Hey All,
It is good to be back! Football is back! Let's take a look at just who the new faces roaming the sidelines are this year. It's time for a ride on the Coaching Carousel. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Let's start with a trivia question: what do the men on the following list of names have in common? John Thompson, Bob Gregory, Adam Scheier, T.J. Weist, Stan Parrish, Brian Wright, Mike Bath, Ed Orgeron, Clay Helton, and Marques Tuiasosopo.
Arkansas State
OUT: Bryan Harsin
IN: Blake Anderson
A-State is starting to get a reputation as a cradle of coaches. For the fifth straight season there is a new HC at A-State. New Boise State HC Bryan Harsin, Ole Miss HC Hugh Freeze and Auburn HC Gus Malzahn all did one year stints in Jonesboro. It is hoped that Blake Anderson will stay awhile. Anderson was Larry Fedora's OC at both North Carolina and Southern Mississippi and is no stranger to the area as he was born in Jonesboro.
Army
OUT: Rich Ellerson
IN: Jeff Monken
It seems that Rich Ellerson's option offense would fit in perfectly at West Point. However, Ellerson could not capture the magic his teams at Cal Poly- SLO had. His squads went a dismal 20-41 over five seasons and couldn't beat Navy. In comes Jeff Monken. Monken comes from Georgia Southern, where his teams made three straight FCS Semifinal appearances. His biggest win with the Eagles was an epic one as he led his squad to a 26-20 upset win at Florida last season. That upset still has SEC folks shaking their heads.
Boise State:
OUT: Chris Petersen
IN: Bryan Harsin
Can Boise still win without Chris Petersen? They think they can with Bryan Harsin. Even though he comes to the BSU job from Arkansas State, he is quite familiar with Boise. Harsin was a QB for the Broncos from 1995-99. He also went from Graduate Assistant to OC/QB coach from 2001-10 under both Dan Hawkins and Chris Petersen. The Boise faithful feel good about bringing one of their own back home.
Bowling Green
OUT: Dave Clawson
IN: Dino Babers
Clawson bolted for Wake Forest and in stepped Babers. Many will remember him as Karl Dorrell's right hand man at UCLA from 2004-2007. However, Babers recovered from that debacle to turn the Eastern Illinois program around, which in turn, got him the Bowling Green job. The BGSU faithful hope he can do what he did at EIU.
Connecticut
Out: Paul Pasqualoni
IN: Bob Diaco
Pasqualoni got shown the exit at UConn just about the time that Lane Kiffin got fired last year. Nobody remembers that firing, huh? In his stead comes Bob Diaco. Diaco comes to the Huskies after being the DC/LB coach at Notre Dame the last four seasons. Diaco is just 41 years old and is a star on the rise in the coaching ranks. If he turns around the moribund UConn program look for Diaco to get a shot at a big program within four years.
Eastern Michigan
OUT: Ron English
IN: Chris Creighton
If there is a coaching job that is so bad that is just sucks the soul out of good coaches, it is this one. The Eagles have posted just three winning seasons in the last 26 years. Ron English couldn't turn it around. Creighton steps into this job after coaching in a lot of small places, so he is no stranger to rebuild jobs. If he turns the Eagles around he should be praised everywhere for his efforts.
Florida Atlantic
OUT Carl Pelini
IN: Charlie Partridge
Pelini was run out of FAU on a rail eight games into the 2013 season by Owls AD Pat Chun when Pelini and his DC Pete Rekstis admitted to "wrongdoing." Basiaclly, it is believed the pair were involved in illegal drug use. So, after an interim HC stint by Brian Wright, Chun tabbed Arkansas assistant Charlie Partridge with job of getting FAU back to winning games. The last time the Owls made a bowl was in 2008 when Howard Schnellenberger still headed the program.
Georgia Southern
OUT: Jeff Monken
IN: Willie Fritz
After Monken parlayed his team's upset of Florida into the HC job at Army, the Eagles needed a proven leader to take them into their first full season in the FBS. They made a good hire in Willie Fritz. The guy has only one losing record as a HC in his career, going 5-6 in 1997 with Central Missouri. The last four years, Fritz has been the HC at FCS power Sam Houston State where he went 40-14 over the last four seasons. He is one of those coaches on the rise in the college ranks.
Louisville
OUT: Charlie Strong
IN: Bobby Petrino
Charlie Strong traded Cardinal Red for Texas Burnt Orange and that left the folks in Louisville in a lurch. So, they welcomed back prodigal son Bob Petrino back. I know most people wonder about how Lane Kiffin keeps getting jobs, but how in the heck does Petrino keep scoring jobs? I wonder if he still has that motorcycle?
Massachusetts
OUT: Charley Molnar
IN: Mark Whipple
I think UMass is one of those programs that should have just stayed at the FCS level. After a transition year in 2012, the Minutemen have played two full FBS season and have gone a woeful, 2-22 with those two wins coming over Miami (OH) and Akron. Molnar took the blame for the school's bad decision to jump to the FBS and now Mark Whipple takes the charge of the Minutemen... again. Whipple previously coached the squad from 1998-2003 where they went 49-26 in those six seasons on the FCS level. Can he find success with the squad now at the FBS level? Only time will tell.
Miami (OH)
OUT: Don Treadwell
IN: Chuck Martin
Treadwell was shown the door after starting the 2013 campaign at 0-5 with an overall record of 8-17. The Redhawks then dropped their last seven games to finish 0-12. In comes Chuck Martin to right the ship. Martin was Notre Dame's OC under Brian Kelly the last two seasons. Martin is a good coach who also benefitted from the MAC's man-crsuh with anything Notre Dame. The question that needs to be asked is Martin really coming as advertised to Miami? Those around the ND program say that Brian Kelly was really the play caller and Martin was little more than a sideline cheerleader for the Irish offense.
Penn State
OUT: Bill O'Brien
IN: James Franklin
For the second time in three years I find myself writing about a new HC in Happy Valley. However, I don't think anybody though that O'Brien was going to be more than a stop gap HC while PSU started the long road to recovery from the Jerry Sandusky scandal. So, when O'Brien left for the Houston Texans job, the folks at PSU went out and made a great hire in James Franklin. Franklin is a tough, hard-working coach that made Vanderbilt a good team. Let me say that again, he made Vanderbilt a good team. Franklin has the skills to return Penn State to relevance.
Texas
OUT: Mack Brown
IN: Charlie Strong
Mack Brown did manage to last the entire 2013 season after suffering a totally embarrassing 40-21 loss to BYU. It was a game in which the Cougars ran up 679 yards on the Longhorns with an amazing 550 of those yard coming on the ground. Brown stepped down at UT at the end of the year. the Longhorn brain trust then threw some serious money at a few coaches and ended up plucking Charlie Strong from Louisville. Strong has already made an immediate impact at UT by suspending a bunch of players and letting the administration know just who runs the show. Strong is not a PR man who will bend to the will of the boosters. He just wins.
UAB
OUT: Garrick McGee
IN: Bill Clark
McGee's Blazer squads put up a horrible 5-19 record in his two seasons at the helm. UAB then tabbed Bill Clark as their new HC. Clark is a pretty big name in Alabama high school football where his Prattville Lions went 106-11 in his eight seasons there. Last year Clark took over at Walter Payton's Alma Mater of Jacksonville State and led that team to an 11-4 record and FCS Quarterfinal berth. He is a coach that has won wherever he has been, but can he or anybody win at UAB?
USC
OUT: Lane Kiffin
IN: Steve Sarkisian
Everyone is off the Lane Train and a good number are disappointed that Coach O didn't get the job. So, Sarkisian comes into the SC job with mixed feelings and apprehension among the Trojan faithful. He promises an up tempo offense to go with a fine returning defense. The big question that resonates with me is whether or not this team can run an up tempo speed offense with diminished scholarship numbers? Will there be enough bodies left at the end of the season?
Vanderbilt
OUT: James Franklin
IN: Derek Mason
Vandy was left in a lurch when Franklin traded in Commodore Black and Gold for Nittany Lion Blue and White. So, they did a very reasonable thing, they picked up a defensive-minded coach from a top academic school in Derek Mason. Mason was David Shaw's DC at Stanford the last three seasons. Mason will find out how tough it is to win at Vandy. He's already ruffled some feathers in Nashville by closing practice for the entire season.
Wake Forest
OUT: Jim Grobe
IN: Dave Clawson
After suffering his fifth straight losing season in charge of the Demon Deacons, Jim Grobe resigned. He spent 13 seasons on tobacco road and led the Decas to their only major bowl back in 2006 where the Deacons dropped a 24-23 decision to Louisville. Now, Dave Clawson steps into the job from Bowling Green where he sported a very ordinary 32-31 record. Wake is not a glamour job, but most ACC pundits were not impressed with this hire.
Washington
OUT: Steve Sarkisian
IN: Chris Petersen
Everyone reading this knows where Sarkisian ended up and they know that Chris Petersen finally got off the pot at Boise and went to coach with the big boys. Petersen knows his Xs and Os and can run a program, but can he handle the media? The media scrutiny at a Pac 12 school is far greater than any of the lesser conferences. If he handles the media well, he has a chance to really put some bite back into the Dawgs.
Western Kentucky
OUT: Bob Petrino
IN: Jeff Brohm
Let's just call Bob Petrino's one season tenure at WKU what it really was. It was a rehab stint. He was there to try and repair his image so he could grab another job. Well, it worked and now he's back at Louisville. Jeff Brohm comes in as a long time assistant to Petrino. He has never been A HC anywhere before.
Wyoming
OUT: Dave Christensen
IN: Craig Bohl
The fiery Christensen could never quite get his Cowboy squads over the hump as his 27-35 record over five seasons attests, so he was given the gate. The folks at Wyoming then went all in with Craig Bohl. Who's Craig Bohl? Well, he spent the last 11 seasons as the HC at North Dakota State where the Bison are currently the three-time defending FCS champions. In those last three seasons, the Bison went a cool 43-2. With him on board, the expectations are now higher than the altitude in Laramie.
Trivia Answer: All these men served as interim coaches last season.
Until next time folks, remember that Coaches all know their Xs an Os, but they win the game with the Johnnies and the Joes.
-The Commissioner
