10 Best Coaching Jobs for First Half of 2014 College Football Season
One look at the current Associated Press rankings says almost everything you need to know about some of the coaching jobs being done in college football this season.
The No. 1 team in the country was unranked in August. So too were the Nos. 12, 15, 16, 18 and 20 teams. Two other teams in the top five were ranked outside of the preseason top 15.
But it's not just head coaches turning around teams that has stuck out from the first seven weeks. It has also been the impressive number of coordinators doing well to turn around units.
This list sought to highlight such coaches, ranking the 10 who have done the best job during the first half of the year. Where performance exceeds expected performance, this list sought to give recognition.
Sound off below with anyone we might have missed.
Honorable Mentions
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Many coaches and coordinators have done well this season, but alas, this list only has 10 spots. Here are some other guys that deserve a mention, though, for the job they did in the first half.
Head Coach Honorable Mentions
- Steve Addazio, Boston College
- Bret Bielema, Arkansas
- Justin Fuente, Memphis
- Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
- Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
- Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
- Mike London, Virginia
- Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
- Kyle Whittingham, Utah
Assistant Coach Honorable Mentions
- DC Vance Bedford, Texas
- DC Phil Bennett, Baylor
- OC James Coley, Miami
- OL Jim Hueber, Pittsburgh
- DC Bob Shoop, Penn State
DC Lance Anderson, Stanford
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Hat Tip: Defensive Backs Coach Duane Akina
Stanford lost a lot from last year's defense. A lot. Linebackers Shayne Skov and Trent Murphy, linemen Josh Mauro and Ben Gardner and safety Ed Reynolds were All-Pac-12-level performers, and defensive coordinator Derek Mason took the head coaching job at Vanderbilt.
No one expected the Cardinal defense to suddenly turn bad, but it would have been fair to expect regression. Instead of being one of the five best defenses in the country, maybe it would be one of the 20.
Instead, first-time defensive coordinator Lance Anderson, who previously worked with the outside linebackers, has this unit playing just as well as it played under Mason. According to the S&P+ ratings at Football Outsiders, it is the No. 1 defense in the country, holding a comfortable lead over No. 2 Ole Miss.
Breakout stars such as linebackers Blake Martinez, James Vaughters and Peter Kalambayi and safety Zach Hoffpauir have combined with the few holdover pieces to form yet another dominant unit. Compare this with the job Charles Kelly has done replacing Jeremy Pruitt at Florida State and you'll have even more respect for Anderson.
HC Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
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Hat Tip: Defensive Coordinator Dave Wommack
Hugh Freeze has parlayed recruiting success into on-field success—something cynics will say is easy to do, but actually isn't. If it were, we wouldn't have the ugly situations we have at Michigan and Florida.
Freeze is an offensive-minded coach who has reigned in quarterback Bo Wallace (at least against Ole Miss' best opponents) and has the Rebels ranked No. 6 in offensive S&P+. Defensive coordinator Dave Wommack has coached the "Landsharks" into the most fun defense in the country and the No. 2 unit in defensive S&P+.
The only other teams that rank top-six on both sides of the ball are SEC West rivals Alabama and Mississippi State.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
OC Ralph Friedgen, Rutgers
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Hat Tip: Wide Receivers Coach Ben McDaniels
Ralph Freidgen has been a godsend for Rutgers football, turning what many thought would be a painful-to-watch offense into a pleasant surprise. A very, very, very pleasant surprise.
Before the season, quarterback Gary Nova was a punchline. He was the guy Tom Savage couldn't beat out for a starting job (and that was supposed to say a lot more about Savage than Nova). But now? Friedgen has Nova leading the nation with 10.7 yards per pass.
In total, the Scarlet Knights rank No. 26 in offensive yards per play and No. 18 in passing offense S&P+. ESPN radio host Mark Ennis said Friedgen "deserve(s) a Nobel prize" for tapping into Nova's potential, a task that got even harder after star running back Paul James tore his ACL earlier this season.
Rutgers, by the way, is 5-1 for the season.
DC John Jancek, Tennessee
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Hat Tip: Defensive Line Coach Steve Stripling
Tennessee was supposed to be a year away from playing competitive football—especially on defense. We all know the spring game means nothing (or at least we should), but after the Vols got smoked by their own question-filled offense this offseason, it seemed like this year would be a learning experience and a mulligan.
But John Jancek had other ideas.
Bolstered by the return of senior do-everything linebacker A.J. Johnson, he has helped mold Tennessee's defense into one of the biggest overachievers in the country. Seven weeks into the season, it ranks No. 12 in defensive S&P+, ahead of bigger-name units such as Oklahoma, LSU, Texas, Notre Dame and Florida State.
Jancek has done all this despite relying on youngsters like true freshman defensive end Derek Barnett and sophomore cornerback Cam Sutton. This group might be special as soon as next season, and the whole of Tennessee's team might follow suit.
HC Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
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Hat Tip: Defensive Coordinator Brian VanGorder
Brian Kelly doesn't have Notre Dame playing as well as its 6-0 record would indicate. It has struggled in (long) spots against inferior teams such as Purdue, Syracuse and North Carolina. The F/+ ratings at Football Outsiders grade it as the No. 13 team in the country.
But 6-0 is 6-0.
Kelly has guided the Irish to an undefeated first half despite learning just before the season that five projected contributors, chief among them cornerback KeiVarae Russell and receiver DaVaris Daniels, would be suspended pending an academic investigation.
Even without that turmoil, going 6-0 would have put him in the Coach of the Year discussion. But with such turmoil? It puts him squarely on the list of favorites. Kelly has won 17 consecutive regular season games in which Tommy Rees was not his starting quarterback.
If he makes that 18 against Florida State this weekend, he will move from "candidate" to "favorite" for Coach of the Year.
HC Ruffin McNeil, East Carolina
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Hat Tip: Offensive Coordinator Lincoln Riley
East Carolina lost a close, but competitive, game at South Carolina and struggled to beat South Florida.
Other than that, it has been next to perfect.
Ruffin McNeil has fielded plenty of good teams since arriving Greenville six years ago, but this is almost certainly his best. Hot-shot coordinator Lincoln Riley and he have built an offense that is not to be trifled with—a unit led by underrated quarterback Shane Carden and probable future NCAA receptions leader Justin Hardy.
The defense, though, is where this team has impressed the most. Not that it has been particularly good (because it hasn't), but that it has been just good enough. McNeil plied his trade at Texas Tech under Mike Leach, coaching defenses that were never quite able to supplement the Red Raiders' offense.
This year—especially against the run—his team can hang around with anyone. It feels a lot like what UCF did last season.
HC Dan Mullen, Mississippi State
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Hat Tip: Defensive Coordinator Geoff Collins
It wasn't so long ago that Dan Mullen was creeping toward the hot seat. Mississippi State got off to a 2-3 start last season, leading many to wonder if Mullen could ever turn things in Starkville around.
The Bulldogs righted the ship late, though, advancing to a bowl game after an overtime win in the Egg Bowl and never looking back from there. Mullen got a team with few seniors to a bowl game, then capitalized on his still-intact depth chart the following season.
Just like a great coach should.
With Geoff Collins coaching one of the deepest defensive fronts in the country and Mullen working his Florida-esque magic on Dak Prescott and the offense, Mississippi State has gone from being happy to make a bowl game to competing for a national championship.
"There’s no doubt in my mind we can win a championship here," said Mullen, per Matt Hayes of Sporting News. "We refuse to let what other people think dictate who we are."
HC Gary Patterson, TCU
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Hat Tip: OCs Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham
Gary Patterson does not have an ego.
If he did, he would not have been OK with a wholesale offensive transformation. The normally pro-style Horned Frogs needed a boost and got with the times by hiring Sonny Cumbie from Texas Tech and Doug Meacham from Oklahoma State, a pair of spread-offensive minds with proven records of success in the Big 12.
Patterson had struggled to adjust his offense to his new conference, then had the backbone to say, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em."
And join 'em he has.
TCU ranks No. 5 in the F/+ ratings, No. 10 in offensive S&P+ and No. 19 in defensive S&P+. It no longer controls its own fate, but remains a legitimate College Football Playoff contender after losing its only game of the year on the road against undefeated Baylor.
For those with short memories, TCU went 4-8 last season.
OC Dave Warner, Michigan State
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Hat Tip: Co-Offensive Coordinator Jim Bollman
Michigan State is ranked No. 11 in both offensive and defensive S&P+. The offense used to buoy down the defense, but is now every bit as responsible when Sparty wins a game.
A big part of the credit for that must go to co-offensive coordinator Dave Warner, the man calling the plays and—most importantly—developing the quarterbacks. Warner turned Brian Hoyer and Kirk Cousins into quality college starters and viable NFL players, while current QB Connor Cook looks like the best he's ever had.
Former Ohio State offensive coordinator Jim Bollman also deserves a hat tip for the job he's done along the offensive line. He doesn't have as much autonomy as he did with the Buckeyes—which is probably a good thing, given how some of those offenses looked—but he does what he does as well as anyone.
On balance, this team is even better than it was last year.
HC Mark Stoops, Kentucky
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Hat Tip: Offensive Coordinator Neal Brown
If not for a triple overtime loss against the pre-imploded Florida Gators, Kentucky would be 6-0 and the biggest story of the season.
Alas, the Wildcats must "settle" for being 5-1 with a win over South Carolina. The Gamecocks are down this year, but even so, that is not a game Kentucky is used to winning. The fact that it did win speaks well to the culture change Mark Stoops has initiated.
This team expects to win.
Ole Miss and Tennessee have done well in translating recruiting success into on-field progress, but considering the starting point, no one in the league has done a better job at that than Kentucky.
No longer a laughingstock, the Wildcats are a sneaky dark horse to contend in the SEC East. That says more about the state of the division than it does the state of Kentucky, but if Stoops can capitalize on his favorable timing—not unlike what another basketball school, Duke, did in 2013—he would merit Coach of the Year consideration.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
