New Faces In New Places: First Year Head Coaches For 2009 Part One

Last time out I took a look at College Football head coaches going into their second year, now I look at the new head coaches for 2009.

While many of these guys who are now "large and in charge" have experience running a program, they come in with mixed results.

While excitement is high in a lot of places where disappoint has reigned, question marks remain. Let's look at half of the new faces in new places for the upcoming college football season.

We're moving through the schools alphabetically so this article features those schools starting with A-M.

Rich Ellerson, Army, Replaces Stan Brock

Army had actual expectations last season but those quickly faded. A shutout loss to Navy was a fitting end for last year's campaign.

In comes Rich Ellerson from FCS Cal-Poly. Ellerson is a former 1-AA Coach of the Year and has experience as an assistant with Arizona, Hawaii, and two CFL teams. For those who didn't pay too close attention last year, Cal-Poly beat FBS San Diego State and had Wisconsin dead to rights before losing.

There is only one direction for this team to be headed.

Gene Chizik, Auburn, Replaces Tommy Tubberville

This one is confusing to me. Chizik was an all world assistant at Texas where everyone wanted him. He took the head job at Iowa State and the team showed nothing. Chizik himself showed no ability to lead or win the big games.

Tommy Tubberville did a real nice job in Auburn including an undefeated season just a few years back. The Tigers changed the offense which resulted in no offense which was ultimately Tubberville's downfall.

While Tubberville was fired, Chizik has some huge shoes to fill.

Stan Parrish, Ball State, Replaces Brady Hoke

Ball State played a fairly weak schedule last season and that's the only reason they were never discussed as a real party crasher for a BCS Bowl Game.

While the Cardinal didn't end up running the table and lost their conference championship game, it was a very successful season at Ball State. It was good enough to land head man Brady Hoke a better gig at San Diego State.

Stan Parrish was the Offensive Coordinator for what was a highly effective Ball State Offense and he was regarded as one of the top assistants in the country last season. This is acknowledged by his nomination for the Broyles Award which goes to the nation's top Assistant Coach.

Frank Spaziani, Boston College, Replaces Jeff Jagodzinski

Boston College has been competitive for quite some time and while preseason expectations seem to get lower and lower, the Eagles usually find themselves right in the mix in the ACC Title hunt.

Jeff Jagodzinski was in high demand after his Eagles over achieved once again and when he looked further into the inquiries for his services, it angered the administration at BC enough to cut him loose,

BC didn't look far for a new head. Spaziani was the Eagles defensive coordinator. Spaziani's defenses have been stingy with the yards and the points and have been a huge part of BC's success.

Dave Clawson, Bowling Green, Replaces Gregg Bandon

Gregg Bandon did a nice job as Head Coach for the Falcons and last season started as good as possible with an upset of Pittsburgh on the road. The rest of the season wasn't as successful and after six years, the administration thought it was time to go in a new direction.

Dave Clawson was the offensive coordinator at Tennessee and a former QB coach for the Volunteers as well. Clawson knows big time games and big time talent and also knows what it is going to take to win.

It will be interesting to see how this goes as while Clawson won't be playing an SEC schedule, he won't be sporting SEC talent on his roster either.

Dabo Swinney, Clemson, Replaces Tommy Bowden

Before last season, I was perhaps the most critical writer in the world when it came to Tommy Bowden. While I may have ignited the fire that eventually led to Bowden's mid season stepping down/resignation/firing, it was Bowden who provided the puddle of gas with his performances on sideline.

In cam Dabo Swinney and Clemson did make it to a new year's day bowl but 2 of their wins were against FCS teams so in reality the Tigers were nothing more than a five win team last season. The honeymoon will be over by October, will it still be a happy marriage?

Ron English, Eastern Michigan, Replaces Jeff Genyk

It isn't easy being the fifth option in your state when it comes to harvesting recruits but that is the hand EMU is dealt, at least at this point.

While EMU was one of the worst teams in the country, they did get some nice confidence builders late so the returning payers at least know they can play on the same field as some of their rivals.

Ron English comes in from Louisville where he was the deensive coordinator and he also sports one hefty reputation. This is an interesting hiring because while EMU is a low profile program, Louisville has been a big bust for two straight years.

On a side note, English is one of five African American Head Coaches out of 119 FBS schools.

Paul Rhoads, Iowa State, Replaces Gene Chizik

Here's where things get confusing, Chizik, a former defensive coordinator for Texas,  went went from Iowa State to the Head Coaching job at Auburn. Rhoads the former defensive coordinator at Auburn, takes the lead job at Iowa State.

Personally I think Iowa State may have won this trade as Chizik didn't seem to have the team headed anywhere and my guess is he made a ton more than Rhoads will. Along with the lower salry, Rhoads' defenses are pretty tough customers and while the looked short of amazing last year, they were on the field all day long.

Where else can you find a guy who can win you a 2-0 football game?

Bill Snyder, Kansas State, Replaces Ron Prince

I never understood Prince's philosophy at KSU unless it was to confuse his players and college football fans in general.

Prince had one of the best QB's in the country last year in Josh Freeman and I have seen tighter offenses watching Pee Wee football.

Bill Snyder returns to KSU where he is a legend but everyone knows this is an interim situation, isn't it? There are some good young coaches out there and a lot of SNyder's prior success came against some of the weakest out of conference scheduling in the history of FBS football.

Michael Haywood, Miami (OH), Replaces Shane Montgomery

It's hard to believe Miami of Ohio was favored by many to win the MAC last year. So much for the experts and their previews, the Red Hawks absolutely stunk.

If you've ever seen a Miami (OH) game on TV or know anything about it, it's the "cradle of coaches" where so many legends have coached or have an affiliation including Ara Parseghian, Bo Schembechler, Jim Tressel and many others.

Haywood's hiring makes Maimi games the name droppers special as along with the whoole cradle thing, we'll get to hear how Maywood has worked under Lou Holtz, Nick Saban, Mack Brown, Charlie Weiss and others. In all seriousness, this guy has a nice resume.

Dan Mullen, Mississippi State, Replaces Sylvester Croom

Sylvester Croom was a trailblazer. He was the first Black Head Coach in the SEC and his place in history is sealed.

The hiring of Dan Mullen as a head coach is one of those things that was just a matter of time. Mullen has been part of Urban Meyer's offense since his days at Bowling Green so Utah's BCS busting in the Fiesta a few years back, Florida's two National Title's under Meyer, and Tim Tebow's Heisman are all part of the things that happened with Mullen.

Mullen is considered one of the great young minds in the game and it will be interesting to see if he can bring offense to a place that hasn't seen much on that side of the ball in recent years.

Next time out we'll look at the new head coaches from schools whose name start with those letters in the second half of the alphabet.

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