College Football: Which First-Year Coaches Face the Toughest Schedules?

With the exception of college basketball, college football coaches jump ship and head for bigger name programs more often than any other sport.

This opens the door for young coaches to burst onto the national scene. Some head coaches take the first job offered, while others wait around for a more suitable job.

Either way, all new coaches face many obstacles in their first year, especially if their new school scheduled difficult opponents.

Here is a list of the top 10 worst schedules for first-year coaches.

No. 10: Brian Kelly-Notre Dame

While Notre Dame may not play any of the Top 10 teams in the country, the consistency of their schedule places them on the list.

Brian Kelly's first true test will come in Week Four when the Stanford Cardinals come to town. That is followed with a road game at Boston College and a home contest with Pittsburgh.

Utah comes to South Bend a few weeks later, and the Fighting Irish end the season with a road tilt against USC.

No. 9: Butch Jones-Cincinnati

Things will be a little more difficult for Butch Jones after spending his initial head coaching days in the MAC.

Cincinnati opens with a road game at Fresno St. followed two weeks later by a trip to NC State.

The Bearcats come home for their biggest game of the year against national powerhouse Oklahoma in Week Four.

The conference schedule is the usual, with Cincinnati getting Pittsburgh at home this year, but road trips to West Virginia and Connecticut make this schedule a bear for new head coach Butch Jones.

No. 8: Mike MacIntyre-San Jose St.

Next up is new San Jose St. head coach Mike MacIntyre.

MacIntyre comes via Duke where he spent the past two seasons as the defensive coordinator, and the San Jose St. athletic department did him no favors with the schedule he will begin with.

The Spartans begin the season with road contests against Alabama and Wisconsin. Throw in a road game against Utah two weeks later and the Spartans have one of the toughest non-conference schedules in the country.

They do get conference rival Boise St. at home, but does that really matter? Not many teams in the country have the top heavy schedule that San Jose St. does in 2010.

Good luck Mr. MacIntyre...you're gonna need it.

No. 7: Tommy Tuberville-Texas Tech

With the Big 12 schedule difficult enough, Tommy Tuberville knew he had his hands full when he took the Red Raider job.

Texas Tech has to deal with the likes of Texas and Oklahoma, which is plenty enough to grant entrance into the Top 10.

The most interesting part of the schedule may be the first and last games. The Red Raiders begin the season at home against SMU and end the year at home against Houston.

Those difficult non-conference matchups help slot the Red Raiders at No. 7 on the list.

No. 6: MIke London-Virginia

After opening the season against his former team, the Richmond Spiders, Mike London and his Virginia Cavaliers take to the road against the USC Trojans.

If that is not enough, two weeks later Virginia welcomes Florida St. before traveling to Georgia Tech in Week Five.

A midseason home game against Miami and the season finale against Virginia Tech in Blacksburg, make this schedule all the more challenging for new head coach Mike London.

No. 5: Bobby Hauck-UNLV

The UNLV Runnin' Rebels may not play in one of the power conferences, but their non-conference schedule puts them and their new head coach near the top of this list.

Hauck will be welcomed to big time college football in Week One with the season opener at home against Wisconsin.

That will be followed up by road trips to Utah and Idaho. In Week Six Hauck will lead his Rebels across the country to Morgantown to take on the West Virginia Mountaineers.

UNLV returns home two weeks later to take on TCU then travels to BYU the following week.

No. 4: Robbie Caldwell-Vanderbilt

Interim head coach Robbie Caldwell takes over a Vanderbilt program that has historically had their difficulties winning football games. The 2010 schedule does not make things any easier.

Vanderbilt opens the season with home games against Northwestern and LSU. Two weeks later, the Commodores will battle Connecticut on the road.

Then the brunt of the SEC gets underway with road games at Georgia and Arkansas before a home game against Florida.

Vanderbilt finishes off the season at home against Tennessee and Wake Forest.

Things will not be easy in 2010 for interim head coach Robbie Caldwell.

No. 3: Skip Holtz-South Florida

New head coach Skip Holtz begins his coaching career at South Florida with a home game against Stony Brook. After that things get a little more difficult.

The home opener is followed up by a road game at Florida. After that, Big East play begins with road trips to West Virginia and Cincinnati. A few weeks later the Bulls travel south to face in-state rival Miami.

Throw in home games against Pittsburgh and Connecticut, and the young Holtz will have his hands full in year one.

No. 2: Jimbo Fisher-Florida State

The Florida State Seminoles play one of the more challenging non-conference schedules in the nation.

Jimbo Fisher and his bunch begin the year against Samford, but then travel to Norman to take on the Oklahoma Sooners before returning home to face BYU.

The conference schedule features road games against Virginia, Miami, and Maryland.

The Seminoles finish up the season at home against in-state rival Florida.

No. 1: Derek Dooley-Tennessee

New Tennessee head coach Derek Dooley will have his hands full in 2010. While the Vols have all their non-conference games at home, that won't make things much easier as the grind begins in week two with a game against Oregon.

Things get no easier in Week Three when Florida comes to town and after UAB in Week Four, Dooley will get an SEC welcome the next three weeks.

The Vols travel to LSU in Week Four, followed by a road game against Georgia in Week Five. They get to come home for a Week Six game against defending national champion Alabama.

By far the most difficult beginning to a schedule of anybody on this list and maybe even in college football.

Have fun with this one, Mr. Dooley, and congratulations on having the most difficult schedule for a new head coach.