Ranking Top New College Football Coordinators for 2016
This winter’s college football coaching carousel is nearly complete, after rolling to a stop and then lurching forward again when Southern Miss coach Todd Monken left to become a wide receivers coach with the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Regardless, when the Golden Eagles hire a leader, they'll almost certainly finish hiring for the 2015-16 offseason. Head coaching hires are crucial to a program’s success, but almost as important are the assistants those coaches pick to make their program hum.
Think about it: Where would Clemson be without defensive coordinator Brent Venables or Oklahoma without offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley? Coordinators matter, and becoming one is often the final step before moving on to a head coaching role. Of the 27 FBS jobs filled thus far this offseason, only eight were claimed by coaches with prior head coaching experience. Getting the right hires as your offensive and defensive coordinators is highly important. Here’s a look at the best coordinator hires of this offseason.
10. Miami DC Manny Diaz
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It has been said that you can’t go home again, but Manny Diaz hopes to prove it wrong this fall. Miami’s hiring of Mark Richt was impressive, but Richt needed to bolster his staff with talented assistants. And he got one in Diaz, the son of former longtime Miami mayor Manny Diaz.
Diaz was fired by Mack Brown two games into the 2013 season but worked his way back up the ranks with a solid season at Louisiana Tech before spending 2015 at Mississippi State. He took a defense that had been weakened by NFL and graduation departures and made it a solid key to a 9-4 season.
The Bulldogs allowed 23.2 points per game, No. 37 nationally, and 391.2 total yards per game, No. 57 nationally.
Diaz will employ an attacking, aggressive 4-3 defense in Miami, a strong contrast from the 3-4 scheme that the Hurricanes employed in 2015. It should be a perfect fit for a program seeking a stronger, more defined identity in South Florida and beyond.
9. Wisconsin DC Justin Wilcox
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Paul Chryst’s staff took a serious blow when Les Miles hired Dave Aranda away as LSU’s new defensive coordinator. The Badgers led the nation in scoring defense and finished third nationally in total defense. He needed an accomplished replacement and found one in Justin Wilcox.
Wilcox has proven himself as one of the nation’s top defensive coordinators over the last decade. He spent four seasons at Boise State, two at Tennessee, two at Washington and the last three at Southern California.
He followed Steve Sarkisian from Washington to USC but was not retained by Clay Helton, who was elevated from interim to full-time head coach following Sarkisian’s firing.
The Trojans had an uneven defensive effort in 2015, allowing 25.7 points per game, No. 50 nationally, and 400.8 yards per game, No. 65 nationally.
Wilcox inherits a strong Wisconsin defensive tradition, and he has the talent and skills to keep the Badgers humming along just as they did under Aranda.
8. Oregon OC Matt Lubick
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Matt Lubick is no overnight success. The son of former Colorado State coach Sonny Lubick made multiple stops on his way to Oregon, serving as an assistant at Colorado State, Oregon State, San Jose State, Ole Miss, Arizona State and Duke.
But he gained significant respect in three seasons as Oregon’s wide receivers coach and passing game coordinator. He worked with Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Marcus Mariota and also found success with graduate transfer Vernon Adams in 2015’s nine-win season that saw the Ducks finish fifth nationally in both total and scoring offense.
He was a clear choice to step into Scott Frost’s shoes as Oregon’s new offensive coordinator. Frost left to become Central Florida’s new head coach, but the Ducks shouldn’t miss a beat with Lubick running the show and working with transfer quarterback Dakota Prukop.
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7. Texas OC Sterlin Gilbert
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Charlie Strong needs something good to happen at Texas. In two seasons as the Longhorns' head coach, Strong is 11-14 with a pair of losing seasons, an unfathomable concept for a football-mad fanbase. The Longhorns struggled with offensive identity, shuffling between quarterbacks and scoring 26.4 points per game, No. 83 nationally. They finished last in passing in the pass-happy Big 12.
So Tulsa offensive coordinator Sterlin Gilbert is a welcome change. Gilbert ran a fast-paced, pass-happy scheme for the Golden Hurricane that turned a two-win team into a bowl qualifier in 2015. Tulsa averaged 37.2 points per game, No. 21 nationally, and 333.2 passing yards per game, No. 11 nationally.
The Longhorns will pass, although it remains unclear who’ll be under center (Jerrod Heard, Tyrone Swoopes and freshmen Shane Buechele and Kai Locksley will all get a look). Know this, though: Texas will have a clear direction on offense, at long last.
6. Texas A&M OC Noel Mazzone
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Texas A&M and Kevin Sumlin needed to move in a new direction following 2015. The Aggies are known for their fast-paced passing offense, but something clearly wasn’t working in College Station.
Quarterbacks Kyle Allen and Kyler Murray both transferred following the regular season’s end, and Sumlin parted ways with offensive coordinator Jake Spavital. Sumlin turned to another proponent of the one-back, no-huddle offense in UCLA offensive coordinator Noel Mazzone.
Mazzone believes in a fast-paced, wide-open passing game and has plenty of experience, with stops at Ole Miss, Auburn, Oregon State, NC State, Arizona State and UCLA as an offensive coordinator. He has developed numerous quarterbacks, including rising UCLA sophomore Josh Rosen. This past season, UCLA finished No. 25 nationally in passing offense, piling up 288.4 passing yards per game. He’s a natural fit for the Aggies, who don’t need a huge stylistic change in a pivotal season for Sumlin.
5. Alabama DC Jeremy Pruitt
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Kirby Smart had long been regarded as one of the nation’s best assistant coaches and a prime head coaching candidate. So it was little surprise that Georgia targeted and landed Smart as its new head coach following Mark Richt’s firing. However, that left a big void on Nick Saban’s staff; Smart had been a part of Saban’s staff since his first day at Alabama and played a big role in a consistently nasty defense.
Saban is a man who deals in habit and comfort, so Jeremy Pruitt was a natural choice. The former Georgia and Florida State defensive coordinator spent six seasons on Alabama’s staff, coaching the Tide’s defensive backs from 2010-12.
In his lone season as FSU’s defensive coordinator, the Seminoles won the national title, leading the nation in scoring defense at 12.1 points per game and finishing third in total defense at 281.4 yards per game. He jumped to Georgia, and his personality caused conflicts. UGA and NFL legend Fran Tarkenton ripped Pruitt in a November interview with Atlanta sports radio station 680 The Fan, per Robby Kalland of CBSSports.com.
“I think (Pruitt) has come over and been very boisterous, been very loud,” Tarkenton said. “I think he's taken advantage of things over there. He personally has hired four of the assistant coaches over there including the weight guy. I'm not a great fan of Jeremy Pruitt. That has not been a good, workable solution.”
That said, the Bulldogs found success on the field.
Georgia finished No. 8 nationally in scoring defense, allowing 16.9 points per game, and seventh nationally in total defense, allowing 305.9 yards per game. The Tide sustained some losses in its front seven but should be talented again in 2016, and Pruitt brings clear continuity in scheme and style.
4. Arizona State OC Chip Lindsey
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Todd Graham has found sustainable success at Arizona State. While the Sun Devils slipped to 6-7 this season, they enjoyed consecutive 10-win seasons in 2013 and 2014 and built a brand keyed by a powerful, fast-paced offense.
That brand took a hit in December when Memphis hired away offensive coordinator Mike Norvell as its new head coach to replace Justin Fuente, but Graham found a very solid replacement in Chip Lindsey.
Lindsey has spent only four seasons as a collegiate assistant but has a long track record of success in the Alabama and Georgia high school ranks. He helped turn around a Southern Miss program that was in the gutter before coach Todd Monken arrived.
Southern Miss went from 0-12 in 2012 to a bowl trip in 2015, setting program records in total offensive yards, passing yards, points and touchdowns. He runs a fast-paced style, which will be an excellent fit with what Sun Devils fans got used to under Norvell. When Monken left for a job with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Lindsey was reportedly approached to replace him, but he’ll stay with Arizona State. Doug Haller of AZCentral.com reported that Lindsey received a $100,000 raise to stay with the Sun Devils.
ASU fans will probably be glad that he did.
3. Tennessee DC Bob Shoop
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Under Butch Jones’ watch, Tennessee is on the right track. The Volunteers have put together consecutive winning seasons, each of which were capped by a bowl-game rout of a Big Ten team. 2015 could have been better, though, and Jones knows it. The Vols blew double-digit, second-half leads in three of their four losses, falling to Oklahoma, Florida and Arkansas, and giving up a late touchdown drive in a 19-14 loss at eventual national champion Alabama.
The Vols defense allowed 20 points per game, No. 16 nationally, but it wasn’t good enough for Jones, who parted ways with defensive coordinator John Jancek. Hiring Bob Shoop away from Penn State to replace him was a major coup. Shoop spent the last five seasons with James Franklin at Vanderbilt and Penn State.
All three of his Vanderbilt defenses ranked in the Top 25 nationally in scoring defense. In 2014, Penn State finished second nationally in total defense and seventh in scoring defense. This fall, the Nittany Lions were No. 15 nationally in total defense, allowing 324.3 yards per game, and 21.8 points per game, No. 26 nationally.
Shoop has a strong track record of success, and he inherits a talented defense on Rocky Top. If he can make it just a little better, the Vols will take the next step forward as an SEC power.
2. LSU DC Dave Aranda
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When Kevin Steele bolted to Auburn following just one season as LSU’s defensive coordinator, it could have been a blow to Les Miles, who endured a turbulent November before hanging onto his job following an 8-3 regular season.
Instead, Miles upgraded. He lured Dave Aranda away from Wisconsin, and, in the process, got one of the nation’s fastest-rising coaches on his sideline. In three seasons as the Badgers’ defensive coordinator, Aranda was excellent. In that cumulative period, Wisconsin ranked among the Top Five nationally in scoring defense (16.9 PPG), total defense (289.4 yards per game), passing defense (179.9 YPG) and rushing defense (109.6 YPG). It led the nation in total defense and was second nationally in scoring defense in that span.
Last fall, Wisconsin’s defense was especially stingy. The Badgers led the nation in scoring defense, allowing 13.1 points per game and were third in total defense at 268.6 yards per game and fourth in rushing defense, yielding 95.4 yards per game.
Aranda will bring a simple, attacking style to Baton Rouge, which should mesh well with the talented group that Steele left behind. This should work out fine for all parties involved and keep LSU as an SEC West and College Football Playoff contender.
1. Michigan DC Don Brown
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Jim Harbaugh had a strong debut season at Michigan, turning a 5-7 team into a 10-3 group that is clearly on the rise. One consequence of that upward trajectory? Your assistants are highly prized. Such was the case for defensive coordinator D.J. Durkin, who led the nation’s No. 4 total defense but was plucked away as Maryland’s new head coach.
No matter. Harbaugh made a strong hire in Boston College’s Don Brown. The Eagles were an awful 3-9 in 2015, but it certainly wasn’t Brown’s fault. BC finished fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing 15.3 points per game, No. 2 nationally in rushing defense, allowing 82.8 points per game, and No. 6 in passing defense, allowing 171.6 yards per game.
He’ll inherit a talented defense keyed by an excellent secondary and safety Jabrill Peppers. With Brown on board, expect the Wolverines to maintain their high standards in 2016 and beyond.
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