic Expectations In Year One: Create a positive identity and win four games. There are enough winnable games on the slate to at least get to three victories and then hope for an upset. More than that, Vandy has to get nasty on D.

Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Two bowl games and become a more competitive out. It’s always going to be an impossible uphill climb for Vandy in the SEC, but it needs to be more than the league’s free space game.

Lance Leipold, Kansas

Top Lines of the Resumé: Six-time Division III national championship head coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater.
– Two MAC Championship appearances – and three bowl games – in the last three seasons at Buffalo.

Realistic Expectations In Year One: Win three games. That’s not a given considering at Coastal Carolina and at Duke are two of the non-conference games, but asking any coach for three wins isn’t looking for the world – even at Kansas.

Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Get to a bowl game within three years. Kansas isn’t the toughest Power Five head coaching gig, but it’s right there. If Iowa State could become a player in the Big 12 …

Kane Wommack, South Alabama

Top Lines of the Resumé: Indiana Defensive Coordinator over the last two seasons.
– South Alabama Defensive Coordinator for two years, including the 2016 season when the program went bowling.

Realistic Expectations In Year One: Flirt with .500. It’s tough in a nasty Sun Belt with a whole slew of strong teams, but there’s enough talent and experience in place for the new coaching staff to push for six wins.

Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: A Sun Belt Championship appearance and at least two winning seasons. The Sun Belt West isn’t as tough as the East. It’s gettable in the right year.

– Lowered expectations … but go bowling
– Go bowling, and maybe do more
– You get a year, sort of. WIN NOW

NEXT: Lowered Expectations, But Go Bowling

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4

College Football Hot Seat Coach, Coach of the Year Rankings: After Week 7

Which coaches are on the hottest seats, and who leads the Coach of the Year race, after Week 7 of the college football season?

Which coaches are on the hottest seats and under the most pressure – and who leads the Coach of the Year race – after Week 7 of the college football season?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Which ten coaches are going to be feeling it if they don’t win … NOW.

To be positive, which five coaches lead the way in the Coach of the Year race?

The hot seat rankings are done in two ways. First, the five coaches who need a win for job security, and then the five coaches who aren’t in any real danger of being fired but could use a massive win.

[jwplayer IoO8SIHX]

– CFN Coach of the Year Race

Coaches On The Hot Seat: Win, Or Else

5. David Cutcliffe, Duke

2-10. That’s what Duke is in its last ten games, and it’s 9-17 since starting out 4-0 in 2018. The offense has given it up a whopping 22 times so far with three picks in the 31-20 loss to NC State. On the plus side, the Blue Devils get three straight home games against Charlotte, North Carolina and Wake Forest. Win two of those three games, and everything starts to change.

4. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee

Just when it seemed like things might start to bounce back for the Blue Raiders after a win over FIU, pffffffffffft – the air came out of the balloon. North Texas is bad at college football this year, but it just went into Murfreesboro and left with a 52-35 win. The program is now 3-10 in its last 11 games, and two of those wins are against FIU.

3. Dino Babers, Syracuse

Yeah, the Orange don’t have starting quarterback Tommy DeVito around anymore, but that’s partly because the offensive line hasn’t been fixed after years of issues. Losing to a bad Duke team at home by 14 was bad enough, but getting dropkicked by 17 against Liberty is a whole other level of yuck. Oh great … next up is a trip to Clemson.

2. Gus Malzahn, Auburn

You can’t have a column about hot seat coaches without Gus Malzahn after an Auburn loss, but this is different. The offense isn’t clicking like it should, the 2-2 record should be 1-3 after catching a colossal break against Arkansas, and getting whacked around by South Carolina is never going to make the base happy. Lose at Ole Miss next week and this gets really interesting.

1. Matt Viator, ULM

After starting the season 0-5 and going 2-9 in the last 11 games, Viator and the Warhawks have to get hot. Lose at South Alabama this week, and there’s a big, bit problem with no obvious winnable games the rest of the way. Be shocked if ULM isn’t a double-digit underdog in the last seven outings.

– CFN Coach of the Year Race

NEXT: 5 Coaches Who Won’t Get Fired, But Need A Win

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3

College Football Hot Seat Coach Rankings: After Week 6

Which coaches are on the hottest seats and under the most pressure after Week 6 of the college football season?

Which coaches are on the hottest seats and under the most pressure after Week 6 of the college football season?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Which ten coaches are going to be feeling it if they don’t win … NOW.

The hot seat rankings are done in two ways. First, the five coaches who need a win for job security, and then the five coaches who aren’t in any real danger of being fired but could use a rainbow.

[jwplayer IoO8SIHX]

Coaches On The Hot Seat: Win, Or Else

5. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee

He got a very, very much-needed win over FIU for the first victory of the season for the Blue Raiders, but it will be a big problem if there isn’t a run of wins to follow with North Texas, at Rice and Charlotte up next. Anything less than 2-1 won’t be okay.

4. Dino Babers, Syracuse

The Orange are destined for a fourth losing season in five ears under Babers following a 38-24 home loss to a previously winless Duke. With that, Syracuse is 3-7 in its last ten games. Lose at home to Liberty next week, and the seat becomes flaming with a trip to Clemson to follow.

3. Derek Mason, Vanderbilt

October 19th of 2019. that was the last time Vanderbilt won a game over an FBS team, going 1-9 during that stretch and 2-13 in the last 15 games against the big league programs. Being plucky is nice, but the Commodores have scored 26 points int eh first three games with two straight 41-7 blastings.

2. Seth Littrell, North Texas

One of the hot young coaches after two nine-win seasons, North Texas went 4-8 last year and started out 1-3 this season. The defense has been miserable – allowing over 45 points per game – with the program going 1-7 in its last eight games against FBS programs. With Middle Tennessee and UTEP up next on the road, this is when the Mean Green have to get going.

1. Matt Viator, ULM

How bad have the Warhawks been? The’ve been outscored 181-67 in the first five games – all losses – and now the defense is on a run of 11 straight games giving up 31 points or more. In his fifth season, this is going to be a fifth year without a winning record.

NEXT: 5 Coaches Who Won’t Get Fired, But Need A Win

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

College Football Hot Seat Coach Rankings: After Week 4

Which coaches are on the hottest seats and under the most pressure after Week 4 of the college football season?

Which coaches are on the hottest seats and under the most pressure after Week 4 of the college football season?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Which ten coaches are going to be feeling it if they don’t win … NOW.

The hot seat rankings are done in two ways. First, the five coaches who need a win for job security – even in a year when most coaches will get a whole lot of benefits of a whole lot of doubts.

Then come the five coaches who aren’t in any real danger of being fired, but could desperately use something positive.

[jwplayer IoO8SIHX]

Coaches On The Hot Seat: Win, Or Else

5. Will Muschamp, South Carolina

His Gamecocks played well in the loss to Tennessee, and there’s hope for a decent year with just enough talent to be pesky, but now Muschamp has gone 3-10 in his last 13 games against FBS teams. Beat Florida this week, though, and everything changes.

4. Philip Montgomery, Tulsa

It’s not fair, but the wins likely aren’t going to be there. His team isn’t bad – it pushed Oklahoma State in a tough loss two weeks ago, but Tulsa has won nine games since 2016, and now he gets a trip to UCF followed up by a date with Cincinnati. It’ll take a massive upset – like last year’s win over UCF – to avoid a 2-9 run in 11 games.

[lawrence-related id=519975]

3. David Cutcliffe, Duke

Yeah, he’s a legend, but he’s also a phenomenal offensive coach whose offense isn’t doing anything. Turnovers, misfires, and too many mistakes led to third straight double-digit loss on the way to an 0-3 start.

How bad have things been? Duke is 1-8 in the last nine games with seven of those defeats in ugly blowouts. Life doesn’t ease up with Virginia Tech up next.

2. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee

This team should be a whole lot better than 0-3. After the rough start, now the Blue Raiders are 4-13 in their last 17 games, with one of those coming in the 2018 Conference USA Championship.

It’s his 15th year with the program, and he’s done a whole lot to get to 91 wins, but beating WKU next week is everything.

1. Matt Viator, ULM

No, you don’t lose 31-6 at home to UTEP. Ever.

The rest of the Sun Belt is having a whole lot of fun, but ULM is 0-3, got whacked by Texas State, too, and is likely going to be a big underdog in the remaining nine games. Now his career record at ULM is 19-32 in just over five years, going 2-7 in his last nine games with Georgia Southern up next.

NEXT: 5 Coaches Who Won’t Get Fired, But Need A Win

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

College Football Hot Seat Coach Rankings: After Week 3

Which coaches are on the hottest seat and under the most pressure after Week 3 of the college football season?

Which coaches are on the hottest seat and under the most pressure after Week 3 of the college football season?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Which ten coaches are going to be feeling it if they don’t win … NOW.

The hot seat rankings are done in two ways. First, the five coaches who need a win for job security – even in a year when most coaches will get a whole lot of benefits of a whole lot of doubts.

Then come the five coaches who aren’t in any real danger of being fired, but could desperately use something positive.

[jwplayer PkCtjTd4-boEY74VG]

Coaches On The Hot Seat: Win, Or Else

5. Dana Dimel, UTEP

It’s sort of hard to put him on any real hot seat list after winning as many games in the first three dates of this year than he did in his first two seasons combined, but the 2-1 start is a bit of a mirage. The two wins were too tight over Stephen F. Austin and Abilene Christian, and the loss was a blowout to Texas. Dimel won’t be fired anytime soon, but he could really use a win over an FBS team and win on the road against …

4. Matt Viator, ULM

Army has been great in its two games, so there’s some forgiveness for being off in the 37-7 opening win. However, getting boat-raced at home against Texas State 38-17 hurts. Lose at home to UTEP, and ULM could be facing a winless season.

3. Dino Babers, Syracuse

The games against North Carolina and Pitt were on the road, but those two aren’t that amazing. They’re both good, but not good enough to lose to by a combined score of 52-16. The offense is a disaster because the line is a mess, and now Babers – after winning ten games in 2018 and the 2019 season opener – has gone 4-9 in his last 13 games.

2. Rick Stockstill, Middle Tennessee

Chalk up the 42-0 clunker at Army to start the season as an opening weekend misfire when the team didn’t do much of anything right. Two weeks later, everything was supposed to start working at home against Troy, and … 47-14 loss. Stockstill might be a fixture for the program, but now he’s 5-13 in his last 18 games. Lose at UTSA, and there’s a problem.

1. Will Muschamp, South Carolina

The schedule is unforgiving.

South Carolina doesn’t have to play Clemson this season, but seven of the ten teams on the all-SEC schedule went bowling last year, and three of the first five games are on the road. After going 4-8 in 2019, a bad start with losses to Tennessee and at Florida would set up a true hot seat game at Vanderbilt.

NEXT: 5 Coaches Who Won’t Get Fired, But Need A Win

Pages: Page 1, Page 2

College Football Head Coach Rankings By Conference: CFN Preview 2020

Ranking the college football head coaches in each conference before the season starts, where do they all stack up?

Ranking the college football head coaches in each conference before the season starts, where do they all stack up?

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Next we’ll do the full ranking from 1 to 130 of all the head coaches going into the 2020 college football season – whatever it’s going to be and however it’s going to look – but first, here are the galleries with the CFN head coach rankings by conference.

How did we pick who goes where? Let’s just say the criteria was very, very loose.

It’s a combination of the head coaches with the best resumés, and who has the most experience, and who has done a great job at the toughest places, and who has the most longevity, and who you’d want right now to be your head man, and who has more to prove, and …

Again, it’s very loose. In general, those who have consistently done a great job at the toughest places get ranked higher.

Disagree with any of this? Great … if your guy rocks – or struggles – we’ll adapt and adjust the rankings throughout the season.

[jwplayer zttcjcuk]

ACC Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-ACC Team

[vertical-gallery id=516452]

American Athletic Conference Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-AAC Team

[vertical-gallery id=516389]

Big Ten Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-Big Ten Team

[vertical-gallery id=516463]

Big 12 Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-Big 12 Team

[vertical-gallery id=516460]

[lawrence-related id=515331]

Conference USA Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-C-USA Team

[vertical-gallery id=516409]

Independents Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-Independents Team

[vertical-gallery id=516414]

MAC Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-MAC Team

[vertical-gallery id=516396]

Mountain West Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-Mountain West Team

[vertical-gallery id=516447]

[lawrence-related id=516260]

Pac-12 Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-Pac-12 Team

[vertical-gallery id=516494]

SEC Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-SEC Team

[vertical-gallery id=516499]

Sun Belt Preseason Head Coach Rankings

– CFN 2020 Preseason All-Sun Belt Team

[vertical-gallery id=516401]

Photo Credits: (Dabo Swinney, Scott Satterfield) Brian Spurlock; (Tom Herman, Mike Gundy) Rob Ferguson; (PJ Fleck, Paul Chryst) Jesse Johnson; (Jimbo Fisher, Gus Malzahn) John Glaser-USA TODAY Sports

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

Which College Football Head Coaches Were The Best Players?

College Football News Preview 2020: Which current college football head coaches were the best players? 

College Football News Preview 2020: Which current college football head coaches were the best players? 

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @RichCirminiello

20. WR PJ Fleck, Northern Illinois (Minnesota)

Caught a school-record 77 passes for 1,028 yards and six touchdowns as a senior.

19. QB Jeff Brohm, Louisville (Purdue)

Blossomed as a senior, throwing 20 TD passes and leading the Cards to a 9-3 record.

18. FB Frank Solich, Nebraska (Ohio)

Inducted into the Nebraska Football Hall of Fame in 1992. Ran for 1,010 yards and seven scores, averaging 5.2 yards per carry.

[jwplayer 3BzwUceK]

17. QB Rick Stockstill, Florida State (Middle Tennessee)

Named honorable mention All-American with the Seminoles in 1981.

16. NG Luke Fickell, Ohio State (Cincinnati)

Started a school-record 50 straight games along the defensive line in Columbus.

15. S Kirby Smart, Georgia (Georgia)

Earned four letters, rising to the All-SEC First Team as a senior in 1999.

14. LB Kevin Sumlin, Purdue (Arizona)

Four-year starter made 375 tackles and was twice named honorable mention All-Big Ten.

13. QB Jonathan Smith, Oregon State (Oregon State)

Four-year starter who led the Beavers to their best season in school history.

12. QB Jimbo Fisher, Samford (Texas A&M)

Named 1987 Division III Player of the Year, setting a single-season D-III mark with 34 TD passes.

11. QB Tom Arth, John Carroll (Akron)

Set 18 school records and earned unanimous All-American honors as a junior and senior.

10. LB Kyle Whittingham, BYU (Utah)

Made 240 tackles and forced six fumbles in his final two seasons with the Cougars.

9. S Lovie Smith, Tulsa (Illinois)

Started every game for three seasons at Tulsa, making 367 career tackles.

8. QB Tim Lester, Western Michigan (Western Michigan)

Finished his college career with 87 touchdown passes and 11,299 passing yards.

7. QB Josh Heupel, Oklahoma (UCF)

All-American and Heisman Trophy runner-up led the Sooners to a national championship.

6. QB Willie Taggart, WKU (Florida Atlantic)

Two-time finalist for the Walter Payton Award, the I-AA equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

[vertical-gallery id=515300]

5. QB Scott Frost, Nebraska (Nebraska)

Led the Huskers to a perfect season and a share of the national championship in 1997.

4. DB Herm Edwards, Cal/San Diego State (Arizona State)

Intercepted 33 passes during a nine-year career with the Philadelphia Eagles.

3. QB Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State (Oklahoma State)

Broke the Oklahoma State and Big 8 passing records with 7,997 yards.

2. QB Jim Harbaugh, Michigan (Michigan)

Left Ann Arbor as Michigan’s career passing yards leader before playing 15 years in the NFL.

1. LB Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern (Northwestern)

In the College Football Hall of Fame, he was a two-time consensus All-American and the recipient of the Bednarik Award in 1995 and 1996.

[protected-iframe id=”361699434b6d70baf15f631ed2408ac1-97672683-92922408″ info=”https://www.googletagservices.com/tag/js/gpt.js” ]

Texas listed among top head coaching positions in college football

The location, facilities and television network make Texas one of the most attractive head coaching positions in all of college football.

The University of Texas is one of the most attractive programs in the nation in regards to college football. Continue reading “Texas listed among top head coaching positions in college football”

Hot Seat Coach Rankings For Every Power Five Team: 20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 14

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 14: the coaching hot seat rankings for all of the Power Five teams. 

[jwplayer Bp3WJh0X]

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 14: the coaching hot seat rankings for all of the Power Five teams. 

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Being on a hot seat shouldn’t just be about whether or not a guy needs to win a football game or five to keep his job. That’s obviously the biggest part of the staying hired equation, but it’s about pressure, too.

Sometimes, a relatively safe made man has all the pressure in the world on his shoulders to beat the arch-rival, and sometimes a college football head coach just has to win big, or else.

The rankings go from who’s on the coolest of seats in each Power Five conference to who had better come up with a big season to survive.

ACC Spring Coach Hot Seat Rankings

14. Dabo Swinney, Clemson

Yeah, the pressure is on to win the national title or the season is a disappointment, but Swinney has coached in four national championship games in five years. He’s at Clemson for life if it’ll have him.
Record With Team: 130-31
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 14
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 14
– Full Schedule Analysis

13. Bronco Mendenhall, Virginia

The guy just beat Virginia Tech and took the Cavaliers to the ACC Championship and the Orange Bowl. It’s Virginia, the pressure isn’t that intense – he can have a few rough seasons and still be more than comfortable.
Record With Team: 25-27
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 12
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 8
– Full Schedule Analysis

12. Jeff Hafley, Boston College

A total disaster of a year would cause a little grumbling, but get to six wins and everything will be okay in Year One. Even if the record is awful, it’ll be seen as a step back to possibly take a big leap forward.
Record With Team: 0-0
– Full Schedule Analysis

[lawrence-related id=507346]

11. Scott Satterfield, Louisville

Everyone likes him, the overall attitude has changed around the program, and the talent is starting to come in. There’s still a rebuilding process to be done, but he showed last season what he can do with the Cardinals.
Record With Team: 8-5
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 13
– Full Schedule Analysis

10. Dave Clawson, Wake Forest

It’s Wake freaking Forest, and Clawson has managed to take it to four straight bowl games and four straight winning seasons. There might be ebbs and flows to the record throughout the years, but he has already proven what he can do.
Record With Team: 36-40
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 8
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 10
– Full Schedule Analysis

9. Mack Brown, North Carolina

It was a positive first season to pull the Tar Heels out of the nosedive, but it has to be a beginning and not a culmination. The recruiting class was great, everything appears to be pointing up, but … win more.
Record With Team: 7-6
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 3
– Full Schedule Analysis

8. Mike Norvell, Florida State

He’ll get a very, very, very short leash. He got Memphis over the hump, and the early returns are all positive, but he has yet to win a bowl game and he’s not the A-list of A-list possible hires. Brand name doesn’t always matter – ask UCLA how the Chip Kelly era is going – but it’s Florida State. A losing season will set off panic sirens.
Record With Team: 0-0
– Full Schedule Analysis

[lawrence-related id=507096]

7. David Cutcliffe, Duke

A third losing season in five years wouldn’t be a plus, but it’s Duke, and it’s Cutcliffe, so it would take something awful for this to be over in a bad way. However, after 12 years, the “go another direction” thing could come out if the campaign is a total disaster.
Record With Team: 72-79
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 10
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 7
– Full Schedule Analysis

6. Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech

It’s still going to take a little while to completely turn this whole thing around – a brutal schedule won’t help – but grade him a bit on a curve. That’s fine, but there had better be signs that something big is coming in 2021 no matter what happens record-wise in 2020.
Record With Team: 3-9
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 11
– Full Schedule Analysis

5. Justin Fuente, Virginia Tech

Last season was stronger after a losing 2018 season, but he has lost three straight bowl games and there can’t be another loss to Virginia. At the very least, it would be a big plus if the Hokies were in the mix for the Coastal title until the end.
Record With Team: 33-20
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 4
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 13
– Full Schedule Analysis

4. Pat Narduzzi, Pitt

The pressure always seems to be on Narduzzi to do more, and then he goes out and wins 7-to-8 games. However, after five years, one total clunker – and a second losing season in three years – would be a big problem
Record With Team: 36-29
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 2
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 1
– Full Schedule Analysis

[lawrence-related id=507021]

3. Dino Babers, Syracuse

The ten-win season of two years ago seems way back in the rearview mirror. With three losing seasons in his four years, last season has to be more of the aberration than 2018.
Record With Team: 23-26
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 9
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 2
– Full Schedule Analysis

2. Dave Doeren, NC State

The opening line of last year’s blurb on Doeren: “There’s a problem if the Wolfpack come up with a 4-8 run.” State went 4-8. That was okay once, but it can’t happen again. The team wasn’t even competitive over the second half of the season.
Record With Team: 48-41
2019 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 7
2018 ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 5
– Full Schedule Analysis

1. Manny Diaz, Miami

Miami fans are already a fickle lot as they expect greatness – and are right to do so – but losing to FIU, losing to a bad Duke team, and getting shutout by a Group of Five team in a lower-tier bowl on the way to a losing season is never going to be okay in Coral Gables.
Record With Team: 6-7
Last Season ACC Spring Hot Seat Ranking: 6
– Full Schedule Analysis

NEXT: Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12, SEC

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5

5 Coaches Who’ll Be Much Better In Year Two: 20 For 2020 College Football Topics, No. 15

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 15: The five second year head coaches who should have a much stronger Year Two.

[jwplayer CTilIb5n]

20 for 2020 College Football Topics, No. 15: The five second year head coaches who should have a much stronger Year Two.

– Contact/Follow @ColFootballNews & @PeteFiutak

Well that didn’t go so well.

25 college football head coaches are going into their second seasons at the helm, and now is where the production is supposed to start to kick in.

There’s usually a reason as head coach is taking over a program, and most of the time it’s because the last guy got canned. So there’s a grace period because of all the work there is to do, but there’s usually not enough of one.

Even so, Year Two is when the turnarounds are supposed to come. Unfortunately, unlike our piece last season on the 5 Instant Impact New Head Coaches – which turned out to be close to the pin – the 5 Year Two Coaches Who’ll Be Much, Much Better really, really didn’t work.

And why?

Chad Morris at Arkansas … oops. Willie Taggart at Florida State … dropped too soon, but fired. And it goes on from there, so this time around these five have to be right.

Which five got through a slew of first year problems and are about to blow up?

The five coaches about to make the biggest instant impact in their second seasons are …

5. Tom Arth, Akron

There’s nowhere to go but up.

Win one game, and it’s already going to be an improved season. Win three, and it’ll be a huge step forward. Go bowling, and Tom Arth is your coach of the year.

Akron was easily the worst team in college football last season.

It was the only team that failed to win a game. It was dead last in the nation in total offense, couldn’t generate a lick of production on the defensive front, and it got worse as the year went on scoring six points or fewer in five of the last seven games.

[lawrence-related id=508585]

But to give Arth a little bit of credit, he had plenty of work to do after taking over a team team that closed out 2018 on a five-game losing streak.

The 38-year-old worked his way through D-III John Carroll – his alma mater, which he took to three D-III playoff appearances – before taking on the Chattanooga gig. He went 9-13 with the Mocs, but that was enough to get him the Akron job.

So what are things possibly going to be better in Year Two? Experience has to count for something.

With the season slipping away, Akron went young to get the time logged in. Now, if all goes according to plan, ten starters will be back on O, six should return on D, and there’s hope to get off to a hot start with Youngstown State, New Mexico State, Clemson …

Starting 2-0 is a possibility, with home games against UMass and Bowling Green to potentially crank up a few wins.

0-12 to 4-8?

NEXT: The adjustment continues …

Pages: Page 1, Page 2, Page 3, Page 4, Page 5