The Best and Worst 2012 Coaching Hires in the Pac-12

It happens ever year in college football. Coaches fail to live up to the program's expectations and they are eventually fired. Although this season, there have been a lot more coaches let go than usual.

A lot of the coaches that have been shown the door were at Pac-12 schools. There will be a lot of new faces roaming the sidelines in 2012 in that conference. Nearly all of those schools have already found a replacement and are working hard not to end up in the same position the last coach was in.

Here are some of the best and worst head coaching changes in the Pac-12 this season.

Best: Mike Leach to Washington State

Who saw this coming?

The Cougars somehow were able to land an offensive guru as a head coach and will instantly become relevant with their high-scoring offense. Fans are excited for the hire, and Leach will be able to attract tons of talented players on the West Coast. 

Let's not get ahead of ourselves, though, Washington State won't be reaching BCS bowl games right away. But Leach will have this team improved and highly competitive in no time.

That's really all a school can ask for that hasn't won a bowl game since 2003.

Worst: Jim Mora Jr. to UCLA

Hiring a former NFL coach worked for UCLA's rival, USC, but I'm not sure it will work for the Bruins.

Jim Mora has no college coaching experience and wasn't even that great when he was the head coach for the Atlanta Falcons. He is a great worker, very knowledgeable and could attract recruits with his personality, but not sure he'll be able to get the job done.

The success rate for coaches leaving the NFL to coach college just isn't that high.

Best: Rich Rodriguez to Arizona

Another Pac-12 team that hires an offensive-minded coach, which is a huge advantage considering the conference they are in.

Much like Leach, he will be able to recruit the players he needs to run his spread offense and have the Wildcats be relevant. With coaching changes happening all in the Pac-12, Arizona is a sleeper team to possibly win the South Division.

This is the perfect opportunity for Rodriguez to put the Michigan days behind him and have the same success he had at Clemson, Tulane and West Virginia.

Worst: Todd Graham to Arizona State

Former Pittsburgh coach Todd Graham has accepted the job to become the new head coach of the Arizona State Sun Devils.

It's not really the fact that Graham is a bad coach, although he did go 6-6 with Pittsburgh this season and is 49-29 overall. It's the fact that the Sun Devils had a shot at several other coaches, like Kevin Sumlin and June Jones.

He does have a solid bowl record at 3-1, but when you had a shot at other coaches, you have to look at this move as a failure.


Randy Chambers is a B/R Featured Columnist that covers College Football and the NFL. You can contact him @Randy_Chambers or [e-mail]