Sophomore Sensations?: A Look at College Football's Second-Year Head Coaches

Coaching is an enormous part of College Football. While players come and go, coaching is one of the few constants in the college game.

It takes time for a coach to install his system and to recruit the players who fit his system best, and that's why most first-year head coaches are given some slack when looking at the overall performance of a team.

While most coaches have a five-year plan, with some we see vast improvement right away. Let's look at last year's first-year head coaches, see how things went, and see how it looks for them this season.

Bobby Petrino, Arkansas—2008 Record: 5-7

Let's be fair to Petrino—he took over a team that lost its best players from the previous year in Darren McFadden and Felix Jones and then had to play Florida, Texas, and Alabama in consecutive weeks.

What makes this one tough is a three-point loss to Mississippi State and a one-point loss to Kentucky, which kept the Hogs out of a bowl game. Petrino is a winner, though, and my guess is they take it up a notch this year.

Art Briles, Baylor—2008 Record: 4-8

While Briles didn't take Baylor from obscurity to the big time, the Bears were respectable. While a 4-8 record doesn't look all that impressive, on the field, Baylor played like a team that was well prepared and was in most of their games.

Briles unleashed freshman QB Robert Griffin, who is one of the most exciting players in college football. The former track star should make Briles one of the more successful coaches in Baylor history if he can stay healthy.

Steve Fairchild, Colorado State—2008 Record: 7-6

Fairchild's hiring wasn't very popular, but I believe that had more to do with the unceremonious firing of incumbent Sonny Lubick. While Lubick had a nice run at CSU, the team had fallen upon hard times.

Fairchild not only got the Rams to a bowl game but also got them a win. While much of his talent is departed, it's obvious he knows what he's doing on the sidelines.

David Cutcliffe, Duke—2008 Record: 4-8

Early in the season, Duke looked like they had a shot at bowl eligibility for the first time in seemingly forever, until a lack of depth and a few bad bounces caught up with them. I was kind of surprised Cutcliffe wasn't scooped up by another program already.

The longer Cutcliffe has to recruit and the longer he has to install his system, the tougher Duke is going to be. I would be surprised if he's still there in a few years, as greener pastures will be calling.

Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech—2008 Record: 9-4

Paul Johnson is simply one of the best head coaches in the country both on and off the field. He not only coaches winners, he also graduates students.

Many were pessimistic of Johnson's triple option in a BCS conference, but it showed signs of working even without players who were recruited specifically to fit the scheme. This lack of ideal players was exposed in the Peach Bowl as the Yellow Jackets were blown out. Johnson returns his best players, and with another year under his belt, Georgia Tech should be a handful.

Greg McMackin, Hawaii—2008 Record: 7-7

Expectations were fairly low for McMackin following June Jones' departure, along with star QB Colt Brennan heading to the NFL. Things looked like they would play to form when the Rainbow Warriors were blown out in the swamp in Gainesville in the opener.

Hawaii ended up turning things around and looked to be gaining strength as the season went on. They played well enough in conference play to get to a bowl game. While they lost in their bowl to Notre Dame, just getting there was a positive for this team.

Kevin Sumlin, Houston—2008 Record: 8-5

Houston didn't miss a beat on offense last year and took the ball from goal line to goal line in no time seemingly every time out. Sumlin inherited a program that had gone to a bowl game in four of the previous five seasons.

While Houston experienced a lot of success, including a bowl game win, I think the jury is still out for the Cougars. Art Briles certainly didn't leave the cupboard bare, so it will be up to Sumlin to carry the torch.

Rich Rodriguez, Michigan—2008 Record: 3-9

It's fair to classify Rodriguez's first season in Ann Arbor as an outright disaster, and it will be interesting to see just how much of a break he is given if his team continues down the same path. While other coaches, like Paul Johnson, made their drastically different systems work with inherited personnel, Rodriguez was unable to put together a winning season.

I don't think it's so much that his team underperformed on the field—it's that Michigan looks like a team in disarray. Michigan's bowl streak ended last year; can it get any worse? Rodriguez is a winner, but will he have the time to get it done for the Wolverines?

Houston Nutt, Mississippi—2008 Record: 9-4

A lot of people were surprised how well the Rebels played last year; I can't say I was one of them. For years, Ole Miss has squandered top-notch talent, but Houston Nutt isn't a coach who is known for underachieving.

With winning comes big expectations, and it will be interesting to see if Ole Miss can live up to the mountain of expectations people have of them this year. The SEC never gets any easier, that's for sure.

Ken Niumatalolo, Navy—2008 Record: 8-5

Expectations were modest for the Midshipmen after Paul Johnson's departure, and I think they exceeded those expectations. While QB injuries riddled the team all season long, they managed to hold it together and go bowling once again.

The big expectation in Annapolis, and how all Navy head coaches are judged, is how they do against Army. By blowing out Army, Niumatalolo got off to a great start.

Bo Pelini, Nebraska—2008 Record: 9-4

I wasn't sure what to expect from the Huskers last season after years of disappointment on the field, along with being a mess off the field. Pelini did a fine job in taking the initial steps to getting the program back up to snuff, but he still has some challenges ahead.

Nebraska football is about winning championships, and the Huskers play in one of the top conferences in America. While New Year's Day bowl games are a nice start, Nebraska expects more.

Jerry Kill, Northern Illinois—2008 Record: 6-7

Kill took over a program that historically had been fairly successful but had come off a very bad season. The Huskies turned things around, though, and went to a bowl in Kill's first season.

I liked NIU a lot last season, but they seemed to lose to all of the teams you would think they would lose to and beat all of the teams you would expect. While this is a good start, eventually the better teams need to step it up.

June Jones, SMU—2008 Record: 1-11

If ever there was a 1-11 head coach with job security, it would be June Jones. Jones took over a lowly Mustang program and just didn't have much to work with.

Jones is the king of the turnaround and has a résumé to support it. I would expect players eager for playing time to be flocking to Jones, and for SMU to be a lot more competitive in upcoming seasons.

Larry Fedora, Southern Miss—2008 Record: 7-6

I was pretty critical of the removal of Jeff Bower as the head coach at Southern Miss last offseason. He had led to Golden Eagles to bowl game after bowl game, using mostly other schools' leftovers to fill his roster.

Southern Miss finished with exactly the same record as they did in Bower's final year but got a bowl win in New Orleans over a very good Troy team. The Golden Eagles got better as the season went on; with their young nucleus, they could be an absolute handful this year.

Mike Sherman, Texas A&M—2008 Record: 4-8

I am not convinced Mike Sherman can handle the job as the head coach of the Aggies. A&M had some talent on their roster last season but looked lost and out of it most of the time.

The Aggies were blown out by Texas in their finale, but I don't think that hurt them as much in College Station as the 20-point stomping they took at the hands of Baylor the prior game. I'm going to guess the leash will be fairly short for Sherman.

Rick Neuheisel, UCLA—2008 Record: 4-8

The season couldn't have started any better for the Bruins last year, getting a home win on a Monday night against Tennessee. That was the high point of the season for UCLA and Rick Neuheisel.

The season was marred by QB injuries, and the Bruins were on the wrong end of some very lopsided scores. UCLA always gets talented players, and Neuheisel will only help improve on that. It will be tough for the Bruins to be worse than last year.

Paul Wulff, Washington State—2008 Record: 2-11

Washington State was horrible last year. There really isn't a nicer way to describe the way the Cougars played, as they were repeatedly blown out.

As the season went on, there were some signs of life, as their ceremonial beatings were by fewer points, but the games were still one-sided. The Cougars also took out in-state rival Washington to take home the Apple Cup in the highlight of their season. I'm not sure how long Wulff has to get it together, but it would be tough for the Cougars to be much worse.

Bill Stewart, West Virginia—2008 Record: 9-4

Many people had the Mountaineers slated for the National Title game last year with all of the returning talent they had. Any title hopes were dashed early as WVU fell to East Carolina and Colorado before September was over.

I questioned a lot of Stewart's coaching decisions, and I still don't believe he's a great head coach. I think WVU could probably do better as far as pure coaching ability. With that being said, the players love Stewart, and if I had a kid playing football at a major college, I wouldn't mind it one bit if he played for a man like Bill Stewart.

Next time we'll look at this year's first-year head coaches.

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