Tuesday, August 18, 2020

The Coaching Carousel

Hey All,

Most football is shutdown for the fall and nothing on the college level will be played west of Provo, but this column is still here.  It will be here in some form through the fall.  I  don't know how many columns will be written, but I will keep writing.  So, let's start the late summer reading for 2020 with a sense of normalcy and another ride on the Ol' Coaching Carousel.  We still miss you, Alan Malamud.

Appalachian State
OUT: Eliah Drinkwitz
IN: Shawn Clark

Drinkwitz's first and only year at App State went very, very well. He took a loaded roster and posted a 13-1 mark with his only loss coming by three points to Georgia Southern.  That was good enough to earn Drinkwitz a ticket to SEC country and the HC job at Mizzou.  Faced with a second HC search in two years, the Mountaineers stayed in house and hired Shawn Clark for the job. The 44-year old Clark played for App State from 1994-98 and after a several coaching jobs, spent the last few seasons as the OL/AHC at his Alma Mater. Clark has called this his dream job, so that means he  might stick around more than one season in the hill country of North Carolina.   

Arkansas
OUT: Chad Morris
IN: Sam Pittman

Chad Morris came to Fayetteville in late 2017 promising to run a high tempo, explosive offense that was the absolute opposite of the previous regime's dedication to ground and pound football.  Oh, and the folks there saw plenty of explosive offense.  The problem was that most of it came from Arkansas' opponents. The Hogs were buried by the power teams of the SEC and embarrassed by their non-conference foes under Morris.  The Razorbacks were 4-18 overall and 0-14 in conference play when Morris was shown the door on 11/10 of last year.  The Razorbacks were turned down by at least three different targets in their coaching search and then settled on football lifer, Sam Pittman.  Pittman looks like the grizzled ol' ball coach straight out of a classic movie.  He's a big, barrel chested guy that has lived the game for the last 40 years.  He started out as a player at Pittsburg State (KS).  He started his coaching career right after and has coached everywhere from Beggs High School in Oklahoma to the Georgia.  Piittman has always been either the OL coach or OC wherever he has been.  He does have previous Arkansas ties as he served as the OL coach for Bret Bielema from 2013-15. The Hogs need a guy without much pretense and a little grit. .500 would be a huge achievement in year one for Sam's Hogs. 

Baylor
OUT: Matt Rhule
IN: Dave Aranda

Matt Rhule had a good run at Temple.  He had taken the Owls from 2-10 in 2013 to back-to-back 10 win seasons in 2015 and 2016.  The Owls made consecutive bowl game appearances for the first time in school history.  Rhule's revival of a moribund Temple team led to him taking on a much bigger and messier challenge.  Rhule agreed to coach at Baylor.  A team and school reeling from multiple scandals including a sexual assault scandal involving several Baylor football players that went back to 2011. HC Art Briles was fired in spring of 2016 and assistant Jim Grobe took over the team for the 2016 season.  Rhule's sanity was questioned for taking the job. All Rhule did under sanctions and national dislike for the program was take the Bears from 1-11 in his first year to 11-3 in his third year with an appearance in the Big XII title game and a Sugar Bowl bid.  Then, just as everything seemed great in Waco, Rhule jumped to the NFL's Carolina Panthers. A scramble was on to find his successor and the Baylor faithful believe they have found a winner in Dave Aranda. Aranda has been a star on the defensive side of the ball for years.  His first FBS job was back in 2008 when he was named the DL coach at Hawaii.  His defensive line shined that year and his career was off and running.  During his time at Hawaii, he became the DC where his Warrior defenses were tough against the run.  A successful run at Utah State followed and then Aranda got job as the DC for Wisconsin. He held that job form 2013-15 and his defense shined the Big Ten.  Many Trojan fans remember how his Badger squad shutdown USC's offense in the Holiday Bowl a few years ago.  Aranda had a lot of HC offers following that game, but he remained a DC and moved on to LSU and coach Ed Orgeron.  All he did was coordinate one of the best defenses in the nation to help LSU win the national title.  He then cashed in that success by putting Baton Rouge in his rear view mirror.  Aranda's resume drips of experience and success at the highest levels of college football.  If he can build a defense to compliment Baylor's explosive offense, then there will be some great days coming for folks in Waco.

Boston College
OUT: Steve Addazio
IN: Jeff Hafley

Everyone at BC had had enough of Steve Addazio. As the HC of the Eagles the last seven seasons, Addazio was the definition of a .500 coach that was one tall on mouth and short on victories.  I'll touch more on Addazio a couple of paragraphs further down.  BC then went out and tabbed Jeff Hafley as their next HC.  Hafley has spent most of his career on the defensive side of the ball in the NFL.  From 2011-18 he was the secondary or assistant secondary coach for the Buccaneers, Browns and 49ers.  Last season he served as the the Co-DC/ Secondary coach at Ohio State.  Hafley still may not get a fair shake from Eagles fans as he will be seen as the guy they ended up with instead Theee OSU's Ryan Day.  Day was the OC/QB coach at BC under Addzaio from 2013-14.  Addazio wasn't well liked form the start and many wanted Day to replace him in 2015.  Hafley has his work cut our for him on many levels from gaining the trust of the players to being embraced by the fan base. Good luck, Jeff. 

Colorado
OUT: Mel Tucker
IN: Karl Dorrell

Curtis Blackwell.  That's a name most won't associate with this coaching change. Last year, Blackwell filed a wrongful termination suit against Michigan State University and HC Mark Dantonio. In addition to his wrongful dismissal charge, Blackwell also alleged that he witnessed Dantonio commit multiple NCAA recruiting violations in his 13 years on staff.  The lawsuit led to the sudden "resignation" of Dantonio less than 24 hours before national signing day and two weeks before he collected a large salary bonus.  (Hmmmm, guilty much, Mark?) These events left MSU scrambling for a new HC well after all schools had done their hiring.  So, The MSU athletic braintrust threw a boatload of cash at CU's Mel Tucker after their first two HC targets rejected the job.  What really makes the Colorado folks mad about the whole affair, was that on the night that Tucker was at a Colorado country club fundraiser glad-handing rich alums and pouring his heart out to the assembled crowd about his commitment and love for Buffalo football, his agent was negotiating his new contract with Michigan State. Now, it was Colorado's turn to scramble and scramble they did in bringing back Karl Dorell to the Pac 12. Yes folks, that Karl Dorrell. Dorrell had just signed on to become the WR coach for the Miami Dolphins when the Buffs arrived on his doorstep with a contract in hand.  Dorrell is remembered as a former UCLA HC who also played WR in Westwood with Rick Neuheisal as his QB way back when.  However, KD has connections to the Colorado program. He spent the 1992-93 season in Boulder as the WR coach under Bill McCartney back when CU used be a relevant program. Look for the CU admin to give Dorrell a wide berth to build his program next to the Flatiron Mountains. 

Colorado State
OUT: Mike Bobo
IN: Steve Addazio

Jim McElwain came to CSU in 2012 as an OC out of the SEC and did so well with Rams that he landed back in the SEC as the HC at Florida in 2015.  The Rams athletic department then decided to take a chance on another SEC OC in Mike Bobo.  Bobo was a University of Georgia lifer when he came to Fort Collins to shape a program of his own.  It never worked out for him or the Rams.  Bobo's Rams went a pedestrian 28-35 in five years with an offense that lost strength over time and a defense that gave up yards by the bucketful. The Rams athletic department looked east for his replacement in picking up Boston College HC Steve Addazio after he was terminated by the folks in Chestnut Hill.  Addzaio was an almost HC at BC.  His teams almost won a lot of games but finished at 44-44 overall and  dismal 22-34 in ACC play in his seven years on the job.  Addazio's teams were know for physically tough defenses and dismal offenses. Addzaio also was said to not have a great relationship with his players and many former ones expressed glee at his firing and aired their grievances with him at that time.  One of the most interesting ones was registered by LB Josh Keyes who played for BC form 2011-13.  In a Boston Globe article in 2019, Keyes said that Addzaio and others at BC took issue with a Facebook post he agreed with that criticized the HC. He heard about from Atlanta Flacons HC Dan Quinn who told Keyes that someone from BC had blackballed him. "They said you were talking bad about their program and that you may do the same about here and that your character is flawed."  He felt they talked to the Falcons to ruin his career.  It looks like Addzaio may have his work cut out for him in many ways in Fort Collins. 

Update: Addzaio's not-so-winning ways with his players has already hit the fan in Fort Collins.  This ain't a good look. The program has shut down for an investigation of alleged abuses. Read about it here.  Racism, verbal abuse and Coivd

Florida Atlantic
OUT: Lane Kiffin
IN: Willie Taggart

Lane Kiffin's resurrected career has come full circle after leading the Owls to an 11-win and then a 10-win season.  He has gone back to the SEC as the headman at Ole Miss.  The Owls then tabbed Willie Taggart as his replacement. Back in 2013, Willie Taggart was the man at Western Kentucky. He had played QB for the Hilltoppers and was an assistant there too.  He didn't have a great run at WKU, but it was enough to land him the South Florida job.  In four seasons he took the Bulls form an also-ran to a 10-2 team and a berth in the Birmingham Bowl. That in turn got Taggart the chance to take over at Oregon after Mark Helfrich was canned.  In his lone season at UO, Taggart's Quacks went a pedestrian 7-5.  Somehow, Taggart parlayed that so-so year into the HC job at Florida State after Jimbo Fisher threw his temper tantrum and left for Texas A&M. Things went from mediocre to worse for him at FSU.  The 'Noles clocked their first pair of losing seasons since Boby Bowden first set foot in Tallahassee. He was fired nine games into that second season.  Taggart must have really rubbed everyone at FSU the wrong way because they were willing to pay 18 million to send him packing.  However, it surfaced that Taggart's contract was never signed.  I have no idea what Taggart really was paid to leave. Maybe his settlement with FSU didn't go as planned and that's why he took the FAU job.  Either way, Willie is still the head of an FBS team in the Sunshine State.  It just ain't one anybody cares about.  


Fresno State
OUT: Jeff Tedford
IN: Kalen DeBoer

Jeff Tedford officially stepped down form his post at Fresno State officially on December 12th last year due to health reasons. Speculaiton is that Tedfors had a reoccurrence of the heart problems that led to his stepping down as the OC of Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2014. Even though the Bulldogs had a dismal 2019 finishing at 4-8, his first two years in the valley were very good.  He took a team that had just one-win in 2016 and coached it 10 wins in 2017 and 12 wins in 2018 which included a Mountain West Conference title and a win over Arizona State in the Las Vegas Bowl.  The next man tabbed to lead the Bulldogs is Kalen DeBoer.  DeBoer hails from South Dakota where he was an All-American WR at Sioux Falls College before starting his coaching career at his Alma Mater.  He became the HC at Sioux Falls in 2005 and led his charges to three NAIA titles in five seasons. After that he spent time as the OC/QB/WR coach at Southern Illinois, Eastern Michigan and Fresno State before spending 2019 as the QB Coach at Indiana.  DeBoer may have the underdog mentality and ability to give all the Bulldog fans wins and the feelings they had when Jim Sweeney and Pat Hill roamed the sidelines of Raisinville. 
 
Hawaii
OUT: Nick Rolovich
IN: Todd Graham

The Warriors were left reeling when Nick Rolovich left the islands for Wazzu .  The WSU admin wanted a man who threw the heck out of the ball to replace the guy who threw the heck out of the ball, Mike Leach. Leach himself had surprised the college football world when he dropped the Cougs like a hot rock for the bustling metropolis that is Starkville, MS.  Hawaii then did something they hadn't done in quite some time after Rolovich's departure.  They hired a coach with no ties to the university, Todd Graham.  Todd Graham hasn't held a coaching job since he was fired after going 46-32 in six seasons at Arizona State. Graham's ASU tenure was very up and down to say the least.  His dedication to building ASU football was strong. He donated 500K of his own money towards facility upgrades and built strong relationships within the ASU community.  However, in an interview after he was relived of his coaching duties he questioned that dedication telling Arizonasports.com's Vince Marotta, "At that time, we had a lot of turnover in the administration and I just took it upon myself to do it. I went out and built relationships and started raising money, and even though those relationships are incredible, that distracted me from the coaching part of it."  That distraction from the recruiting and on-field coaching are what got him fired.  If he sticks to just coaching this time at Hawaii, maybe that enthusiasm can take the Warriors to a higher level.

Memphis
OUT: Mike Norvell
IN: Ryan Silverfield

Mike Norvell and all his well coordinated record-setting offense has moved on to the westernmost Columbia of the SEC.  The Memphis brand of Tigers then chose to hire from within and gave interim HC Ryan Silverfield the full-time job after the team dropped a 55-39 decision to Penn State in the Cotton Bowl.  To say Silverfield has an interesting background is not hyperbole.  He is the one of the few FBS HCs to have never played a down of college football. He played high school ball for The Bolles School in Jacksonville, Florida.  He then served as an assistant for The Bolles School before enrolling at Hampton-Sydney College where he landed a job on the football staff as a freshman and coached all four years as a student. He then served as the headman for one season at Memorial Day HS in Georgia where he left after a dismal 1-9 season. From there he has had stints at Jacksonville U and UCF before landing a job with the Minnesota Vikings. After six years with the Vikings he bounced around to Toledo, and Arizona State and the Detroit Lions before joining the Memphis staff in 2016 as an offensive assistant.  His entire time at Memphis has been on the offensive side of the ball serving mainly as the OL coach along with also being the Run Game Coordinator and AHC.  His energy and love for the Memphis program has drawn rave reviews from Tiger fans and the local press.  However, his total lack of HC experience will a tough hurdle to overcome in the AAC.

Michigan State
OUT: Mark Dantonio
IN: Mel Tucker

Earlier in this column, the story of how Mel Tucker got to Michigan State had been mentioned. Here's some reasons why this happened.  One it was the money, The Big Ten's TV deal gave the Spartans far more resources than Colorado would ever have thanks to the Pac 12's paltry TV contract.  Two, Tucker is a Big Ten man from way back. He played his college ball at Wisconsin and his first Coaching job was a  GA for the Spartans back in 1997. Three, maybe the prospect of never having to play a Thursday night game at 9 PM was a deciding factor as well.  Tucker inherits a MSU squad that is long on defense and short on offense.  The last few years, the Spartans offense couldn't cross the street on a green light with the help of a Boy Scout. If he can improve the offense just a little bit, it could mean big things for the Green and White. 

Mississippi
OUT: Matt Luke
IN: Lane Kiffin

So, where do we begin here?  Well, Matt Luke took over in Oxford after that Man of God, HC Hugh Freeze was busted for his "contact" with escort services while on recruiting trips back in 2017.  Luke, a former Rebels player, pledged to restore the credibility of the program. Well, that didn't really happen.  The Rebels only put up a 15-21 record during his tenure with some rather embarrassing incidents along the way, but none bigger than in last year's Egg Bowl rivalry game with Mississippi State. With :04 left, WR Elijah Moore scored what should have been the game-tying TD. Moore then celebrated his TD by emulating a dog urinating on the field and drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.  Ole Miss then missed the now considerably longer game-tying PAT attempt and lost the game. Into this mess now steps Lane Kiffin off a very successful run at Florida Atlantic where his Owls threw up some big numbers and a 26-13 record in C-USA.  Kiffin is no stranger to controversy or messy situations as he took over USC during sanctions which followed a short tenure with the Raiders and Tennessee.  Funny thing is this is Lane's 5th HC job and he's only 45 years old.  If he has matured as his time with FAU indicates, maybe he can have a great career in Oxford. Only time will tell.



Mississippi State
OUT: Joe Moorhead
IN: Mike Leach

The Joe Moorhead tenure at MSU wasn't nearly as bad the in-state rival Matt Luke had at Ole Miss, but it was close.  How bad was it? Well, Moorhead became the first MSU HC to be fired after beating Ole Miss in the Egg Bowl. One big mark on his tenure in Starkville was that the football team along with the hoops team had tutors taking their exams and completing their coursework.  The team's wins were vacated for 2018 and multiple players were suspended for most of the 2019 season. Then, QB transfer woes and embarrassing beatdowns by Auburn and Tennessee saw the fanbase openly lobby for his dismissal. After the Bulldogs squeaked out the win in the Egg Bowl thanks to the antics mentioned above, Moorhead spewed this gem out in the postgame press conference. " If anybody asks, I'm not interested in anybody's validation except for the people in that locker room. You'll have to drag my Yankee ass out of here." The next problem occurred when a fight at bowl practice ended with QB Garett Shrader having his orbital bone fractured.  The Bulldogs looked lackluster on offense in the Music City Bowl and were beaten, 38-28 by Louisville. The Bulldogs gave up more yards than the Italian army and got a couple of late scores in garbage time to make it look closer than it really was.  Moorhead was then canned. So, who comes into this quagmire as the new Savior of Stark-Vegas?  The Pirate.  Mike Leach.  it will be interesting to see how Leach's 60 passes a game offense fares in the land of defense and fullbacks. If he has any success, I'm sure Saint Nicholas of Tuscaloosa will have the NCAA outlaw the forward pass.   

Missouri
OUT: Barry Odom
IN: Eliah Drinkwitz

Mizzou's first couple of years in the SEC were pretty good. The Tigers won the SEC East twice and also won the Citrus Bowl and the Cotton Bowl.  The Tigers haven't been good since. In the last five seasons, the kids from the western Columbia have gone 30-32 overall and a dismal 14-26 in conference play.  Barry Odom fired was a result. In his place comes Eliah Drinkwitz.  The 37-year old Drinkwitz comes to Missouri after being a HC for just one year at Appalachian State.  That's his only college level HC experience.  This is high risk/high reward hire for Mizzou. He's an up-tempo offense guy in a year that has seen the SEC bring a few notable up-tempo guys.  Could Drinkwitz be part of a sea change for the SEC to embrace much more offense and disregard defense?  Yeah right, the SEC is fundamentally a defense first league and will remain so. Good luck, Eliah. 


New Mexico
OUT: Bob Davie
IN: Danny Gonzales

To say the Bob Davie's years at UNM was uneven is an understatement.  A nine win season, a bowl win and some improvement over his first few seasons were undercut by a 35-64 overall record, a 30 day suspension in 2018 for abuse of players and a steady decline in wins.  Davie also collapsed after the end of his squad's 2019 season opening win over Sam Houston State. Davie's declining health and his deteriorating relationship with the admin led to his being let go by AD Eddie Nunez at the end of last season. Into that what seems to be the ongoing mess that is Lobo football steps Danny Gonzales.  Gonzalez should be a familiar name as he was the DC/AHC at Arizona State the last two seasons. Gonzalez is also a familiar name to the UNM fanbase.  He was born and raised in Albuquerque and then played for the Lobos form 1994-98. He was a punter and safety and then started as a grad assistant for HC Rocky Long and followed Long to SDSU in 2011.  He split duties as the safeties coach and DC for Long through 2017 where he then landed the DC gig under Herm Edwards at ASU.  Gonzalez is a defensive minded HC and UNM could use him.  The Lobos haven't really stopped anybody in years.

Old Dominion
OUT: Bobby Wilder
IN: Ricky Rahne

4,373 days.  That's how long Bobby Wilder had been the HC at ODU.  He was the school's first and only HC for 13 years. He oversaw the program from an idea on paper all the way to being a member of C-USA.  However, it's the Monarchs record in C-USA that led the admin to forcing Wilder out.  In three seasons, the Monarchs spiraled downward going 5-7, 4-8 and 1-11.  The man hired to turn around the fortunes of the Monarchs is Ricky Rahne.  Rahne spent his college playing career as a QB at Cornell from 1999-2001.  He was a three-year starter and left the school holding numerous passing records. His coaching career began in 2004 as a GA at Holy Cross and then the RB coach for Cornell in 2005. He then landed another GA gig for Ron Prince at K-State and was retained by Bill Snyder when he came back to the sidelines.  In 2011 he left KSU for Vanderbilt.  He then stayed on HC James Franklin's staff at Vandy and made the move with Franklin to Penn State. He was the TE coach, then the QB coach and then became the OC/QB coach for Franklin in 2018.  Rahne in his introductory press conference said that patience will be needed as part of the process in turning the team around.  The ODU admin won't have much patience for many more losing seasons.

Rutgers
OUT: Chris Ash
IN: Greg Schiano

To say Chris Ash had a bad time of it as the HC of the Scarlet Knights is an understatement.  In his first season, 2016, the team finished 2-10 and was shutout four times with Ohio State and Michigan pasting the Knights, 58-0 and 78-0 in consecutive weeks. 2017 saw a 4-8 season unfold, but 2018 saw the team fall to 1-11.  After Rutgers started out 2019 with a 1-3 record and 52-0 shellacking by Michigan, the Admin had seen enough.  Ash was fired.  Rutgers then looked back to look forward and hired Greg Schiano to lead the Scarlet Knights once again. However, can you truly go home again?  The question that has been debated for ages in many ways will be discussed on the football field for Greg Schiano.  Schiano has had quite the journey through the football world since he was first the Rutgers HC from 2001-11.  He had a rough two seasons in Tampa Bay where the Bucs finished last in the NFC South both years with an overall record of 11-21. His coaching style in Tampa was called autocratic and not fitting to lead men in the NFL.  One unnamed Buccaner told NFL.COM's Michael Silver that the situation is "worse the you can imagine,  it's like playing in Cuba." After being fired at the end of the 2013 season, Schiano found himself out of football entirely, then coaching down at the prep level before landing the DC and AHC for Urban Meyer's Ohio State Buckeyes.  Ironically, the man he replaced then at Theee OSU is the man he replaces now in New Brunswick, Chris Ash. Schiano had two great years running the Buckeye defense and in late 2017 was named as the next HC at Tenneseee.  He never made it to the introductory press conference.  A large number of the Volunteer fan base wasn't happy with the pick and cited Shciano's time on the Penn State staff while, (now convicted), child molester Jerry Sandusky roamed the Happy Valley sidelines in the 1990s. The debate still rages in Tennessee circles to this day as to whether it was true moral outrage or just a fan base just wanting a better coach than Schiano.  Either way, Schiano never got the job.  He then sat out the 2019 season after accepting, then declining a job with the New England Patriots.  So, now Schiano stands as the HC once again at the State College of New Jersey.  What has he learned? How will he relate to his players? Will he bring the Scarlet Knights back to a level of respectability in the Big Ten?  Who knows?

San Diego State
OUT: Rocky Long
IN: Brady Hoke

Rocky Long had built the Aztecs into a tough team in the Mountain West.  His stingy defenses and strong rushing attack left a trail of Pac 12 teams hurting as well.  Just ask UCLA, Stanford and ASU how tough his teams were. Then at 70 years old last December, Long decided he'd had enough.  Enough of the glad-handing and bureaucracy that came with being a HC.  He loved the coaching and just got tired of everything else or that's what he wanted everyone to think.  Shortly after leaving the Aztecs for Leisure World, he took a a detour back to New Mexico to serve as the DC for new Lobos HC Danny Gonzales. Long's anointed successor on Montezuma Mesa is Brady Hoke.  Yes, that Brady Hoke, the guy who was such a bad fit at Michigan that the Wolverines brought Jim Harbaugh back to hold weekly seances to summon the spirit of Bo Schembchler to the Big House.  Long has been around the game for close to 45 years.  He originally started as a LB at Ball State from 1977-80 then embarked on a career path that sent him from Washington D.C. to Oregon and back.  He has always been a DL or DC almost the entire time he has coached. Which means look for the Aztecs to maintain their defense first mentality while trying to find enough offense to win.  

South Florida
OUT: Charlie Strong
IN: Jeff Scott

In December of 2013, Charlie Strong was on top of the world as the HC at Louisville.  His Cardinals were 23-3 in the last two seasons with two straight bowl wins.  He then left Louisville for Texas and his career went downhill from there.  His three years on the sidelines for the Longhorns produced a Fred Akers-like 16-21 record and he was bounced out of Austin.  He then went to USF where he took a loaded roster to 10-2 record and was dinged for underachieving with that loaded roster.  The next two years saw things go progressively worse.  The Bulls went 7-6 in 2018 and then 4-8 in 2019 and Strong once again found himself unemployed. He's currently undergoing a rehab stint in Tuscaloosa.  Jeff Scott comes into the job from Clemson where he has spent the last 12 seasons.  He had been the WR coach his entire time there while also being tabbed as the Co-OC the last five seasons. He also played his college ball there under Tommy Bowden.  This is his first HC gig at any level of football. This is a pretty tough year for a rookie coach to lead a program, but folks will find out what kind of guy he is when the time comes to actually play ball. 

UNLV
OUT: Tony Sanchez
IN: Marcus Arroyo

To make the jump from High School HC to FBS football HC is a monumental task no matter who you are or where coach. Tony Sanchez was a highly successful high school coach. After getting his HS career started with a few decent years at California High in San Ramon, he moved onto to powerhouse Bishop Gorman in Nevada. He lead the Gaels to an 85-5 record overall, 37-0 in conference play and six straight NIAA 4A state titles.  It also helped that Bishop Gorman has better facilities and more money than most small colleges thanks to mega-booster Dana White and the Fertitta brothers who own and run the UFC.  So, when Bobby Hauck was let go after going the 2014 season, Sanchez, the local star coach, was brought in to turn around the Rebels. He didn't.  He didn't have the talent nor the financial backing or facilities like he had at Bishop Gorman. Sanchez was fired last year with a 20-40 overall record. UNLV admin let him go and then went out and hired Marcus Arroyo for Sin City U. Arroyo is a Californian who played QB at San Jose State from 1998-2002 and then worked his way up form being a GA at SJSU in 2003 all the way to being the OC/QB/AHC at Oregon last year.  In addition to spending the last few seasons at Oregon, he was also the QB coach and passing game coordinator for Cal in 2011-2012.  Arroyo's hiring has met with praise from both the fans and the media in Las Vegas with one of his biggest backers so far being former Rebels and Eagles star QB Randall Cunningham, He has stated among other things that he's ready to come back to games and buy Rebels gear again due to Arroyo's hire.

UNLV fun fact:  The best winning percentage of any UNLV HC over the past 30 years belongs to John Robinson.  Robinson went 28-42 in his time at the helm for a cool .400 winning percentage from 1999-2004.  

UTSA
OUT: Frank Wilson
IN: Jeff Traylor

In 2009, Texas-San Antonio hired former Miami HC Larry Coker to become the first HC in University of Texas-San Antonio history.  He did a tremendous job of building a program from nothing and took it from a practice field to the FCS, a season in the old WAC followed. He then guided the Roadrunners through three seasons in C-USA. Coker seemed to have turned the program over to capable hands when Frank Wilson was named his replacement for the 2016 season. Wilson had a strong resume. He coached most of the time in the SEC with 2010-15 spent as the AHC, RB coach and Recruiting Coordinator for Les Miles at LSU. He was heralded as a rising star in coaching circles. His tenure started off with a little promise as he led the Roadrunners to a 6-6 record and the school's first ever bowl appearance. Then the decline hit. A 6-5 2017 campaign was followed by a 3-9 mark in 2018 and then a 4-8 2019 season sealed his fate on the Riverwalk. He was fired less than 24 hours after his last loss. The man selected to replace him is Jeff Traylor. Despite spending the last two seasons as the AHC/RB coach at Arkansas, Traylor is a Texas man through and through. He hails form Gilmer, TX where he played his High School ball. After a career as a walk-on for Stephhen F. Austin, he returned to the Texas HS ranks as an assistant at Big Sandy High and Jacksonville High before spending the next 15 years as the HC at his alma mater, Gilmore. He led the Gilmore Buckeyes to a 175-26 record, three 4A state titles and 12 district titles.  He's so beloved there, that the stadium at Gilmore was renamed Jeff Trayor Stadium last year.  Traylor knows his offense and hopefully has found some quality defensive assistants to halt UTSA'a downward spiral.  The admin hopes his strong Texas ties will give him a recruting edge in a state laden with talent.

Washington
OUT: Chris Petersen
IN: Jimmy Lake

In one of the more shocking coaching changes, Chris Petersen stepped down in Seattle. When the news hit of his retirement most of the nation thought it was a joke. It was no joke and CP is gone.  He led the Dawgs to their best years since the legendary Don James roamed the sidelines. It was speculated by many that Petersen had just had enough of everything that goes with coaching and decided it was time to go.  A smooth transition turned the job over to DC Jimmy Lake.  Lake is full of fire and enthusiasm.  Expect the sidelines to be little more fiery under his watch. Lake comes form a military family and played his college ball at Eastern Washington as a Strong Safety.  He bagan his college coaching career as a GA for the Eagles shortly after graduation.  He coached DBs at Washington in 2004 then took off for a trip around the NFL as the DB coach for the Buccaneers and the Lions.  He joined the Huskies staff in 2014 and worked his way up to being the DC for the last few seasons. 

Washington State
OUT: Mike Leach
IN: Nick Rolovich

The Pirate has left Pullman.  He took the Cougars to six bowl games in his eight seasons and a 55-47 overall record.  However, Leach's record doesn't speak to his impact in Pullman.  He did take the Cougars out of the ditch it was in after the Dill Doba and Paul Wulf eras. His great press conferences and record-setting passing offense will always be remembered in the Paulose. What also gets remembered is Leach losing seven straight Apple Cup games to arch-rival Washington.  In his place comes Nick Rolovich.  Rolovich is just as dedicated to throwing the ball as Leach is.  Rolovich was the backup to the great Timmy Chang at Hawaii in HC June Jones' vaunted Run-And-Shoot offense.  Rolovich's college coaching career has been mostly spent in Hawaii with an odd stop at the JC level and then at the University of Nevada.  The last four seasons Rolovich has been the HC at Hawaii where he cleaned up the wreckage after Norm Chow was fired.  All he did was take a bad team with a Billy Graham Quarterback* and turn them into a squad that won two bowl games and had one 10-win season. Rolovich inherits a talented roster for his system.  I would then say look for the Cougs to surprise a few folks this season, but there won't be a season for the Pac 12.  
 
*-For those who don't remember the definition of just what is a Billy Graham Quarterback: It's an old term that describes a QB with questionable skills that draws the ire of the fanbase or as my Uncle Melvin explained to me once when describing an underachieving QB. "He's a Billy Graham Quarterback. On any play he can make 70,000 people jump cup and scream Jee-zuss Christ!" 

Until next time remember that isn't the way I wanted my Trojans to go undefeated this year. SMH.

-The Commissioner