Oklahoma’s Brent Venables checked in at No. 8 on the list. Myerberg wrote this about Venables.
It’s a testament to the depth of quality hires in this year’s cycle that Venables comes in eighth among first-year coaches. After a memorable run at Clemson, the former OU assistant returns to Norman more than ready to run the show at one of the elite programs in the country. Look for OU to play with increased energy and activity as the Sooners take a cue from one of the fieriest coaches in the sport. – Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports
Venables is the highest-ranked first-time head coach on Myerberg’s list.
Miami’s Mario Cristobal earned the No. 1 ranking from Myerberg. Lincoln Riley was next at No. 2 and here’s what Myerberg had to say about Riley’s departure from Oklahoma and future at USC.
Riley wasn’t lying when he said after the Sooners’ loss to Oklahoma State in late November that he wouldn’t be the next coach at LSU–instead, he’d be next at USC. He’s an offense-driven coach who will know how to take advantage of the talent outside his back door. And at only 38 years old with five years of pressure-cooker Power Five experience at OU, Riley may be a long-term answer for the Trojans. – Myerberg, USA TODAY Sports
A pair of other head coaches were hired in the Big 12. Myerberg ranked TCU’s Sonny Dykes No. 3 and Texas Tech’s Joey McGuire No. 12 on his list.
Venables has helped Oklahoma retain and sign much of its 2022 recruiting class and continues to add to it. Oklahoma’s 2022 recruiting class currently ranks as the nation’s No. 10 class in both 247Sports and On3’s team rankings.
While Venables isn’t ranked as highly as the man that just jettisoned from Norman, he’ll surely shoot up these types of rankings after coaching several seasons at Oklahoma.
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Which teams hit home runs and which teams got hurt the most in the coaching carousel so far?
The 2021 coaching carousel has been one of the more wild ones in college football history.
We have seen a little bit of everything this offseason. Successful coaches at premier jobs bolted to other major programs, Miami publicly looked to hire Mario Cristobal while the position was still filled and TCU hired Sonny Dykes from rival SMU from right down the road.
This year’s coaching carousel has already almost doubled the number of coaching changes we saw in 2020. There have been 28 coaching changes made with more likely to come after the bowl season.
All these coaches on the move have made a big impact on the transfer portal and recruiting. More and more players have entered the transfer portal to explore their options for the upcoming seasons.
Much of the future of college football will be defined by the decisions made during this offseason. Take a look at some of the winners and losers of this years coaching cycle:
Lashlee served as offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Auburn from 2013-16. Tennessee’s wide receivers coach Kodi Burns served as a graduate assistant at Auburn under Lashlee. Lashlee served as a graduate assistant during the 2009 and 2010 seasons when Burns played for the Tigers.
First-year Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel discussed Burns on his staff in October.
“I actually recruited Kodi out of high school,” Heupel said of Burns. “I had a pretty good background of who he is and what he is about. Then watched his success as a player at multiple positions, in his coaching career as well. We actually hired him at UCF before we came up here to Tennessee.
“He’s smart, he’s competitive. He understands it from multiple perspectives, having played quarterback and wide receiver — extremely smart. He, just like all the guys in that staff room, are a big part of how we game plan and what we do each and every Saturday. He’s got a great future in this business.”
Sonny Dykes has been a head coach for 11 seasons at the FBS level.
He has compiled a 63–59 record at SMU, California and Louisiana Tech.
Dykes launched his collegiate coaching career in 1995 at Navarro Junior College as a running backs coach. At that time, he began to start communicating with Valdosta State head coach Hal Mumme.
“I was coaching at Navarro Junior College in Texas and ran into Hal on the road recruiting,” Dykes said on the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days.” “We got to talking a little bit. He was throwing the ball all over the field at Valdosta State and I was throwing the ball all over the field at Navarro, and we kind of started talking and sharing some ideas.
“I was learning a lot from Hal. He had a job at Valdosta State and tried to hire me and I ended up not going. Of course, a year later he gets the Kentucky job. I called him and I said ‘Hey, I’m ready for that job now’.”
Hal Mumme (Mandatory Credit: Andy Lyons/Allsport)
Dykes spent the 1997 season as a graduate assistant at Kentucky. He left for a position coach opportunity at Northeast Louisiana, overseeing wide receivers. Dykes returned to Kentucky in 1999, serving as Mumme’s wide receivers and special teams coach.
“I was fortunate enough to get on in 1997 as Mike Leach’s GA,” Dykes said. “I just learned so much from Hal and Mike and got a chance to work with Tony Franklin who was running backs coach at the time, who obviously has been very successful as a coordinator. Guy Morriss was the line coach at that time and went on to be the head coach at Baylor. It was a great coaching staff. Chris Hatcher was a GA with me at the time, who has went on to have success as a head coach through the years at different places.
“It was a fun staff and I learned a lot from Mike and Hal and I think the biggest thing I learned from Hal, just be yourself and I think you have to be authentic. He just believed in throwing the football. He just believed if you can throw it, you can catch the ball, and you can stretch the field horizontally and vertically, that you can get the ball in playmakers’ hands and be successful at some programs that traditionally had not been successful.”
Mike Leach (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
Leach was hired as Texas Tech’s head coach in 2000. Dykes served as Leach’s wide receivers coach from 2000-04 and co-offensive coordinator between 2005-06.
“I was fortunate enough to go to Texas Tech with Mike and be part of some outstanding coaching staffs that turned out a lot of head coaches,” Dykes said. “Kliff Kingsbury was our quarterback who is an NFL head coach, Graham Harrell was our quarterback who is the offensive coordinator at Southern Cal, Sonny Cumbie was our quarterback, then you just look at the coaches in Dana Holgorson, Art Briles, Seth Littrell — Ruffin McNeill went on to be a head coach, Lincoln Riley was a student coach at the time.
“It was a great group of coaches and we shared a love for football. Dave Aranda, now the head coach at Baylor, was a graduate assistant at the time. We just loved to talk football, to learn, and the good thing about Mike Leach is that he would listen. He would ask us and would listen. It’s that kind of staff where everybody felt like they could share ideas and just a great place to be as a young coach.”
Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach shakes hand with California Golden Bears head coach Sonny Dykes after a game at Martin Stadium. (Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports)
Dykes also discussed how he started to evolve offensively during his time at Navarro Junior College.
“I was hired by Larry Keck,” he said. “Larry, basically, was a run and shoot guy and had evolved a little bit from some of the run and shoot principles to a little bit of the Dennis Erickson three-step game and started running some wide receiver screens, and a little bit of stuff that Hal was doing. He was doing it in different ways.”
Dykes mentioned that his offensive principles starts with pass protection, understanding blitzes and knowing who to throw hot off of, being simplistic on offense and running plays at a high level.
The entire show with Dykes can be listened to here or below.
DALLAS — Sonny Dykes enters his third season as head coach at SMU.
Dykes began his collegiate coaching career in 1997 as a graduate assistant in the Southeastern Conference at Kentucky.
That season, Tennessee, led by senior quarterback Peyton Manning, defeated Kentucky, 59-31. Hal Mumme was in his first season as Kentucky’s head coach with Mike Leach as offensive coordinator.
Nov 12, 2016; Pullman, WA, USA; Washington State Cougars head coach Mike Leach shakes hand with California Golden Bears head coach Sonny Dykes after a game at Martin Stadium. The Cougars won 56-21. Mandatory Credit: James Snook-USA TODAY Sports
The game showcased 1,329 combined yards, including 999 through the air. Manning totaled 523 passing yards and five touchdowns for UT, while Tim Couch finished with 476 yards through the air and two touchdowns for Kentucky.
After leaving Kentucky, Dykes has served as head coach at Louisiana Tech, California and SMU. He took over at Louisiana Tech when Derek Dooley left to become Tennessee’s head coach in 2010.
Dykes joined the show “Tennessee Two-A-Days” to discuss the 2020 season and his career. The show can be listened to here or below.
