Coaches Whose Stock Is on the Rise After a Strong 2014 Season
Coaching college football is a tough gig. Just ask Bo Pelini, who never won fewer than nine games in his seven seasons at Nebraska but was still fired at the conclusion of the 2014 season.
As quickly as coaches can ride the shooting star to the corner office of a blue-blood program, that light can fade without immediate results. Like most professions, the best have to strike while the iron is still hot, and year after year we see a number of coaches start to show up on everyone's wish list due to strong seasons.
But big-time programs looking to take a chance on a fast-riser have to be careful. The so-called "mid-major" programs always have a few hot names at the end of the year, but sometimes the success was the result of a once-in-a-lifetime player who would have started at any major school.
Going after coaches already heading up a Power Five school can be tricky business as well. Some guys are always dreaming bigger, while others are content to stay put regardless of who comes calling.
Keep in mind that guys like Urban Meyer, Gary Patterson and Art Briles already have expensive stock. It can't get much higher even after another year of success.
Here are five head coaches in college football whose stock is very much on the rise after strong 2014 campaigns.
All stats via cfbstats.com. Just missed: Bret Bielema, Arkansas and Bryan Harsin, Boise St.
Jerry Kill, Minnesota
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Minnesota coach Jerry Kill inherited a Golden Gophers' program that won just three games in 2010 and in 2011, well, Kill led them to just three victories. But the turnaround officially began in 2012 when he took the team to a bowl game.
The following season the Gophers won eight games and now they'll have a chance to capture a ninth win if they can beat Missouri in the Citrus Bowl (Minnesota trailed Missouri 19-17 at time of publication). It would be just the second time since 1905 that the program has won nine games.
Having running back David Cobb was a huge boost for an offense that averaged over 220 yards per game on the ground. Cobb had 1,548 yards for 13 touchdowns while quarterback Mitch Leidner tacked on 462 yards and 10 scores of his own.
The defense in 2011 gave up more than 31 points per game, while the current unit allows just over 23. The Gophers didn't have many eye-opening wins, although they did beat Nebraska on the road and hung tough against both Ohio State and Wisconsin. Only a narrow defeat at Illinois would fall under the "bad loss" category.
At the end of the day, you have to remember we're talking about a program that lies far away from the fertile recruiting grounds of California, Texas and Florida. It competes against the likes of Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State and Penn State for top recruits and often loses those battles.
For Kill to take this program from hapless to competitive is impressive in itself, and what he accomplished in 2014 was one of the most impressive coaching jobs in the country.
Hugh Freeze, Ole Miss
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OK, so the bowl effort against TCU wasn't pretty, so we'll get the ugly out of the way first. The Rebels lost to the Horned Frogs 42-3 in what can only be described as embarrassing. Fortunately for Hugh Freeze and the Ole Miss program, that about wraps up the negatives from 2014, while the positives go on and on.
The success Freeze had began in recruiting a couple years ago when he landed elite prep stars Laremy Tunsil, Tony Conner, Laquon Treadwell and Robert Nkemdiche in the class of 2013. The Rebels put together some solid campaigns, especially given the annual gauntlet provided by the SEC West, but things finally came together in 2014 with an even brighter future possibly on the horizon.
The year began with seven victories in a row, including a 23-17 thriller over Alabama, the Crimson Tide's only loss of the regular season. Then the schedule started to take a toll, and the Rebels lost heartbreakers to LSU and Auburn, the latter a result of a brutal, late injury to Treadwell causing a fumble as he was going in for a score.
Things seemed to completely unravel in a 30-0 loss at Arkansas, but Ole Miss pulled together to beat a Top 10 Mississippi State team 31-17 in the season finale. The Rebels were in the thick of the title chase for much of the season, which is something we haven't been able to say in a long, long time.
Freeze still makes some questionable decisions during games, and two blowout losses in the final three contests gives the year a hint of a sour taste as it comes to an end, but he does many things well. The bowl game notwithstanding, his teams have proved they can play defense. More consistent play from the quarterback spot will lead to better offense.
But perhaps the most important aspect of Freeze's rebuilding efforts have come in recruiting, where the head coach has gone toe-to-toe with the likes of Nick Saban and Les Miles and come out ahead on more than one occasion. It's not all the time, but it's enough to make Ole Miss a player and put Freeze's stock on the rise.
Steve Addazio, Boston College
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Boston College felt like the program everyone forgot about following the Matt Ryan era and the glimmer of hope for a national title in 2007. The Eagles won nine games in 2008, eight games in 2009, seven games in 2010 and just six games total in 2011 and 2012. Then Steve Addazio came along, and things began to change.
The Eagles won seven games in each of the last two seasons, and 2014 was marked by a competitiveness that had previously vanished. Four of the six losses were by a combined 11 points, including a three-point defeat at Florida State.
While the ACC conference isn't setting the world on fire, Boston College still gets stuck recruiting against Florida State, Clemson, Virginia Tech and Miami and often in areas that don't produce a ton of talent. But Addazio and the Eagles have managed, and the days of two- or four-win seasons seem to be firmly in the rearview mirror.
The best moment of the season came early on against USC when Boston College won 37-31 and out-rushed the Trojans 452 to 20. Despite having a passing game that accounted for just 13 scores and fewer than 1,700 yards, the Eagles still earned a trip to the Pinstripe Bowl, losing by a point to Penn State.
In addition to a vaunted rushing attack, the defense allowed just 21.3 points per game, good for 23rd in the nation.
The question now is about the future and what it holds for a program teetering between being a player in the ACC and potentially stumbling backward into mediocrity. What Addazio has done in taking the Eagles from two wins to back-to-back seven-win campaigns is impressive, and Boston College's success in 2014 makes him a coach on the rise.
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Doc Holliday, Marshall
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One of the most difficult coaching jobs to evaluate in 2014 was Doc Holliday at Marshall.
Let's start with the fact that the quarterback for the Thundering Herd was not only one of the best players in the "Group of Five" but one of the best signal-callers period. Rakeem Cato threw for 40 touchdown passes with just 13 interceptions and had over 3,900 yards through the air.
On the ground, Cato had 482 yards and another eight touchdowns, giving him 48 in total. Putting Cato in as the starter would make all but four or five teams instantly better, and at a level of competition with less talent, his impact is felt even more.
Then there's the issue of Marshall playing in a weak conference against a putrid out-of-conference slate. There are at least 20-25 teams that likely could have gone 13-1 against that same schedule, as Marshall did.
What the evaluation comes down to, however, is looking at where this program was even two years ago. In 2012, Marshall went just 5-7 before jumping up to 10 wins in 2013. Having Cato at quarterback helped the Thundering Herd to 13 wins in 2014, but it wasn't just the offense. The defense allowed 21 points per game and more than 30 on just one occasion, a 67-66 loss to Western Kentucky.
Coaches on the rise often begin the ascension at mid-major programs like Marshall. Folks will be curious to see how Holliday does in the post-Cato era, but his stock is very much on the rise entering 2015.
Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
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The tale of Rich Rodriguez's coaching career is far from over, and already it has more twists and turns than you could possibly imagine, the latest of which puts his stock very much on the rise at Arizona.
Rich Rod became a national name after donning the mad scientist cap at West Virginia and utilizing quarterback Pat White and running back Steve Slaton in a speedy, uptempo offense that dazzled. He brought the Mountaineers to the verge of a national championship before bolting for Michigan, where he was unsuccessful in three seasons.
However, what he's done with the Wildcats paints a different picture of his time with the Wolverines. He was given just three seasons, and despite going from three wins to five and then to seven—something we like to call improvement—he was given the ax.
At Arizona, a program with historically lower expectations, Rodriguez has found ways to get great quarterback play from first-year starters and build an athletic defense capable of hanging with the gauntlet of offenses in the Pac-12.
It has resulted in 26 wins the past three seasons, including a 10-4 campaign in 2014. Arizona was the only team to beat Oregon this season, and it did so with young stars on both offense and defense. Translation: The Wildcats aren't going anywhere even in a division that boasts rising USC and UCLA teams.
While the season ended with a disappointing loss to Boise St. in the Fiesta Bowl, Rodriguez proved that his system does work and in some cases just needs time to be integrated. With Jim Harbaugh headed to Ann Arbor, Michigan fans won't care what happens with Rodriguez, but 2014 showed everyone why he's an excellent head coach with fast-rising stock.
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