College Football Coaching Debuts: Who Will Have the Most Early Success?
There’s no doubt that it’s important for a brand new college football coach to get off on the right and get a few wins under his belt early.
The pressure and expectations from the fan base can be taxing, and a few September W's can always help make the transition a little bit easier.
We’ve recently seen coaches like Dan Hawkins of Colorado and Mike Sherman of Texas A&M suffer embarrassing losses early on in their tenures, and they’ve still yet to recover years later.
This year we welcome 11 new head coaches to the BCS.
Some of those coaches are expected to come in right away and make a difference while others will be given a little more leniency and tolerance.
Let’s look at which new coaches will have the best chance to make a statement early on this season.
Lane Kiffin: USC Trojans
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After a turbulent offseason, Kiffin and the Trojans are more than ready to get back out on the field of play and escape all the distractions. USC starts the season away from the mainland as they visit Hawaii for a late opening night Thursday showdown against the Rainbow Warriors.
The last time the two teams played in 2005, USC beat Hawaii 63-17.
The rest of September isn’t shaping up be too challenging for the men of Troy. After hosting Virginia, the team will head to Minnesota and Washington State for back to back road games.
The combined 2009 record of Kiffin’s September foes is 16-34.
Jimbo Fisher: Florida State
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For the first time since 1975, the Florida State Seminoles will have a new coach roaming the sidelines. Jimbo Fisher takes over the head coaching duties in Tallahassee after long time coach Bobby Bowden was pushed out due to the team's decline.
Fisher wants to inject some energy back in the program, and he should have the right group to do it.
Senior quarterback Christian Ponder leads a talented squad that has a lot to prove.
After a home opener against FCS Samford, things get much tougher for the Noles when they travel to Norman for a contest with the Oklahoma Sooners.
That’s the type of statement game that can really put Fisher on the map as a coach, but it’s a daunting task for sure.
There will be no time to rest up after that battle. Florida State will host BYU the next weekend, and you can bet the Cougars will be out for blood after the Noles put up 54 points on them last season.
Skip Holtz: South Florida Bulls
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Jim Leavitt was the only coach the South Florida team ever knew in its 13 year existence. Now comes in Skip Holtz, fresh from an impressive tenure at East Carolina. Holtz has shed the “Lou’s son" label and has become his own man during his career.
Now he has chance to prove himself at a BCS school. With 10 offensive starter back including dangerous quarterback B.J. Daniels, the Bulls could be a dark horse for a conference title this year.
Outside of a visit to Gainesville, the early part of the schedule is in no better words—simply a joke.
The Bulls start by hosting Stony Brook, an FCS school who has never faced a major college opponent before. After a bye week to rest up from the battle with Florida, the team will face off against two Sun Belt teamsWestern Kentucky and Florida Atlantic.
The team should have some needed momentum going into Big East play.
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Tommy Tuberville: Texas Tech Red Raiders
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After taking a year off and working as a college football analyst for ESPN, Tommy Tuberville will return to the sidelines as coach of the Red Raiders in 2010. It will be a shift in styles from old coach Mike Leach, who ran the team in a much different fashion.
Tuberville was 85-40 in 10 years Auburn, and he knows what it takes to prepare a team to play.
Texas Tech starts things off with an instate battle against June Jones’ improving Southern Methodist squad before taking a trip out to New Mexico to battle with the Lobos.
There’s no reason to believe Tuberville won’t be 2-0 heading into the big matchup with Texas on September 18th.
If the new coach can pull off an upset of the Longhorns, it would be a huge boost for Tuberville and his efforts to get everyone around the program to buy into his philosophy.
Joker Phillips: Kentucky Wildcats
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Rookie head coach Joker Phillips takes over a Kentucky team that has made four straight bowl appearances. Former boss Rich Brooks has left the program in good shape, and the talent is certainly there to keep competing for years to come.
With players like running back Derrick Locke, receivers Randall Cobb and Chris Matthews, and linebacker Danny Trevathan—Kentucky could be one of the surprise teams in college football this year.
The Cats will first have to get by a sneaky road test against instate rival Louisville to start the season off. The Cardinals may not be the most talented team in the land, but they do have a rushing attack that could give any team fits.
After some easy games against Western Kentucky and Akron, the SEC schedule smacks Phillips and his team right in the face. Kentucky will have to travel to Florida to battle the Gators, who they haven’t beaten since 1986.
If the first year coach can pull of an improbable upset in The Swamp, he’ll have the whole college football world buzzing.
Butch Jones: Cincinnati Bearcats
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Like he did at Central Michigan three years ago, Butch Jones will once again fill the shoes of coach Brian Kelly, only this time he will be doing so at Cincinnati. Those shoes are big ones to fill; Kelly guided the school to three straight 10 win seasons in his short time there.
Luckily for Jones, he has some talented offensive players left over such as QB Zach Collaros, WR Armon Binns, and RB Isaiah Pead.
Jones may have the benefit of quality players to work with, but he doesn’t the benefit of an easy start to the season.
I can easily see the Bearcats falling to Fresno State on the road in their season opener.
After a breather against Indiana State, who finished 1-10 last season, Jones will have to prepare his team for challenging back to back non-conference games against North Carolina State and Oklahoma.
Derek Dooley: Tennessee Volunteers
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The abrupt departure of Lane Kiffin this winter left Tennessee shocked and scrambling for a new leader. They chose the less heralded Derek Dooley, son of former Georgia coach Vince Dooley, to fill the void. The pick left some Volunteer fans scratching their heads since Dooley only managed one winning season in three years at Louisiana Tech, and was coming off a less than impressive 4-8 campaign.
Dooley has embraced the challenge, and has started to pick up the pieces after the messy Kiffin exodus.
He should have no problem getting by UT Martin in the home opener. But with so many offensive question marks, it should be interesting to see how Dooley will fair in September tests against Oregon and Florida.
He's helped by the fact that both games take place in Knoxville. If he can knock off either team in front of the Tennessee faithful, it should help him gain the benefit of the doubt with a lot of fans.
Mike London: Virginia Cavaliers
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Mike London returns from a two year stint at Richmond with a new attitude and FCS championship to his credit. The former Virginia defensive assistant knows the program well, and should have them moving in the right direction over the next few years.
The Cavaliers will start the season off with London’s former team, the Richmond Spiders, before heading out west to take on the Trojans. After a bye week to rest up, Virginia will host VMI before heading into the thick of their ACC schedule.
They probably won’t pile up a lot of conference wins this year, but at least London will have the team feeling good about themselves for the first month of the season.
Charlie Strong: Louisville Cardinals
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In hindsight, it’s obvious that former Louisville coach Steve Kraghorpe was ill-equipped for handling the responsibility of leading a BCS program. Under Kragthorpe, the Cardinals slowly declined and continually sunk deeper into the abyss during his three year tenure.
It’s now up to former Florida defensive coordinator Charlie Strong to get them out of that deep hole. Strong is putting a strong foundation in place, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Louisville competing sooner rather than later.
They could have the most underrated running back duo in the country in junior Victor Anderson and senior Bilal Powell. Not to mention an experienced and talented offensive line to run behind.
We'll find out just how good that rushing attack can be when the Cardinals square off against in state rival Kentucky to begin the season. Strong will also have to mentally prepare his team for a tough road trip to the northwest to face Oregon State on September 18th.
Robbie Caldwell: Vanderbilt Commodores
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As usual, there weren’t many SEC fans who were expecting big things out of Vanderbilt this season, and that was before veteran head coach Bobby Johnson surprisingly retired in July. The task of trying to improve off a 2-10 season last year will now fall to interim coach Robbie Cadwell.
He’s only been on the job for six weeks, so it’s safe to say that Caldwell is a little behind the curve.
The Commodores will host a tough minded Northwestern team on the opening Saturday of the season. I think the team has what it takes to prevail in that contest, but the next two games won’t be quite as fun. Caldwell will have to figure out how to stop two tough SEC West opponents—LSU and Ole Missin back to back weeks.
Turner Gill: Kansas Jayhawks
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After being passed over for the Auburn coaching job last year, Turner Gill finally found a BCS home in Lawrence, Kansas this offseason. Gill, a longtime assistant at Nebraska, is familiar with the Big 12 landscape and he’s the type of guy that should be much more popular with his players than former coach Mark Mangino was.
Gill has some position holes to fill for the 2010 season, especially at the quarterback spot where the Jayhawks lost longtime starter Todd Reesing. But the schedule sets up pretty nicely to begin the year.
The Jayhawks have three very winnable games against North Dakota State, Southern Miss, and New Mexico State, and they also have a statement game at home against Georgia Tech on September 11th. I would actually give the edge to Kansas in that contest.
Gill should have no problem finding some momentum going into Big 12 play in October. The Jayhawks are another team that could surprise some people this season if they can get rolling early.
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