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Report Card:
Offseason Coaching Changes
By Nick Leach
With the 2010 recruiting cycle inching towards the finish line, here at
ThaRinger we feel it’s a better time to more clearly evaluate the off-season’s
coaching changes with the recently gained recruiting hindsight. There were 22
head coaching changes and not all of those changes were created equally. We saw
a variety of different strategies taken on by administrations, from up and
coming FCS coaches to established coordinators to family legacies, there was no
shortage of debate on who came out the winners or the losers. Needless to say,
some did better than others and it’s always fun to see some blind squirrels
stumble onto a nut (while some others continued to be lost, a hem, Memphis).
Without further ado, let’s investigate who is better set up for future success
and who might be finding themselves back on this list in the near future.
Akron (J.D. Brookhart to Rob Ianello): Rob grew his reputation with
strong work as the recruiting coordinator at Notre Dame and has an impressive
track record at some of the largest programs (Alabama and Wisconsin). He was
able to land a major coup in Ohio RB Erick Howard and held onto underrated
Cleveland CB Seth Cunningham, and justly deserves credit for instantly focusing
on holding the class together, but with no experience working for a mid-major
program you have to wonder how his recruiting prowess will translate to the MAC.
Grade: B-, so far he’s off to a good start.
Buffalo (Turner Gill to Jeff Quinn): First off one has to realize Buffalo
was not going to be able to replicate the coaching standard success they had
last time by selecting Turner Gill. Anything after him was going to be a step
down, and Jeff Quinn is indeed that. Jeff has never been a head coach before and
he’ll have to learn how to swim quickly or else it won’t take long for Buffalo
to sink back to the bottom of the MAC.
Grade: C-, underwhelming choice but they didn’t have much to work with.
Central Michigan (Butch Jones to Dan Enos): A real head scratcher of a
choice for a program that much like Cincinnati has done a great job of spotting
coaching talent. They stayed in-state with their selection but this was one of
the more surprising choices of the year.
Grade: D+, seemed to be better options out there but they’ve proved everyone
wrong before.
Cincinnati (Brian Kelly to Butch Jones): One of the best hires of this
off-season, Cincinnati has earned themselves a reputation of hiring some of the
best rising coaching talent. Butch has shown success at every level he’s been
at, and at age 42 he has the wonderful blend of experience and energy. Did an
admirable job holding onto his recruits as well.
Grade: A, it’ll be hard to match BK but this is one of the guys that can do it.
East Carolina (Skip Holtz to Ruffin McNeill): Ruffin’s hard work and time
spent in the coaching grind finally paid off with an underrated job at ECU.
Certainly not shy with experience, he will be able to uphold the defensive post
Skip left, but the other side of the ball and recruiting remains the lurking
questions for him.
Grace: B-, a safe selection but lacks a high ceiling.
Florida State (Bobby Bowden to Jimbo Fisher): I would say it’s hard to
replace a college football legend but Jimbo is sure making it appear easy. With
a confident reshuffling of the coaching staff and an emphasis on recruiting he
hit the trail hard and has seen amazing results. The results on the field are
yet to be determined, but the ones off of it are the equivalent of a blow out
win against the rivals (doesn’t hurt he has Joyner, Jones, Green, Luc, Dent,
etc.,etc.,…..)
Grade: A+, sometimes the most obvious choice is the best one.
Kansas (Mark Mangino to Turner Gill): After a very tempestuous couple of
weeks investigation Mark (unjustly?) found himself packing and making way to
Turner Gill’s return to the Big 12. He’s one of the few coaches that can make
the move to Kansas and feel like it’s a recruiting heaven compared to where he
once was.
Grade: A-, he’s proven he can do a lot with a little.
Kentucky (Rich Brooks to Joker Phillips): The Kentucky job wreaked of the
same situation FSU found themselves in. Rich did an extremely admirable job
while there and allowed for the smooth transition to head coach in waiting,
Joker Phillips. He finished strong with this years’ class and already has
himself set up well next year.
Grade: B, should be ready to pick up where Brooks left off.
Louisville (Steve Kragthorpe to Charlie Strong): Just about anyone would
have been an upgrade over the Kragthorpe debacle who looked like a fish out of
water as head coach. Louisville overachieved by hooking one of the hottest names
out there who is already showing himself to be able to live up to the hype
getting big talent such as Dominique Brown, Deon Rogers, B.J. Butler and
Michaelee Harris. The Big East has taken notice and the next conference power
seems to be ready to take off.
Grade: A+, the last couple months almost makes the last 3 years worth
it….almost.
Louisiana-Monroe (Charlie Weatherbie to Todd Berry): A small school with
a passionate fan base, Berry returns to where he once left. Todd brings head
coaching experience from Army and on the recruiting trail he has hit Texas
harder than just about anyone.
Grade: C-, UNLV didn’t mind losing him but he knows the area well (I had to find
a positive somewhere, right?).
Louisiana Tech (Derek Dooley to Sonny Dykes): After a letdown of a season
that began with high expectations, they saw Derek jump ship and welcomed the
spread focused Sonny Dykes. The roster strength matches the coaches and the
administration moved swiftly in a late unexpected situation.
Grade: B+, did about as well as they could.
Marshall (Mark Snyder to John “Doc” Holliday): This is another job that
parallels that of Louisville. Doc has some extremely strong in-roads to Florida
and he flexed those muscles early on with a get like QB Eddie Sullivan who had
multiple BCS offers.
Grade: B+, great recruiter who has earned his shot.
Memphis (Tommy West to Larry Porter): Larry has earned his stripes as a
strong recruiter for LSU and he’s going to need to use all of those to have
success at Memphis. He certainly has brought in a lot of bodies on signing day,
but so far it appears to be more quantity than quality.
Grade: D, a similar choice to West which isn’t a huge compliment….okay, it’s not
a compliment at all.
Notre Dame (Charlie Weis to Brian Kelly): A welcome change from a great
recruiter to a great coach. Brian is about as likeable a guy you’ll ever come
across, and he can coach up talent as well as anyone also. Didn’t close out as
expected so the looming question of can he bring in ND talent instead of
Cincinnati will remain after missing out on Ioane and Leuders.
Grade: B+, love the coach but the recruiting finish was lackluster.
San Jose State (Dick Tomey to Mike MacIntyre): With low expectations in
arguably the most talent laden state, MacIntyre at least finds himself in an
ideal coaching situation. He’s brought in a lot of ready to go JUCO talent and
has the defensive prowess to at the very least improve on last year.
Grade: B-, not overwhelming but still solid which is a giant step up for SJSU.
Southern California (Pete Carroll to Lane Kiffin): USC found themselves
in the unenviable position of replacing the coach who was the perfect fit for
them. No matter who they selected it was going to be a step down. Lane lost out
on some big talent on signing day but saved face by reeling in Seantrel
Henderson. One of the toughest hires to grade due to the possible strong hand of
the NCAA that may come upon them.
Grade: B+, Lane has one of the few egos that can survive LA (and desperate
enough to risk it).
South Florida (Jim Leavitt to Skip Holtz): After losing the man that
built the program, picking up a gem like Skip Holtz isn’t too shabby of a
consolation prize. Picking up defensive studs like Terrence Mitchell and Todd
Chandler should give Holtz some fun toys to play with. With the athleticism and
talent in Florida with the aggressive defensive scheme that Skip runs, this was
a match made in heaven.
Grade: A, a coach that seems destined for success, just ask his dad….wait, no,
please don’t.
Tennessee (Lane Kiffin to Derek Dooley): If Derek seems confused, just
let him be. After a disappointing 4-8 year at La. Tech he now finds himself on
the big stage at Tennessee. While his track record maybe less than impressive,
he has more than made up for that with a surprisingly strong finish recruiting
by picking up talent like Justin Hunter, Da’Rick Rogers and James Stone. This is
a clear example of a coach who boosted his image with recruiting success.
Grade: B+, a C track record met with an A+ finish.
Texas Tech (Mike Leach to Tommy Tuberville): As if things couldn’t have
gotten any crazier in Lubbock, the fans are going to be left wondering what
happened to their enjoyable to view team. While Tommy has a history of success
to his name recruiting at Tech isn’t like it was at Auburn, and he just about
fell flat on his face early on after losing an absolute freak at WR in Kadron
Boone.
Grade: C, he’s better than the grade but finds himself in a situation doomed
from the start.
UNLV (Mike Sanford to Bobby Hauck): One of the hidden gems in college
football, Hauck now has the chance to make his presence felt. Bobby built a FCS
dynasty at Montana (yes, Montana) and now has the chance he’s waited for. Picked
up nearly 20 LOI’s in a month in an impressive finish when he was given an empty
recruiting cupboard.
Grade: A-, few coaches get their players to work harder than he does.
Virginia (Al Groh to Mike London): Another example of a decision that
made too much sense not to come to fruition. London proved himself as the DC at
UVA then went on to make his mark as head coach while at Richmond. He knows the
school, the area and some of the players; can you ask for much more? Oh, and he
reeled back OL monster Morgan Moses.
Grade: A, as good a hire as UVA could hope for at a school that has all the
resources.
Western Kentucky (David Elson to Willie Taggart): While very young at 33,
Willie certainly brings the enthusiasm one would expect. He desperately wanted
the job and when you are WKU you are lucky to find such passion. He says he
loves a challenge, and he just got himself one. It won’t hurt that he snagged QB
Brandon Doughty either.
Grade: B, the age is a worry but the heart is not and a young program sorely
needs that.
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