The Ghostwriter

Roughest Coaching Start

5. Dave Clawson (Bowling Green): The former offensive coordinator for the Volunteers is off to a rocky 3-5 start in Bowling Green. It certainly doesn’t help Clawson’s case that his predecessor, Gregg Brandon, only had one losing season in six years. That being said, the situation should still be treated with patience, as Clawson also struggled in his initial seasons with Fordham and Richmond before ultimately turning around those programs.

4. Mike Haywood (Miami OH): The former Notre Dame offensive coordinator inherited a 2-10 team and has turned it into an 0-8 squad in his first year. His Miami predecessor, Shane Montgomery, was one of only two coaches in team history to last more than two years without putting together an overall winning record. This means that the writing may be on the wall for Haywood if his team doesn’t improve in 2010.

3. Ron English (Eastern Michigan): Louisville’s former defensive coordinator took last year’s 3-9 squad and made them into an 0-7 team thus far. Unlike the two previous colleges on this list, Eastern Michigan is used to defeat and hasn’t had a winning season in the last 13 years. Therefore, despite his current state of winlessness, English may be on a longer leash.

2. Mike Locksley (New Mexico): The former offensive coordinator for the Illini appears to have the rare distinction of severely crippling two schools in the same year. His absence in Illinois has clearly been felt as last year’s top passing offense in the Big Ten has yet to even register a victory in its own conference this year. Meanwhile, he’s inherited a 4-8 New Mexico team and turned them into an 0-7 squad. Locksley is supposed to be an elite recruiter though so we’ll give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

1. Stan Parrish (Ball State): With Parrish serving as the offensive coordinator, Ball State enjoyed three of the four most productive seasons in school history. However, now that he’s taken over the head coaching position, the Cardinals have dropped from an 8-5 team to a 1-7 squad. The most unsettling trend is that, despite his success as a coordinator, Parrish has a history of underwhelming as a head coach. He amassed just a 2-30-1 record at Kansas State, including an 0-21-1 mark in his last two seasons.

Best New Hire

5. Tim Beckman (Toledo): He may not have made waves as Oklahoma State’s defensive coordinator, but, as the head coach in Toledo, Beckman has already started to turn the tide. His team currently stands at 4-4, which is already more wins than the team had last year (3-9 overall record). Given that the team had suffered through three straight losing seasons prior to 2009, Beckman has been a pleasant surprise.

4. Chip Kelly (Oregon): The fact that Kelly inherited the best team of all the new head coaching hires in 2009 was a mixed blessing. On the one hand, his roster was already loaded with talent, which meant that there wasn’t really a ceiling for what the team could feasibly accomplish. On the other hand, when you take over a team that went 10-3 last year, your margin of error is going to be very slim. The Ducks’ season-opening loss to Boise State may have started some murmurs of discontent, but the team’s six straight victories since then (and a top ten ranking) have all but silenced the naysayers.

3. Dave Christensen (Wyoming): Missouri’s former offensive coordinator has virtually exceeded even his own expectations in his first year with the Cowboys. After inheriting a team that went 4-8 last year, he’s already matched its win total (4-3) with five games still remaining on the schedule. With a stingy defense and a true home field advantage, Christensen’s squad even held its own against #2 Texas. This has been a great hire.

2. Steve Sarkisian (Washington): When you take over a team that went 0-12 last season, garnering even just a single victory is considered an improvement. There’s really nowhere to go but up. That being said, the job Sarkisian has done thus far would be considered miraculous by just about anyone’s standards. Once an offensive coordinator for Southern Cal, Sarkisian shocked the nation with the biggest upset of the year when his Huskies defeated his highly-ranked former team 16-13 earlier this season. At 3-5, a bowl game appearance isn’t entirely out of the picture just yet either.

1. Paul Rhoads (Iowa State): As impressive as Sarkisian has been at Washington, Rhoads is clearly the best new hire of the year thus far. After inheriting a Cyclones team that went 2-10 last season, Auburn’s former defensive coordinator already has them at 5-3 this year. Their biggest shocker so far came last weekend when they knocked off Nebraska in Lincoln. With a visit to College Station this weekend and a November 14th home showdown against lowly Colorado, this surprising squad has a very real chance at becoming bowl-eligible.
Worst Coach of the Year

5. Paul Wulff (Washington State): A year removed from his 2-11 debacle in 2008, Wulff’s squad could very easily wind up 1-11 this year. With Washington improving under Steve Sarkisian, Washington State now has the Pac-10 basement all to itself.

4. Ralph Friedgen (Maryland): The Terps went from an 8-5 team in 2008 to a 1-7 squad that loses to Duke and needs overtime to beat little FCS James Madison in 2009. Can it get much worse than that?

3. Al Groh (Virginia): It seems like Groh flirts with this list every year. After going 5-7 last year, the Cavaliers currently stand 3-4 in 2009, which may not seem too bad until you realize that two of those defeats were suffered at the hands of Southern Miss and FCS William & Mary. For more on the latter, see my “Biggest Upsets of 2009″ list.

2. Bobby Bowden (Florida State): It seems like stories about Bobby Bowden stepping down are kind of like stories about college football getting a playoff: you hear them every year and they make sense, but ultimately the status quo never actually changes and we’re doomed to repeat ourselves the following year in an endless, empty cycle. That being said, could this finally be the year…? Bah, who am I kidding.

1. Ron Zook (Illinois): It’s kind of sad that it’s come to this. When I think of Zook in Illinois, I picture exciting young players like Rashard Mendenhall, Arrelious Benn, and Juice Williams running all over the field making incredible SportsCenter-type highlights. Well, it turns out that only really happened in one of the five years of Zook’s tenure (2007). The other four years he’s 10-32. It’s probably time for him to go.

Best Coach of the Year

5. David Cutcliffe (Duke): I know, I know, there have been way too many sightings of the term “Duke” used in conjunction with the word “football” on my blog in the last week. But the Blue Devils have served as college football’s doormat for so long that I feel like I have to give them their due when they actually start to fight back. Cutcliffe deserves much of the credit for the turnaround, as he came into this season having to replace seven starters on offense and eight on defense. Currently, Duke sits at 4-3 with games remaining against Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Miami, and Wake Forest. If they can somehow eke out two wins from that bunch, Duke football will be bowl-eligible. There, that’s the last time, I promise.

4. Kirk Ferentz (Iowa): Entering his 11th year in Iowa City, Ferentz has been a widely-respected head coach for some time now. But he’s never had a team still be unbeaten eight games into the season prior to this year. If Texas slips up, you’ve got to think an undefeated Iowa squad would be next in line for the national championship, right? At the very least, the Hawkeyes have a great shot at taking home their first Big Ten title in five years.

3. Gary Patterson (TCU): Patterson, now in his ninth year at Texas Christian, has posted eight winning seasons and an 80-27 record in that time. Going into this season, he knew he’d have to replace seven starters on both sides of the football, but now, sitting at 7-0, it’s clear that the Fort Worth program is as strong as ever.

2. Brian Kelly (Cincinnati): Say what you like, but nobody thought the Bearcats would be this good in ‘09. Not only did Cincinnati lose a school-record six players to the NFL draft, but they also lost ten of eleven defensive starters. Nonetheless, Kelly has his team 7-0 and ranked 11th in the nation in scoring defense. Oh, and did I mention that he’s done all this despite playing without his starting quarterback in the last two games? I bet he wouldn’t be 3-4 at Tallahassee! Sorry, I couldn’t resist.

1. Nick Saban (Alabama): Love him or hate him, there’s no denying the fact that Saban is one heck of a college football coach. His Crimson Tide has now gone 8-0 in consecutive seasons, and it’s only his second year in Tuscaloosa! Even though it lost its starting quarterback, running back, and star left tackle from ‘08, Saban’s squad has improved across the board—including passing, rushing, and scoring offense. Is this the year that the Crimson Tide unseats the Gators? Stay tuned.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS