College Football: Grading Every Power 5 Coaching Hire
Every December, college football is shaken up with the annual coaching carousel. In Louisville, it’s been a bit more close to home for us, as we’ve hired a new head football coach signalling a new era. We take a look at the hire that Louisville made, along with others around the Power 5.
It’s the time of year again. The college football coaching carousel is finally coming to a stop. While some power 5 programs, like Louisville football, got one of their first choices, others left us scratching our heads.
Let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of the 2018 power 5 coaching hires.
The Worst
Mack Brown to North Carolina
Grade: D
What on earth was UNC thinking? It probably was about time to move on from Larry Fedora, but why would you replace him with 67 year old Mack Brown? There were plenty of great up and comers out there (and one of them was right in their backyard). But instead UNC opted to go make an uninspiring hire trying to bring back the glory days. Coming from a fanbase that has a lot of experience on the subject matter, bringing the band back together in college football doesn’t always go as planned. UNC had Scott Satterfield in their state and hired Mack Brown. I think they missed out on a big opportunity.
Mike Locksley to Maryland
Grade: D+
Locksley went 2-26 in 3 seasons as head coach at New Mexico and 1-5 this season as the interim coach at Maryland. Those records don’t look great before the fact that this hire was made after Maryland tried to bring back DJ Durkin, before eventually caving to furious backlash from the public and opting to go back to interim coach Locksley. This coaching search was a complete mess for Maryland, but Locksley knows the area well and could recruit well. It’s going to be a wait-and-see approach for Maryland as they try to come back from this complete mess of a year their football program has gone through.
The “Meh”
Les Miles to Kansas
Grade: C
Les Miles was one of the best coaches in the country – at one point. But the game was starting to pass him by at LSU. Fans got sick of watching his agonizingly boring offenses (and frankly got sick of losing to Nick Saban). I still think Les Miles can be a great recruiter, and even a good coach, but this is just a bit of an uninspiring hire for a football program that is in some really dire circumstances, and in need of some excitement or momentum. This is a program that hasn’t won more than 3 games since 2009. Not to mention, Kansas is in the Big 12, where they put up ridiculous numbers on offense. Les Miles does not do that. We’ll see how that works out for them.
The Solid
Chris Klieman to Kansas State
Grade: B-
Klieman has been dominant at North Dakota State since he took over in 2014. A 68-6 record anywhere is pretty impressive. Klieman won 3 FCS National Championships in just 4 years, again, very impressive. The worry with Klieman is that he has very little FBS experience. In fact, he has just 1 year of FBS experience, and that was as the DB Coach at Kansas in 1997. We’ll see how the jump from FCS to Power 5 goes for Kansas State and Klieman.
Matt Wells to Texas Tech
Grade: B-
A lot of the national media have labeled this as one of the best hires, but I’m just not as gung-ho about it. I’m not sure about the fit for Texas Tech. Utah State’s rankings in scoring offense and scoring defense have been pretty mediocre as well. However, this year was easily his best year with The Aggies, and it’s not close. Utah State was 3rd in scoring offense and 38th in scoring defense compared to last year when they were in the high 50’s and 60’s. I just worry about his 44-34 record in Logan, which is less than stellar. Nonetheless, Utah State is tough place to win and Matt Wells has been a winner there. We’ll see how the fit is at Texas Tech.
The Good
Mel Tucker to Colorado
Grade: B
Mel Tucker has been an assistant under some great coaches and been a part of some great programs for a long time. After doing a great job as the Georgia DC, he finally got his shot at being a head coach. There are some question marks on his résumé, Tucker had two historically bad defenses at the Chicago Bears. However, he’s still a good recruiter and a pretty good coach. There are plenty of great college coaches that just don’t fit the NFL.
Geoff Collins to Georgia Tech
Grade: B
After two solid years at Temple, Geoff Collins is making the jump to the ACC. Collins brings a strong defensive mind to Atlanta and plenty of experience recruiting in the south. Coach Collins had two really good stints at Mississippi State and Florida as the DC, ranking as one of the best defenses in the SEC at both places. I think he could’ve done a little better than 7 and 8 wins at Temple, but the man can still coach. Can he get it done at Georgia Tech?
The Best
Ryan Day to Ohio State
Grade: A
Ryan Day was the logical choice for Ohio State after Urban announced this would be his last season. Day did a great job as the interim this season, and has been considered for some time a talented up-and-comer. With Day, Ohio State had one of the best offenses in the country, and he’s had great offenses everywhere he’s been. He has NFL experience along with an impressive resume around college football. The only question is if he’s ready. Day is only 39, and taking over an elite program like Ohio State is an immense task with a lot of pressure. Can he handle it?
Scott Satterfield to Louisville
Grade: A
Coach Satterfield has dominated the Sun Belt for years, winning 40 games since 2015 and winning 3 straight bowls. Only Nick Saban, Urban Meyer, and Dabo Swinney have had more wins than Scott Satterfield in the last 4 years, that’s pretty impressive. His teams are known for outstanding line play, discipline, and a high scoring offense. App State also had a top 10 defense this year, which is something Cards fans would love to see around here after all the points that have been given up. By all accounts, this was a great hire by Vince Tyra.
The only reason Satterfield doesn’t receive an A+ is because he was not the Cards’s first choice. Still, Louisville fans should be more than optimistic about this hire. Maybe what they wanted all along won’t have turned out to be what they expected. Don’t sleep on Satterfield, though. He looks to have all of the tools to instill the culture that the Cards knew under Charlie Strong from 2009-2013.