College Wire Regional Editor Patrick Conn ranks the year one head coaches under the most pressure to perform.
The start of the college football season is just weeks away. The festivities will start on Aug. 27 for a handful of teams. The LSU Tigers will have to wait until Sept. 5 when they tangle with the Florida State Seminoles in the Big Easy.
The start of the 2022 campaign also rings in a new era of Tigers football with Brian Kelly taking over the program. The former Notre Dame coach became the fourth head coach of the program since 2000. The previous three all won national championships. Can Kelly finally get his hands on the elusive trophy? Only time will tell.
This past offseason was a wild one in terms of the coaching carousel. With that being said, we ranked the new head coaches in the Power Five who face the most pressure to perform in year one.
Not a shock to anyone but Ohio State’s Ryan Day is ranked the No. 1 head coach in the Big Ten, but who is second?
It was an odd situation last year for the Big Ten and the Ohio State Buckeyes. For the first time since 2016, OSU wasn’t the one representing the Big Ten East in the championship game.
Instead, it was the Michigan Wolverines, who finally exercised their demons under head coach Jim Harbaugh. Still, would that be enough to knock Day off the top spot in this year’s Big Ten preseason head coach rankings?
According to this list from CBS Sports,[autotag] Ryan Day[/autotag] takes the top spot once again as the No. 6 overall head coach in FBS and No. 1 in the Big Ten. Looks like it will take more than a flash in the pan season from that team up north to knock Day off his perch.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll has proven he is a winner in the Emerald City, taking his team to the Super Bowl twice during his time in Seattle. But how does Carroll stack up compared to other head coaches around the league?
“He’s not so unlike Mike Vrabel in terms of style – tough and old-school, but in a player-friendly way,” Benjamin writes. “He’s just done it longer and already reached the mountaintop. You worry about stubbornness here, especially as he looks to prove his run-first approach doesn’t need Russell Wilson to work.”
Ranking all 32 NFL head coaches heading into 2022 season, plus the latest on Deshaun Watson's hearing
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“But the guy’s been around for so long, with such a sway on team culture, that even a holey roster has yet to totally torpedo his record,” Benjamin continues. “The disappointing 2021 finish was his first losing season in 10 years.”
2022 will be a huge test for Carroll and his staff in the post-Wilson/Wagner era.
Seahawks coach Pete Carroll may have an outdated philosophy on offense, but he’s still one of the best in the sport at what he does. Seattle has had more success over the last 12 years than any other team in the NFC and it’s no accident that Carroll has been right in the middle of it.
Heading into the 2022 season, Carroll has been ranked the fifth-best coach in the NFL by Pro Football Focus, trailing only Bill Belichick, John Harbaugh, Andy Reid and for some reason Kliff Kingsbury. PFF projects Carroll as having a record of 9.9 wins and 7.1 losses with an average roster.
“While Carrollâs tenure in Seattle will certainly be defined by the Legion of Boom years, it is worth appreciating that the Seahawks have managed to field solid defenses for the better part of a decade. His tenure will also be defined by the âLet Russ Cookâ movement, which advocated for giving now-Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson more opportunities to shine amid Carroll’s noted reliance on the running game.”
Mike Tomlin should probably be where Kingsbury is, but that’s an article for another day.
Carroll remains one of the top defensive minds in the game and these Seahawks have only had a losing record once in the last 10 years. If he can find his new franchise quarterback sooner rather than later there’s no reason they can’t be a championship contender again under his direction.
A look at where Lincoln Riley ranks among his FBS peers based on his playing career.
We know where Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley ranks among his peers from a coaching perspective.
Based on most head coach ranking lists, Riley finds himself as the No. 3 head coach in the country behind Alabama’s Nick Saban and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney. It makes sense as these three coaches have the most College Football Playoff appearances since they went to this model and abolished the BCS system.
However, some head coaches were top players before making the jump to the coaching ranks. Running backs coach Demarco Murray was a five-star recruit that went on to play in the NFL, where he became the league’s leading rusher in 2014 with the Dallas Cowboys.
Some other coaches don’t have that same level of experience. Take Oklahoma Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley for example, he didn’t play at the collegiate level but is still viewed as a top coach in the country.
Prior to his coaching days, Lincoln Riley played quarterback in Muleshoe, Texas. Not far from Lubbock and Texas Tech University where he would ultimately walk on to the football program. He spent years as an assistant under former OU coordinator Mike Leach. Riley worked his way up to offensive coordinator at East Carolina before landing in Norman.
Riley’s Ranking: No. 119
What ESPN Says…
Riley played quarterback at Muleshoe High School in Texas, and helped the team to the state semifinals as a senior despite an injured shoulder. He walked on at quarterback for Texas Tech but became a student assistant there for Mike Leach.
At least Riley wasn’t dead last. The coach who gave him his first opportunity, Mike Leach came in at No. 129 overall.
Before mastering the pass-heavy Air Raid offense, Leach played a sport in which only backward passes are permitted. He played rugby at BYU after a high school football career in Wyoming as a backup.
Former tight end’s coach and now South Carolina head coach, Shane Beamer ranked No. 101.
Beamer turned down a partial scholarship at Charleston Southern to walk on at Virginia Tech, where his father Frank was a Hall of Fame coach. Shane played wide receiver and long snapper on five bowl teams and three Big East championship teams. He snapped for the 1999 Hokies team that played for the national title.
Finally, we have former Oklahoma quarterback and current Tennesee head coach Josh Heupel near the top of the rankings at No. 3 overall.
Despite earning South Dakota’s high school player of the year honors, Heupel’s college career began quietly at Weber State, before transferring to Snow College in Utah. His next move to Oklahoma set up a historic run, as he led the Sooners to a national title in 2000. Heupel won the Walter Camp Award, was named AP Player of the Year and finished second for the Heisman Trophy. He went 20-5 in two seasons as OU’s starter, passing for 7,456 yards and 53 touchdowns.
Steve Sarkisian is considered one of the top head coaching hires of the offseason.
Texas was in the market for a new head coach after the Tom Herman era came to abrupt end after four years of mediocrity. You could only stomach the phrase “winning is hard” for so long.
The Longhorns did not lack the talent as they signed multiple top three recruiting classes in the nation under Herman. It was the player development aspect that was severely lacking over the last several seasons. On top of that, Texas looked extremely undisciplined on the field at times.
First-year head coach Steve Sarkisian is looking to bring a winning culture to Austin after stints with the Atlanta Falcons and Alabama Crimson Tide. On January 2, 2021 the Longhorns hired Sarkisian and he’s been “All Gas No Brakes” since arriving to the Forty Acres.
Where does Sarkisian land in terms of each new head coach that was hired throughout the offseason? Athlon Sports recently ranked all of college football’s newest coaches and Sarkisian is very high on the list. One other Big 12 hire was included as well.
Take a look at Athlon Sports’ top 10 head coaching hires this year:
Where 247Sports ranked Lincoln Riley among his peers.
Going into Year 5 of the Lincoln Riley era, the Oklahoma Sooners are looking for a big year from the offensive guru. After four seasons, he has compiled a 45-8 record.
The football gods shined on the Sooners following the abrupt resignation of Bob Stoops prior to the 2017 season, sending down the perfect fit for the program in Riley. Armed with senior quarterback Baker Mayfield, Riley unexpectedly directed the ship to a Big 12 title and the first of three straight trips to the College Football Playoff. He’s 45-8 as a head coach in Norman with an offense that has produced two Heisman winners, a Heisman runner-up and record-setting team marks. Last season marked the first time in four years Oklahoma did not play in a semifinal game. The NFL wants him badly, but Oklahoma is not letting that happen. Stoops averaged a jaw-dropping 10.5 wins per season from 1999-2016 and to think Riley could better that number over extended years is really impressive. He was one of five head coaches named to our lifetime contracts list ahead of the 2019 campaign.
The native of West Texas found himself among the three best head coaches in college football along with Dabo Swinney (No. 2) and Nick Saban (No. 1). The only thing those two have that Riley doesn’t is longevity at their position and a national championship. After four years at the helm, he has the Oklahoma Sooners close but can he pull it off?
The closest Big 12 coach on the ranking to Lincoln Riley would be Iowa State’s Matt Campbell at No. 8. According to this report, Campbell recently turned down a big contract to remain with the Cyclones. For now, Campbell will try and close the gap on Riley and the Oklahoma Sooners.
Other notable names on the list including the brother of Bob Stoops, Mark coming in at No. 16 with Kentucky. Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy joined the list at No. 19 and Gary Patterson of TCU ranked at No. 21. Former offensive coordinator Mike Leach finished the ranking at No. 25.
CBS Sports ranks Texas’ Steve Sarkisian in the bottom third of Power Five coaches this year.
Each year, CBS Sports ranks every head coach in the Power Five.
The rankings are generated by a panel of college football writers from CBS Sports and 247Sports who submit ballots and vote. Some value accomplishments on the field, while others heavily weigh the recruiting proficiency or possibility of future success.
Texas’ first-year head coach Steve Sarkisian will no doubt bring a brilliant offensive scheme to Austin and has learned from Alabama head coach Nick Saban over the last few years. Coupled with the fact that he hired a strong support staff, it’s enough to get the fan base excited for the future of the program.
However, some don’t believe that Sarkisian will find immediate success with Texas. CBS Sports lists Sarkisian at No. 46 overall in the Power Five head coach rankings for the 2021 season.
So, how about this spot for Sark? He was 46-35 in seven seasons at Washington and USC, and he hasn’t been a head coach since 2015, but he starts out in our rankings two spots ahead of the man who replaced him at USC. And you can argue that Sark was more underwhelming at USC than Helton has been! Of course, it’s easy to understand why given he’s coming off an extremely successful stint as Alabama’s offensive coordinator and was a surprise hire.
Sarkisian was the eighth Big 12 coach listed just ahead of Texas Tech’s Matt Wells and Baylor’s Dave Aranda. Oklahoma’s Lincoln Riley was understandably the highest ranked coach in the conference at No. 3 overall, while Iowa State’s Matt Campbell, Oklahoma State’s Mike Gundy and TCU’s Gary Patterson each landed within the top 25.
