2011 College Football: Power Ranking the New College Football Coaches
Another college football season is in the books. For some teams (Auburn, TCU) it was memorable and worth savoring. For others, it was just the opposite.
Twenty-one Football Bowl Subdivision teams have hired a new head coach, either after firing their own or watching theirs leave for greener pastures. One team is still looking.
In about four years, we'll have a better idea of how good these hires actually are. Here is a ranking of the hires right now.
21. Pete Lembo, Ball State
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Ball State looked to the Football Championship Subdivision for its next head coach, plucking Pete Lembo from Elon.
Lembo was 79-36 in 10 years as a head coach in the FCS, spending five seasons at Elon and five season at Lehigh before that.
Lembo gets his break into the FBS via the Mid-American Conference.
20. Dan McCarney, North Texas
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North Texas tried hiring a high school head coach when it tabbed Todd Dodge as its man 2007 after Dodge enjoyed tremendous success in the state of Texas.
That union didn't work out. Now North Texas has gone a different direction, hiring Dan McCarney, who coached Iowa State for 12 seasons with that job ending in 2006.
McCarney went 56-85 in his time at Iowa State. That's not a great premonition, but North Texas is a step back in competition from Iowa State.
19. Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana-Lafayette
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Mark Hudspeth has been working with Mississippi State's offense, which averaged nearly 400 yards per game. He worked mainly with the passing game and wide receivers.
Hudspeth went 66-21 while coaching at Division II program North Alabama before he took the job at Mississippi State.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
18. Hugh Freeze, Arkansas State
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Yeah, it's that Hugh Freeze. The one that was featured in the movie The Blindside. He was recruiting coordinator at Ole Miss under Ed Orgeron from 2006-07 before taking over as interim head coach after Orgeron's firing.
Freeze held down fort until Ole Miss hired Houston Nutt. Now Freeze has his own gig. His success as a high school coach should help at Arkansas State.
17. Jon Embree, Colorado
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Colorado is hoping that Jon Embree is ready for his first head-coaching job. Embree has plenty of experience as an assistant coach, most recently coaching tight ends for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Embree was also previously assistant head coach at UCLA. He knows the Colorado program well, having spent 10 seasons as an assistant coach at the university.
16. Don Treadwell, Miami (Ohio)
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Don Treadwell got a chance to give head coaching a try this season while he was the offensive coordinator at Michigan State. While head coach Mark Dantonio was recovering from a heart attack, Treadwell took over.
The Spartans didn't miss a beat, even defeating Wisconsin while Dantonio rested up. Miami hopes that Treadwell can use his Big Ten pedigree to keep momentum rolling at the university.
15. Dave Doeren, Northern Illinois
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Wisconsin has created a reputation of strong defense over the past 15 years and Dave Doeren has carried on that tradition as defensive coordinator since 2005.
How much of that was Doeren's doing or how much of that was the doing of head coach and former defensive coordinator Brett Bielema is what Northern Illinois is wondering.
The Huskies hired Doeren as their man.
14. Steve Addazio, Temple
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Steve Addazio coached the offense for a national championship Florida Gators team in 2009. Sure, he had Tim Tebow, but Addazio is widely seen as a hot name in coaching.
Temple is hoping people are right.
After Al Golden got things rolling in Temple and then left for a bigger program, Addazio fills the void and should be a great hire.
13. James Franklin, Vanderbilt
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James Franklin is apparently viewed pretty highly by athletic directors. Franklin was head coach in waiting at Maryland before deciding to skip that opportunity to coach Vanderbilt.
Vanderbilt's expectations for its football program are never really high, but it does appreciate consistency. Franklin is young and energetic and ready to take the keys to program.
12. David Shaw, Stanford
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Stanford got into the coaching search a little late as John Harbaugh weighed his own illustrious and plentiful options.
Eventually Harbaugh left and Stanford decided to promote offensive coordinator David Shaw.
This makes a lot of sense. Shaw has been a large part of some of the school's greatest success and he'll continue to work with quarterback Andrew Luck. This was the right move for a program trying to capitalize on rare success.
11. Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia
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The way this hire went down was a little ugly. Dana Holgorsen was brought in as offensive coordinator and head coach in waiting without current head coach Bill Stewart really having a say.
Beyond the way Holgorsen was hired, he was a very good hire. He's piloted some of the NCAA's most prolific offenses at Houston and Oklahoma State. He's young, smart and on the cutting edge.
10. Darrell Hazell, Kent State
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Darrell Hazell has had the luxury of working for one of college football's most successful coaches for the past six seasons at Ohio State under Jim Tressel.
Hazell has extensive knowledge of the fertile Ohio recruiting grounds from his time at Ohio State, Rutgers and Western Michigan.
Hazell is a bit of an unknown, but has plenty going for him.
9. Paul Pasqualoni, Connecticut
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Connecticut decided to nab a former Big East coach when it hired Paul Pasqualoni to be its next head man. Pasqualoni coached Syracuse for 14 seasons, going 107-59-1.
Pasqualoni has spent his time since being fired from Syracuse in 2004 in the NFL. He was most recently coaching the Dallas Cowboys' defense.
His experience and success in the Big East are positive signs for Huskies fans.
8. Todd Graham, Pittsburgh
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Pitt had a strange hiring process that ended it in landing a very good head coach. First, Pitt hired Miami (Ohio)'s Mike Haywood. But domestic abuse charges got Haywood fired before he ever coached a practice.
Pitt scrambled and still was able to land Graham. Graham has found great success at Tulsa using a quirky, albeit extremely successful, offense.
Pitt made a great save by landing Graham in what could have been a disastrous situation.
7. Brady Hoke, Michigan
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Michigan needs a turnaround job. Brady Hoke specializes in just that. Hoke worked magic at both Ball State and San Diego State.
He may have been Michigan's third choice, but Michigan has always been Hoke's first. He's passionate about his new position.
Big Blue found its Michigan Man in Hoke. The program feels rejuvenated and it should. Hoke is a spectacular hire.
6. Rocky Long, San Diego State
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If Michigan or Stanford or any other BCS conference school hired Rocky Long, it would have caused an uproar. But San Diego State promoting him from defensive coordinator is pure brilliance.
Long turned New Mexico into a year-in-year-out contender in the Mountain West Conference. Now he's been handed the reins to the forward-moving San Diego State program.
Long knows the Mountain West. He'll make sure the Aztecs don't lose a step after Brady Hoke left.
5. Al Golden, Miami
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Al Golden brought Temple football back to relevance. His name has circulated as one of the top coaching prospects in the country for a couple of seasons now. Miami is the lucky winner.
The knock on Golden is that he hasn't performed well against teams with a winning record. Since 2006, Golden has beaten only two such teams.
But he'll be working with a different level of talent in Coral Gables, Fla.
4. Jerry Kill, Minnesota
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Jerry Kill has quite the project in front of him at Minnesota. If given enough time, Kill will have the Gophers turned around.
Minnesota isn't exactly a sleeping giant, but it's not far off either. Kill showed the ability to get the most out of people in his time at Northern Illinois. He'll have to do the same thing while in the Big Ten.
3. Kevin Wilson, Indiana
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Oklahoma has had the luxury of prolific offenses as of late, with great quarterback play from Landry Jones and Sam Bradford.
A lot of the credit can be paid to former offensive coordinator Kevin Wilson, now head coach at Indiana.
Honestly, Indiana is likely a short stop on Wilson's rise. He'll do some good things for the Hoosiers, but Indiana will have to enjoy the ride while it lasts.
2. Randy Edsall, Maryland
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Randy Edsall has specialized in doing a lot with a little in his time at Connecticut. Things get a little bit brighter at Maryland with a better conference and better facilities.
Recruiting will improve. Athletic boosters will improve. Edsall would feel spoiled if he wasn't so busy working. He's grounded and driven. Maryland will challenge for ACC titles very soon.
1. Will Muschamp, Florida
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If you were a financial investor and both Goldman-Sachs and Fidelity wanted to hire you as their lead investor, you'd have to had shown some serious promise.
That's the equivalent of Will Muschamp's decision this winter. He passed on being head coach in waiting at Texas to be head coach at Florida. Those may be the two best jobs in America.
Muschamp is defensive-minded. He's energetic. He's a brilliant recruiter. Well done, Florida.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
