Every 2016 1st-Year Coach's Biggest Offseason Question
In the pressure-filled world of college football, the coaching carousel is always busy, but it was especially hectic this offseason. A number of FBS programs decided that they weren’t happy with their current leaders, which led to something of a domino effect. Scandal and new athletic department leadership also played a role, and 28 programs ultimately changed head coaches.
This season’s new head coaches take over programs in various states of success. Some are set up to win immediately, while others are clear rebuilding jobs. They all have questions surrounding their first seasons in charge, though. Here’s a look at the biggest question facing each first-year head coach this fall.
Baylor Coach Jim Grobe
1 of 28
Three months ago, no one would have imagined Jim Grobe coaching college football this season. Of course, few could have fathomed the scope of the scandal that enveloped Baylor after an independent investigator concluded that coach Art Briles and his staff had obstructed and misled investigations into allegations of sexual assault and dating violence against his players. Briles has been suspended with intent to terminate, chancellor Kenneth Starr has been stripped of his power, and athletic director Ian McCaw has resigned.
They’ve left behind a program in turmoil. Seven recruits have decommitted from the program or asked for releases from their national letters of intent, and Baylor has brought in Grobe as “acting” head coach, at least for 2016. He built an impeccable reputation while at Wake Forest, winning a highly improbable ACC title in 2006. As ESPN.com's Max Olson wrote, Grobe hopes to steady Baylor's program while retaining Briles' staff.
The obvious question facing Grobe: Can he stabilize the Bears and get a talented roster ready for 2016? He has no ties to the staff Briles left behind, including offensive coordinator Kendal Briles, Art’s son, or the fast-paced scheme Baylor runs. Grobe has a huge task ahead of him as he tries to solidify a program in crisis with the season opener three months away.
Ball State Coach Mike Neu
2 of 28
Three years ago, Pete Lembo looked like one of the hottest coaching prospects in the “Group of Five.” Ball State finished 10-3 after making its second consecutive bowl appearance. The question wasn’t if Lembo would leave Muncie, Indiana, but when.
Last winter, Lembo left Ball State, but it was one step ahead of the posse. The Cardinals slipped to 3-9, and Lembo accepted an assistant coaching position under D.J. Durkin at Maryland. Ball State turned to alumnus Mike Neu, most recently an assistant with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints. Neu was a breath of fresh air during spring practice. According to Dakota Crawford of the Star-Press in Muncie, Ball State’s spring was loose, with players storming the end zone to celebrate with teammates following spring game touchdowns.
The atmosphere was one of newness and excitement. But emotion can go only so far. Can Neu translate the good times into wins in 2016 and get Ball State back to a bowl game? Figuring out how to do so will consume his offseason.
Bowling Green Coach Mike Jinks
3 of 28
Over the past 15 years, Bowling Green has become something of an incubator for Power Five college head coaches. Bowling Green gave Urban Meyer his first head coaching position; he went 17-6 in two seasons before jumping to Utah. Successor Greg Brandon wasn’t as successful, but Dave Clawson got the Falcons soaring again, winning a MAC title in 2013 and getting hired away by Wake Forest.
Program officials turned to Eastern Illinois coach Dino Babers, who continued the trend, going 18-9 in two seasons, with a MAC title in 2015. Syracuse noticed and plucked him to run his fast-paced offensive scheme in the Carrier Dome.
Bowling Green turned to a similar mold in hiring Mike Jinks as its next head coach. Jinks made a rapid rise through the FBS ranks; this is his fourth season as a college coach after a career spent in high schools. He learned plenty as a running backs coach in Texas Tech’s high-powered offense. However, the Red Raiders run the Air Raid scheme. How will it translate to players who are used to Babers’ fast-paced offense? That remains to be seen, and the adjustment to a new system could be a big storyline in 2016.
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BYU Coach Kalani Sitake
4 of 28
Kalani Sitake inherits a good situation from Bronco Mendenhall at BYU. Mendenhall surprised many by bolting for Virginia but left a solid foundation in Provo. He was 99-43 as BYU’s head coach, leading the Cougars to bowl games in each of his 11 seasons.
The biggest question for the former Oregon State defensive coordinator as he begins his first season at BYU has nothing to do with defense, however. Sitake must choose between Taysom Hill and Tanner Mangum as his starting quarterback.
When healthy, Hill is an excellent dual-threat passer, but injuries have sapped his potential. Two years ago, he suffered a torn ACL five games into the season, ending his year. Last fall, he went down with a Lisfranc fracture in his foot in the season opener at Nebraska, ending his season before it had much of a chance to get going.
Mangum made the most of his opportunity with huge plays. He threw a Hail Mary to beat Nebraska and followed it up with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Mitchell Juergens with 45 seconds left to stun Boise State. The freshman finished with 3,377 yards and 23 touchdowns against 10 interceptions.
The NCAA gave Hill a sixth year of eligibility, and he battled with Mangum this spring, although neither separated, per Jay Drew of the Salt Lake Tribune. Choosing a starter will have to wait until August (or beyond), and it’ll be the first significant decision of Sitake’s BYU tenure.
Central Florida Coach Scott Frost
5 of 28
Last fall, Central Florida hit rock bottom. With star quarterback Blake Bortles leading the way, George O’Leary’s program made the Fiesta Bowl and punctuated the 2013 season by knocking off Baylor. But when Bortles bolted to the NFL, the Knights fell hard and fast. O’Leary began 2015 as Central Florida’s head coach and interim athletic director. By the end of an 0-12 season, he was neither.
Enter Scott Frost. The former Nebraska quarterback proved himself as Oregon’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach and was a driving force behind Marcus Mariota’s Heisman Trophy-winning campaign in 2014. He’ll inherit one of the best Group of Five programs (at least in terms of infrastructure) with a prime location and excellent recruiting base.
Building UCF back to prominence won’t be an overnight job. As he enters his first season as a head coach, Frost must convince his new charges that they can win again. The immediate past is ugly, but there’s plenty of evidence they can regain some swagger—at least eventually.
East Carolina Coach Scottie Montgomery
6 of 28
East Carolina had one of the more surprising firings of the 2015-16 coaching carousel. Ruffin McNeill had seemingly established himself with the Pirates, riding a three-year streak of postseason eligibility entering 2015. But East Carolina unceremoniously sacked McNeill following a 5-7 season and replaced him with Duke assistant Scottie Montgomery.
The former Duke receiver played a big role in the Blue Devils’ recent success, sandwiching a stint as a Pittsburgh Steelers assistant between seven years in Durham that saw him go from wide receivers coach to offensive coordinator for the past two seasons. Montgomery learned well from mentor David Cutcliffe but has only two years’ experience as a coordinator. Will that be enough for immediate success with the Pirates, or will there be a learning curve? We’ll find out as ECU fans do.
Georgia Coach Kirby Smart
7 of 28
After 15 seasons with Mark Richt, it was time for a change in Athens. Three consecutive seasons without a trip to the SEC Championship did the trick for Georgia officials, who parted ways with Richt. Former Bulldogs player and assistant Kirby Smart was a natural choice for UGA; he had excelled as Alabama’s defensive coordinator under Nick Saban’s watchful eye.
Smart made his first big splash as UGA coach by ensuring that Jacob Eason would sign with the Bulldogs, honoring a commitment made to Richt’s staff. The 6’5”, 208-pound pocket passer is the nation’s No. 5 overall recruit, per 247Sports, and a key building block for Smart’s program.
It also set up the biggest question of his first season in Athens. Will Eason play, and if so, will he cement a role as Georgia’s franchise quarterback? He spent the spring competing with senior Greyson Lambert and junior Brice Ramsey in a three-way competition.
Eason stood out in Georgia’s spring game, completing 19 of 29 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown. The question: Will his potential be enough to unseat Lambert, who threw for 1,959 yards with 12 touchdowns against two interceptions in 2015? The answer will have to wait until the fall, but it’s all Georgia fans will want to talk about this summer.
Georgia Southern Coach Tyson Summers
8 of 28
Georgia Southern has made a big impression on the FBS. The Eagles were long a FCS power, a status punctuated with a 2013 win at Florida. In two seasons, Willie Fritz showed that Southern clearly belonged.
The Eagles went 17-9 under Fritz, taking Georgia, Georgia Tech and N.C. State to the wire and staying competitive in the Sun Belt, earning the program’s first bowl bid. That got Tulane’s attention, and the Green Wave snagged Fritz to revive its stagnant program.
GSU turned to Colorado State defensive coordinator Tyson Summers. Summers won’t reinvent the wheel in Statesboro, keeping the gun triple-option that Fritz ran to such success. However, to take the next step in the Sun Belt, the Eagles must pass better. They threw four touchdowns against 10 interceptions last fall, with starter Kevin Ellison throwing four TDs against five interceptions and passing for 597 yards, completing 44.9 percent of his passes.
To be taken more seriously as an offense, the Eagles must show they can be dangerous both running and passing the ball.
Hawaii Coach Nick Rolovich
9 of 28
Under June Jones, Hawaii was worth staying up for on Saturday nights. With a wide-open, pass-first offense, the Warriors were relevant in major college football circles. Quarterback Timmy Chang set the NCAA record for career passing yardage, and Jones went 75-41 in eight seasons before heading to SMU. Replacement Greg McMackin won a WAC title in 2010, but the program has fallen off the map since. Norm Chow went 10-36 before being fired near the end of the 2015 season, and the program hired former Hawaii quarterback and assistant Nick Rolovich away from Nevada to replace him.
Hawaii is a shell of what it once was; its location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean makes it difficult to recruit, as recent on-field results have shown. Two years ago, athletic director Ben Jay suggested that a $2.1 million deficit might lead to the program’s demise, a statement he later backed off.
Still, that’s a tough situation to inherit. The biggest question facing Rolovich as he begins his head coaching tenure: How does he make Hawaii relevant again? That might take longer than a season to answer.
Iowa State Coach Matt Campbell
10 of 28
Iowa State is one of the toughest, if not the toughest, outposts in the Power Five. Cyclones fans are famously loyal, but even they had seen enough of Paul Rhoads by the end of the 2015 season. Rhoads took ISU to a bowl game in three of his first four seasons but fell off badly after that, going 8-28, with four Big 12 wins in his next three years. A pair of ugly collapses against Oklahoma State and Kansas State finally sealed Rhoads’ fate, and the program fired him.
Iowa State hired Toledo coach Matt Campbell (who impressed AD Jamie Pollard by beating Iowa State in 2015, as the Des Moines Register's Tommy Birch noted) to replace him. Campbell is high-energy and expects the same from his players. He has a decent offensive foundation to build on with tailback Mike Warren, one of the top returning backs in the Big 12 coming off a 1,339-yard freshman season, and quarterback Joel Lanning.
The biggest question: Can the Cyclones maintain their newfound energy and attitude amid a very tough schedule that includes road games at Iowa, TCU, Texas and Oklahoma State in the first seven games of 2016? That won’t be easy.
Illinois Coach Lovie Smith
11 of 28
The past 10 months have been anything but calm at Illinois. Two weeks before the 2015 season began, Illinois fired coach Tim Beckman following an internal investigation into his conduct toward players. Bill Cubit took over as interim head coach and did a passable job, going 5-7 and just missing postseason play. The program rewarded him with a promotion into the role full time, albeit with a two-year contract, shorter than normal for FBS head coaches.
But on his first day on the job, new Illinois athletic director Josh Whitman fired Cubit just as spring practice was about to begin. Whitman made a splash by hiring former Chicago Bears and Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Lovie Smith, whom the Bucs had canned two months earlier.
It was an attention-grabbing hire, but Smith hasn’t been a college coach since 1995, when he served as Ohio State’s linebackers coach before taking the same position with the Bucs. A lot has changed in 21 years. How quickly will Lovie conquer the learning curve in Champaign this fall?
Louisiana-Monroe Coach Matt Viator
12 of 28
Since moving to NCAA Division I-A status in 1994, Louisiana-Monroe has consistently been one of the dregs of the FBS. The Warhawks have exactly one winning season in 22 years at college football’s highest level. That incredible season came in 2012, when ULM upset Arkansas and finished 8-5, earning a bid to the nearby Independence Bowl.
That success was short-lived, though. Coach Todd Berry went 12-25 in the following three seasons, including a 2-11 disaster in 2015. ULM officials could wait no longer and fired Berry, replacing him with McNeese State coach Matt Viator. Viator had great success in 10 seasons at McNeese, going 78-33, with five FCS playoff appearances.
The biggest question is this: Can Viator duplicate his success at a program that has proved itself as one of the worst in the FBS and the Sun Belt? He’ll need to spend the offseason building his players’ confidence to have any hope of doing so.
Maryland Coach D.J. Durkin
13 of 28
Right from the start, Randy Edsall was an uninspired hire at Maryland. In five seasons, Edsall’s ceiling with the Terrapins was very low (a pair of 7-6 seasons in 2013 and 2014). With Maryland’s move into the Big Ten, that wasn’t acceptable. Maryland fired Edsall six games into 2015, ending his Terps tenure with a 22-33 record.
Maryland officials needed a coach who would bring greater energy and intensity, and they found it with D.J. Durkin. The Michigan defensive coordinator worked under both Urban Meyer and Jim Harbaugh, and he has been charged with pumping up the atmosphere surrounding the program.
Improving the offense is also a must. Quarterbacks Perry Hills and Caleb Rowe both return and will compete for the job, but neither was impressive in 2015, combining for 14 touchdowns against 28 interceptions. To have anything approximating success in the tough Big Ten East, Durkin and his staff must identify a quarterback they can win with on a consistent basis and build his confidence.
Memphis Coach Mike Norvell
14 of 28
It’s hard to understate how impressive Justin Fuente’s work at Memphis was. When Fuente took over the program in 2012, a team that was mediocre in its best seasons had become one of the nation’s worst, winning five games in the previous three seasons combined under Tommy West and Larry Porter.
With a fast-paced offensive scheme, Fuente quickly changed the Tigers’ fortunes. In 2014, Memphis broke through with its first 10-win season and followed it with a nine-win campaign in 2015. Fuente earned the Virginia Tech job with Frank Beamer’s retirement, which raised the question: How do you replace him?
Memphis made a solid hire in Arizona State offensive coordinator Mike Norvell, who served as Todd Graham’s right-hand man and led a pair of 10-win seasons fueled by a high-octane offense. NFL first-round pick Paxton Lynch is gone, but former Tennessee quarterback Riley Ferguson is ready to step in and pick up the slack.
USA Today's Dan Wolken says Norvell has embraced the city and the possibilities that Memphis offers:
"For me to recruit young men to Memphis is not hard. It sells itself. Our football program, where we’re going, winning 19 games in the last two years, there’s an expectation there but when you turn on the TV and played Ole Miss last year it wasn’t a stadium full of red. Even the Navy game, there were 60,000 for a conference game. Our responsibility is to take the next step and continue to push to levels many people might not believe we can get to. But four years ago, I don’t think many people would have believed where it’s at right now. It’s our responsibility to continue to head that direction.
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Can Ferguson and Norvell team to keep Memphis as one of the best Group of Five teams? Tigers fans have tasted success, and a drop-off won’t be treated kindly.
Missouri Coach Barry Odom
15 of 28
Gary Pinkel had an incredible run at Missouri. In 15 seasons leading the Tigers, Pinkel had 10 winning seasons and compiled a 18-73 record, including a pair of SEC East championships that legitimized Missouri’s invitation into the powerful league.
But all good things must come to an end, and following a 5-7 season that saw a personal cancer diagnosis, Pinkel stepped down at the end of 2015. Missouri didn’t look far for his replacement, elevating defensive coordinator Barry Odom into the head coach’s seat.
Missouri had an excellent defense, yielding just 302 yards per game in 2015 (sixth best nationally), but the offense let the Tigers down. The Mizzou offense managed just 13.6 points per game, second worst among 128 FBS teams.
That won’t cut it in the SEC. Drew Lock (who threw for 1,332 yards with four touchdowns against eight interceptions) returns as the starter, but Odom must find out quickly if he can win with Lock under center. If Lock doesn’t show significant improvement, it could be a long debut voyage in Columbia.
North Texas Coach Seth Littrell
16 of 28
Dan McCarney helped guide North Texas from the Sun Belt to Conference USA and found some initial success. In 2013, the Mean Green went 9-4 and made a bowl game. But it was all downhill from there. North Texas was 4-13 afterward, with McCarney getting canned following an 0-5 start to 2015.
UNT officials went the same route that other area Group of Five programs such as Houston, Tulsa and SMU have traveled, with varying success: hire a Power Five offensive coordinator who’ll bring a high-scoring, fast-paced scheme with him. North Texas’ choice was North Carolina offensive coordinator Seth Littrell, who, at 37, is the fifth-youngest FBS head coach. The Tar Heels averaged over 40 points per game in 2015 and won the ACC Coastal Division.
Of course, Littrell won’t have the offensive talent that he did at North Carolina, at least not initially. The biggest question for him: How quickly can he get his new team to buy into the uptempo lifestyle and succeed?
Miami Coach Mark Richt
17 of 28
Sometimes, it’s just time for a change of scenery. Mark Richt had tremendous success at Georgia. In 15 seasons, he went 145-51 with two SEC championships, 15 bowl bids and 14 winning seasons. His teams won at least 10 games nine times. But by the end of his tenure in Athens, the relationship had gone stale. The Bulldogs missed the SEC title game in a down SEC East three consecutive seasons, and UGA officials parted ways with him following the 2015 season.
Luckily, he had a soft landing. Miami was looking for a leader after jettisoning Al Golden (with the nadir a program-worst 58-0 home loss to Clemson), and Richt, a Miami alum and South Florida native, was a natural fit. Working with one of the nation’s top pro-style quarterbacks in Brad Kaaya was a plus, too.
Now, the fun part starts. Miami hasn’t made the ACC title game since joining the league a decade ago. Can Richt get enough out of a solid core left behind by Golden to make the ACC Championship in a topsy-turvy ACC Coastal? That question will dog him this preseason, through the season and until he takes the Hurricanes to a title game.
Rutgers Coach Chris Ash
18 of 28
Rutgers made a solid, if not spectacular entry into the Big Ten fray in 2014. The Scarlet Knights made a bowl and defeated North Carolina, raising hopes for 2015. They were quickly dashed.
A turbulent offseason with multiple player arrests carried over into the regular season, as coach Kyle Flood received a three-game suspension for attempting to influence a player’s grades. He and athletic director Julie Herrmann were fired after Rutgers completed a 4-8 season, and the Knights brought in Ohio State defensive coordinator Chris Ash to right the ship.
He has a lot of work ahead, but one of the most pressing questions is at quarterback. Last fall, Chris Laviano threw for 2,247 yards with 16 touchdowns against 12 interceptions, but he competed with Hayden Rettig this spring. Ash didn't name a starter, and the battle will carry over into preseason camp. Steve Politi of the NJ.com said the new quarterback might not even be on campus yet.
If Ash hopes to stabilize the program in his first season, he’ll need to name a solid leader under center.
Southern California Coach Clay Helton
19 of 28
Southern California could have looked down a lot of avenues for its next head coach. The Trojans are one of the nation’s most tradition-rich programs, with excellent facilities and a great recruiting base on the West Coast. Instead, Trojans officials chose stability.
Clay Helton righted a listing ship following Steve Sarkisian’s dismissal on alcohol-related issues, leading the charge to a Pac-12 South title and an 8-5 overall record. The program rewarded him with the full-time role, but his job won’t be easy. The Trojans begin the 2016 season against defending national champion Alabama at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, a daunting task for any program.
It’s imperative for Southern California to have a quarterback who won’t be intimidated by the environment. Cody Kessler wouldn’t have been cowed, but he is now with the NFL’s Cleveland Browns after finishing his college eligibility last fall.
Kessler’s understudy, Max Browne, and mobile freshman Sam Darnold battled through spring practice to fill the role. Browne, a junior, completed eight of 12 passes for 113 yards in limited action last fall and led Darnold following spring, although Helton hasn’t named a starter. It would be smart for Helton to do so quickly, but until then, fans will worry about who’ll line up across from the Crimson Tide’s nasty defensive line in North Texas.
South Carolina Coach Will Muschamp
20 of 28
Will Muschamp came to South Carolina for a second shot at head coaching success. It won’t be easy, at least early on. Muschamp succeeded Urban Meyer at Florida and ran the Gators into mediocrity, going 28-21 in four seasons, including an ugly 4-8 record in 2013. But following a one-year stopover as Auburn’s defensive coordinator, Muschamp impressed South Carolina officials enough to get a shot at cleaning up the mess Steve Spurrier left behind.
Spurrier had a great run but an awful finish at South Carolina, putting together three consecutive 11-win seasons from 2011-13. But the Gamecocks’ talent level dropped off, and USC slipped to 7-6 in 2014 and 2-4 before Spurrier walked away in the middle of 2015. The Gamecocks finished 3-9, including an embarrassing home loss to The Citadel.
It will take time for Muschamp to dig out, and year one could be ugly, especially after losing star linebacker Skai Moore to season-ending neck surgery. It could be easier with a settled starting quarterback, but that’s wide-open entering fall.
Freshman Brandon McIlwain and holdovers Perry Orth and Lorenzo Nunez competed in the spring, and high-profile recruit Jake Bentley reclassified to the 2016 class and will be on campus this fall. Who will Muschamp pick? No one knows, but he needs to decide quickly.
Southern Miss Coach Jeff Hopson
21 of 28
Life as a Group of Five program can be difficult. Getting Power Five programs to schedule you for home games can be difficult, and any measure of success means you’re looking over your shoulder to see if a bigger program will poach your head coach. Southern Miss knows this all too well. The Eagles thrived under Larry Fedora until Fedora left for greener pastures at North Carolina.
Fedora’s replacement, Ellis Johnson, presided over a disastrous 0-12 season that Todd Monken was finally digging out from, taking Southern Miss to a Conference USA division title and a bowl game. But just before national signing day, Monken bolted to become an assistant with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The Eagles scrambled and hired former Jeff Bower assistant Jay Hopson, who had been successful at in-state FCS school Alcorn State, going 32-17 in four years with a pair of SWAC titles. He inherits C-USA Offensive Player of the Year Nick Mullens, who threw for over 4,400 yards a year ago. Hopson runs a similar offensive system to Monken’s wide-open scheme. The question: How quickly can Southern Miss adapt to a coach who’s still unpacking his bags in Hattiesburg, and will it be enough to chase a league title?
Syracuse Coach Dino Babers
22 of 28
Syracuse had seen about enough of Scott Shafer. The famously tough-nosed coach led the Orange to a bowl win and seven victories in his first season but regressed badly over his next two, piling up seven total victories in 2014 and 2015.
The program needed a spark, and Dino Babers was just the man to replace Shafer. Babers runs a fast-paced offense that succeeded both at FCS Eastern Illinois and Bowling Green, winning a MAC title in 2015.
The Orange return 18 starters, including quarterback Eric Dungey, who showed flashes of promise while throwing for 11 touchdowns against five interceptions as a freshman. However, Babers’ style is a huge departure from Shafer’s slower scheme. The Orange ran 155 plays in 100 minutes in their spring game, and Babers didn’t seem satisfied. "We'll never be that slow again," he said, per Stephen Bailey of Syracuse.com.
Babers will push the pace. How quickly can his new team adjust to the uptempo lifestyle might determine Syracuse’s ceiling in 2016.
Texas-San Antonio Coach Frank Wilson
23 of 28
Texas-San Antonio has come a long way in six years. Six years ago, the Roadrunners didn’t even have a football program. Former Miami coach Larry Coker changed that, shepherding UTSA into the FBS and Conference USA. He had some success, going 8-4 in 2012 and 7-5 in 2013. But the Roadrunners slipped, going 4-8 in 2014 and 3-9 in 2015, which cost Coker his job.
UTSA turned to LSU assistant Frank Wilson, regarded as an excellent recruiter, to turn around the program. It will take him some time to get the talent he wants, but this fall will be all about building confidence in the players Coker has left behind. Can he create a culture of success? That will be the biggest question this fall.
Texas State Coach Everett Withers
24 of 28
Texas is one of the most talent-rich football states in America. Texas State chose to capitalize on this wealth of talent by moving a successful FCS program into the FBS, but it hasn’t worked out the way the Bobcats had hoped.
Since joining the FBS in 2011, Texas State has a pair of six-win seasons and a seven-win season and became a member of the Sun Belt, but it hasn’t made a bowl game yet. Veteran coach Dennis Franchione did an admirable job but never quite got the program over the hump. Following a 3-9 season in 2015, it was time for a change.
Texas State hired James Madison coach Everett Withers, who has had success as a head coach. Withers led North Carolina to a bowl as the interim coach in 2011 and took James Madison to the FCS playoffs in both of his seasons there, compiling a 25-13 record. The biggest question facing him this fall: Can he be the guy who takes Texas State to its first bowl game? He’ll need a successful season in the Sun Belt to do so.
Toledo Coach Jason Candle
25 of 28
Toledo has found success staying within its own program. Tim Beckman took the Rockets to a pair of eight-win seasons and bowl games in 2010 and 2011, which got Illinois’ attention. The Fighting Illini hired Beckman, and Toledo promoted assistant Matt Campbell into the head role.
Campbell was very good with the Rockets, going 35-15 with four winning seasons and three bowl trips in four years. He earned Iowa State’s head role, and again, the Rockets opted to hire from within, elevating offensive coordinator Jason Candle to the head coaching position.
Toledo has established itself as one of the MAC’s best programs. The biggest question surrounding Candle as he enters his first season: Can he keep it going and live up to the program’s reputation?
Tulane Coach Willie Fritz
26 of 28
Hurricane Katrina rocked New Orleans, and it rocked Tulane’s football program, as well. The Green Wave were forced to spend a season on the road when Katrina hit and, despite opening a gleaming new stadium, have yet to really recover. Tulane has won more than four games just once in the last decade, a 7-6 record in 2013.
However, Curtis Johnson followed the bowl bid with a pair of 3-9 seasons, and Tulane let him go after the 2015 season. The Green Wave turned in a different direction to revive their program, hiring Georgia Southern coach Willie Fritz. Fritz led GSU’s successful transition to FBS and took the Eagles to their first bowl game in 2015. He employs the flexbone option, which has been very prolific. GSU averaged 363 rushing yards per game last fall, leading the FBS in rushing.
The big question: Can the flexbone find traction in New Orleans, and how will Johnson’s holdovers adapt to a new offensive system? It’ll be fascinating to watch the option face off against air-it-out programs such as Houston, Tulsa, Memphis and SMU in the American Athletic Conference.
Virginia Coach Bronco Mendenhall
27 of 28
It was obvious to anyone with a pair of working eyes that Mike London wasn’t getting it done at Virginia. London was a nice guy with a clean background, but following an 8-5 season in 2011, the Cavaliers put up four consecutive losing seasons, and the program fired London with a 27-46 record. The hiring of Bronco Mendenhall (who had 11 winning seasons in 11 years at BYU) was a pleasant surprise and a big momentum builder for the Cavaliers.
One of the biggest questions: Who’ll play quarterback? Returnee Matt Johns threw 20 touchdowns against 17 interceptions, but he has competition. East Carolina graduate transfer Kurt Benkert will battle for the job as one of five scholarship quarterbacks.
By bringing Benkert in, Mendenhall showed that he isn’t satisfied with Johns. Will he hang on to the job in 2016? Mendenhall will have to decide that early on this fall.
Virginia Tech Coach Justin Fuente
28 of 28
It’s a new era in Lane Stadium. For the first time since 1986, someone not named Frank Beamer will be roaming the sidelines and coaching Virginia Tech. The longest-tenured coach in the FBS ranks retired following the 2015 season, and while Beamer did great things at Tech (including seven league titles between the ACC and Big East), it was time for a change.
Following a run of eight consecutive seasons with at least 10 wins, the Hokies were just 29-23 over the next four seasons. New coach Justin Fuente, coming off an impressive run at Memphis that saw him pile up 19 wins over two seasons, brings a fast-paced offense that will enliven a program that had become plodding in Beamer’s final years.
To make the offense work, however, Fuente needs a quarterback who can run his system capably. The Hokies exited spring without settling on an offensive leader between senior Brenden Motley and junior college transfer Jerod Evans.
Motley got experience last fall while Brewer missed six games with a broken collarbone. He threw for 1,155 yards with 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions, but the Hokies were 3-3 in that span.
Mobile junior college passer Jerod Evans was Fuente’s first recruit after arriving at Tech. He had a solid day in the Hokies’ spring game, throwing for 104 yards and a touchdown. Meanwhile, Motley completed four of 10 passes for 19 yards and was sacked three times.
Fuente needs to settle on a quarterback. His choice will define the preseason and early portion of Virginia Tech’s 2016, including a much-hyped Battle at Bristol against Tennessee expected to attract over 150,000 fans.
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