College Football 2011: The 5 Most Impactful Offseason Coaching Hires

Usually, coaching hires take a couple of years to see results.  That is what separates these 5 from the ordinary crop of coaches.  They should make an immediate positive impact on their teams.  Whether it is simply rejuvenating a disinterested fan base, making a bowl game, improving the talent on the roster or taking that next step among the college football's elite, these coaches have what it takes to be great.

5. Brady Hoke, University of Michigan Wolverines

We begin the offseason hires in Ann Arbor, Michigan.  What a tumultuous three-year run it was under the Rich Rodriguez regime.  NCAA sanctions, terrible defense and an impatient fan base ultimately ushered "RichRod" out early.

The Rich Rodriguez hire also sealed the fate of former athletic director Bill Martin.  New AD Dave Brandon decided to go with a "Michigan Man" in Brady Hoke to change the culture at Michigan.  All Brady Hoke has done is sign 14 recruits for next year's class already, reinvigorate the fan base and unite the alumni.

Not bad for six months work.  Whether the results show up right away remains to be seen.  One thing is for sure, this team will be strong fundamentally and will play with incredible heart and enthusiasm.

Finally, the best part about this hire for Michigan is that this is Brady Hoke's dream job.  He won't ever leave for greener pastures.  If he is successful, this is his job until he doesn't want it anymore.  What a refreshing change that is in today's college football landscape.

4. Dan McCarney, University of North Texas Mean Green

One of the most under-the-radar hires of the off-season, McCarney, most recently an assistant under "the Pontiff," Urban Meyer at Florida, brings a strong coaching pedigree to Denton, Texas.  

North Texas had been an afterthought during the regime of most recent coach Todd Dodge, whose "Dodge Ball" was a failure in the Sun Belt and saw him get fired midway through last season.  It has been hard to stomach recently for long-spoiled Mean Green fans, who as recently as 2004 saw their team consistently running away with the Sun Belt and playing in Bowl Games with the likes of Jamario Thomas at running back.  

McCarney got famous for being competitive in a brutal Big-12 at Iowa State.  Among his accolades were coaching the only running back to have back-to-back 2,000 yard seasons in Division 1-A history in Troy Davis and having ferocious, hard-hitting defenses. McCarney also led Iowa State to five bowl games in his 12 seasons in Ames, which is the most by any Iowa State coach. So, expectations are that North Texas should be fighting for Sun Belt titles again very soon.  McCarney demands excellence and accountability and can recruit an entire team within 2 hours of Denton.  The pieces are in place for success, it's up to McCarney to make Mean Green fans proud again. 

3. Al Golden, University of Miami Hurricanes

What Al Golden did with the Temple program before arriving in Coral Gables cannot be understated. Temple was kicked out of the Big East and almost stopped playing football altogether before Golden was hired.  Sure, Temple never won the Mid-American Conference under his watch, but for him to have Temple even be relevant in the fickle Philadelphia market and competing and playing in bowl games is sensational.  He inherits a Miami team that is talent-laden, deep, fast and experienced, especially on defense, but lacks confidence.  

Former coach Randy Shannon tried to instill a more professional off-the-field demeanor and behavior, but his teams often lacked the killer instinct in big games to put teams away.  They also struggled to play to their potential in tough environments.  Golden's biggest asset is his ability to get his teams to play with confidence and attitude.  That should endear him to a notoriously impatient and fickle Miami fan base that grew tired of the persistent mental mistakes and subsequent mediocrity.  

The biggest question with Golden and why he is not number one on this list is, can he bring Miami back to an elite-level?  That will all depend on whether or not he can restore QB Jacory Harris' shaken mental make-up.  If he can make Jacory Harris a household name again, as he was coming out of high school, watch out, the Hurricanes will be really good in a hurry.

2. Jerry Kill, University of Minnesota Golden Gophers

Minnesota got a good one when they hired Jerry Kill to revive their program this off-season.  All he has done is win wherever he has gone.  

He took over a bad and irrelevant Southern Illinois program in the FCS sub-division in 2001 and in his third season led them to the FCS playoffs.  He would end up taking the Salukis to five straight playoff appearances from 2003-2007 including three straight Gateway Football Conference titles.  

Most recently, he led Northern Illinois to a 10-3 record and a Mid-American Conference title in just three years after taking over for Joe Novak, who retired just as the program was getting a little bit stale.  Kill inherits another tough situation with the Gophers.  He seems to seek out tough situations. Minnesota was a consistent bowl contender under Glen Mason before he was fired after the 2005 season.  The program took a huge step back under Tim Brewster and now it is up to Kill to restore respectability in Minneapolis.

It may take a couple years to get back to where the fans would like, but Kill will upgrade the talent and ensure that the Gophers are well-coached as long as he is there.  It will be a nice change for the long-suffering Gopher fans.  

1. Dana Holgorsen, West Virginia University Mountaineers

And we finally come to the best hire of this off-season.  Dana Holgorsen came into a turbulent situation which saw him be hired as the coach-in-waiting in December, only to find out that former coach, and supposed West Virginia golden-boy Head Coach Bill Stewart allegedly went to the media to try and dig up dirt on the new guy in Morgantown.  Whether true or not, it sealed the fate of Bill Stewart, and Holgorsen gets to take the reigns a year early.  To add insult to injury, the rabid West Virginia fans had grown tired of the mediocrity under Stewart.

Holgorsen made his hay as an offensive assistant under Mike Leach at Texas Tech for nearly a decade before taking the University of Houston Offensive Coordinator position in 2008.  All Houston did for the two years Holgorsen was there was average a Playstation-like 563 yards of total offense, 42.2 points per game and led the nation in total offense in 2009.  Last year when Holgorsen was the Offensive Coordinator at Oklahoma State, the Cowboys broke five offensive records.

Holgorsen inherits a solid West Virginia team that should be immensely better right away.  The West Virginia defense did not allow a regular season opponent to score more than 20 points in a game, and yet they still lost 4 games.  The issue was the offense, and that will not be the problem this season.  Judging by Holgorsen's past successes and the fact that West Virginia returns the Big East's most efficient passer in 2010 in QB Geno Smith, it is safe to say few teams in the nation will be able to keep up with the pyrotechnics that will be erupting inside Milan-Puskar stadium this season.  With a Big East conference in flux and a defense that should still be really good, a BCS berth and possibly a national championship berth are not out of the realm of possibilities.  Holgorsen should win big in his first season and put the Mountaineers back in the nation's elite class.