Welcome to the Bigtime: 10 New Coaches for the Big Six Conferences, Pt. 1

There are 10 new coaches for the Big Six Conferences this year. Who will have a good year and who will struggle? I will give a star rating system to determine who will have a good year or a bad year. Five stars is great, and one star is terrible. Here is the review for the first five.

Frank Spaziani

He will take over at Boston College. Spaziani had been the Defensive Coordinator at B.C for the last 10 years. He coached the Eagles to a victory over Navy in the Meineke Car Care Bowl in 2006. He has no other Head coaching experience. He will have a young team with a few veterans. I see the Eagles going 5-7 (2-6 in ACC) this year as the Spaziani era takes over.  

Grade: ***

Doug Marrone

He will take over at Syracuse. Marrone had been the Offensive Coordinator for the New Orleans Saints for the last three years. He has no head coaching experience. The Orange have a lot of starters returning, but it is always hard to catch on with a new coach. The Orange will start season 2-2 in non-conference games but could easily be 3-1. The will go 1-6 in conference and also pick up a win vs Akron. It's a 4-8 record for the Orange.  

Grade: ***

Danny Hope

He will take over at Purdue. Hope was hired in January of 2008 as the associate Head Coach to Joe Tiller. When Tiller retired, Hope was promoted. Hope was the Head Coach at Eastern Kentucky for five years. He was 35-22; all five were winning seasons. It will be a battle all year long for the Boilermakers. There are lots of questions on this team. I see a 3-9 (1-7 in Big Ten) for the Boilermakers this year.

Grade: **

Bill Snyder

He's back at Kansas State. Snyder, out of coaching for three years, will again take over for the Wildcats. Snyder has a coaching record of 136-68-1 in his 17 seasons at Kansas State. A 3-1 non-conference record will get things started right for Snyder. Conference play will not be as nice—3-5 for the Wildcats. A 6-6 first year will not make Snyder happy, but the Wildcats will go bowling for the first time since 2006.

Grade: ***

Paul Rhoads

He will take over at Iowa State. Rhoads was the Defensive Coordinator last year for Auburn. He has no Head coaching experience. A new offensive and defensive to learn might be too much for the Cyclones. With the changes, the Cyclones will look good some weeks and terrible others. A 5-7 (2-6 in BIG 12) record is what is waiting for Coach Rhoads.

Grade: ****