Your summer reading will now commence. It is time to start this season in what has become the traditional fashion around here with another ride on the ol' coaching carousel. We still miss you, Alan Malamud.
Arizona State
OUT: Herm Edwards
IN: Kenny Dillingham
With much fanfare, Herm "You play to win the game!" Edwards was officially announced as the new HC of the Sun Devils on December 3, 2017. AD Ray Anderson, Edwards' agent during his NFL playing days, hired his old client with a bold vision of running the Sun Devils like an NFL team. What ensued over Edwards' five-year stay in Tempe was anything but professional. A whistleblower on the ASU staff who didn't get along with then DC Antonio Pierce sent the NCAA a boatload of evidence that exposed a huge number of recruiting violations in the program. The investigation and the Sun Devils moribund record under Edwards led to his firing three games into the 2022 season. It's hard to forget the image of the ASU admin meeting Edwards in the end zone immediately following the Sun Devils upset at the hands of Eastern Michigan. Interim HC Sean Anguano would lead ASU to a 2-7 record to finish off the 2022 season. The ASU braintrust then plucked Phoenix native Kenny Dillngham away from his job as the OC at Oregon. Dillingahm never played college ball, but started his coaching career at age 17 after suffering a severe knee injury as a QB at Chaparral High School in Scottsdale, AZ. Dillingham coached under offensive minds Mike Norvell and Chip Long at Memphis. He then was the OC for the Tigers and Florida State before being named to the same post at Oregon in 2022. Dillingham has never been a HC on any level, but he is a rising star in the coaching world despite being just 33 years old. His youth and energy could be just what ASU needs to turn the program around.
Auburn
OUT: Bryan Harsin
IN: Hugh Freeze
Wow, this is a move that was crazy on both ends. Harsin was fired in the middle of second season on the Plains. That sounds pretty bad, but really Harsin had the deck stacked against him before he ever took the job. A group of powerful Tigers boosters forced former coach Gus Malzahn out after the 2002 season. They then began calling the shots as to who they wanted to replace him. Mario Cristobal and Billy Napier were targeted for the job, but both left where they were for the HC gigs at Miami and Florida. The boosters then set their sights on UAB HC Bill Clark. Clark scoffed at the offer when the he was told he couldn't pick his own coaching staff, (It's true!). They finally settled on Harsin who ran up a 69-19 record in his time on the blue turf of Boise. After Harsin agreed to take the job, the boosters whined and moaned about how they didn't land a higher profile candidate. It wasn't easy for Harsin to fit in to the Auburn culture and he never really did. Many players and coaches left Auburn after Harsin's first season and then an investigation into an alleged affair by Harsin with a young staff member didn't help matters. Then came 2022 where the Tigers started out 3-5 with double digit losses to Penn State, Georgia, Ole Miss and Arkansas. Harsin was fired on Halloween. OC Cadillac Williams was named the interim HC and the Tigers went 2-2 down the stretch. The boosters with the Auburn admin in tow then went on another head coaching search. This time they settled on Hugh Freeze. Yes, that Hugh Freeze. The Hugh Freeze who when he was HC at Ole Miss from 2012-16 managed to get the program found guilty of 15 Level 1 violations that came form "an unconstrained culture of booster involvement involvement in football recruiting." Yes, that's what NIL money is mostly now, but hey this was a few years ago. Also Freeze, a guy who loved to tell everyone what a wonderful man of God he is was busted for cheating on his wife with call girls. At least a dozen calls to escort services were made on his Ole Miss issued phone while he was the HC. A Dozen Freeze "resigned"from Ole Miss in the summer of 2017. He then landed the Liberty job in December of 2018 and was there from 2019-2022 where he tried to rehab his image at the extremely conservative Christian school. He compiled a 34-15 record at Liberty, but that didn't matter to Auburn boosters who wanted Freeze hired despite all his baggage for one reason; he beat Alabama twice while the HC at Ole Miss. I guess I buried the lede there. Oh well, sigh.
Charlotte
OUT: Will Healy
IN: Biff Poggi
Will Healy arrived at Charlotte after having done a pretty good job turning FCS also ran Austin Peay into a competitive program. Peay became competitive but not great. Healy's less than inspiring 13-21 overall record did not keep Charlotte from hiring him for the 2019 season. Healy led the 49ers to five straight wins to cap off the 2019 regular season with a 7-5 record. That record was good enough to land the 49ers a bid to the Bahamas Bowl. Charlotte got trounced in the bowl, 31-9. Not much else really went right for Healy at Charlotte after that loss. The 49ers went 2-4 in 2020, 5-7 in 2021 and then started out the 2022 campaign at 1-7. That was when the university sent Healy packing and then hired a man who had spent most of his life as an investment manager. Francis Xavier "Biff" Poggi played football for two years at Pitt, then spent a year as an assistant at The Citadel. After that he worked two jobs as an investment manager and coach at a pair of Maryland prep schools. He used his own money to help the teams he coached. He amassed 13 state titles at the Gilman School and St. Frances Academy. One of the friends he made along the way was Jim Harbaugh who then hired Poggi to be an analyst for him at Michigan in 2016. After a three year return to the prep ranks, Poggi served as Associate HC for Harbaugh again for the '21 and '22 seasons. That resume was enough for Charlotte to go after Poggi to roam their sidelines. Poggi has never been a a position coach or coordinator, much less a HC on the collegiate level. This hire could be either the best thing or the worst thing to happen to Charlotte football in recent memory.
Cincinnati
OUT: Luke Fickell
IN: Scott Satterfield
After all the speculation that abounded over the last few years, Luke Fickell did indeed leave Cincy for a Big Ten job and will now call Camp Randall Stadium his home. In his place comes Scott Satterfield who makes the short trip from Louisville to the land of WKRP. Cincy seems to have saved Louisville some buyout money because Satterfield was on the hot seat after posting a meager 26-24 record with the Cardinals over the last four seasons. If that wasn't enough to put Bearcats fans on edge, their team makes their debut in the Big XII with only two returning starters on offense in a league that's full of powerful offenses. This hire feels like when USC hired Sark away from Washington before they could fire him.
Colorado
OUT: Karl Dorrell
IN: Deion Sanders
Karl Dorrell was named the HC of the Buffaloes back in 2020. This happened shortly after then HC Mel Tucker declared his love for Boulder and his passion to rebuild Colorado football at a booster event while his agent was actively negotiating a deal to bring Tucker to Michigan State. Tucker dropped CU the day after that booster event and ran to the banks of the Red Cedar. Dorrell led CU to a 4-2 record in the COVID shortened 2020 season, but the program reverted back to normal and he was canned after his 2022 squad started out at 0-5 while giving up on average a little over 43 points per game. The CU admin then went for a bold move and brought in Deion Sanders to revive the program. Some coaches have brick and mortar approach to the game. Sanders took a wrecking ball to the program. In the first meeting he told his new team that they need to pack their bags and go to the transfer portal to find a new place to play ball. Less than 10 scholarship players were left on the roster for spring practice. He's brought his son, Shadeur Sanders in from Jackson State to be his QB along with a great number of players from the transfer portal to fill out the roster. The big question is will all these transfers and Deion Sanders manage to win games at CU? We will wait and see.
Coastal Carolina
OUT: Jamey Chadwell
IN: Tim Beck
Jamey Chadwell's last three years on the Chanticleer sidelines saw his teams run up a 31-6 regular season and make three bowl appearances. Evidently not content at Coastal, Chadwell left to take over the spot vacated by Hugh Freeze's departure at Liberty, (Huh?). That left the Coastal Roosters in need of an HC and they settled on Tim Beck to run the show. Tim Beck comes to Coastal from NC State where he had been the Wolfpack's OC/QB coach the last two seasons. However, Beck does have a wealth of experience starting out as a LB/P coach at Illinois State in 1990. Beck has made stops at Kansas, Nebraska, Ohio State and Texas where he has primarily been an OC/QB coach. This job will be his first HC gig on the collegiate level. Can he match Chadwell's success? Chadwell did leave the cupboard stocked for Beck. The Chanticleers return eight starters on offense and six on defense. Most of us will get good look at Beck's team as they open up at UCLA on 9/2.
FAU
OUT: Willie Taggart
IN: Tom Herman
Ah, Florida Atlantic, the school that proved to be a good career rehabilitation stop for Lane Kiffin a few seasons ago has now proved not to be one for Willie Taggart. C'mon friends, we all remember Willie Taggart. He's the guy who took over for Mark Helfrich at Oregon in 2017. After leading the Quacks to a lackluster 7-5 season he left the rain of Eugene for his dream job at Florida State. Taggart lasted almost two full seasons with the Seminoles who showed him the door in November of 2019. He then moved over to FAU where he led the Owls to three five-win seasons before being fired last year. Taking over for Taggart is another HC on the rehab trail, Tom Herman. Herman came to be known as a coach on the rise during his tenure as the OC/QB coach at TheeeOSU under Urban Meyer. He parlayed his success there into the HC gig at Houston where his 22-4 record with two bowl wins in two seasons was good enough for him to leave Houston to be the headman at Texas. Herman went 32-18 in four years at Texas with four bowl wins, but zero Big XII titles and three losses in four games to arch-rival Oklahoma. Last two seasons saw Herman employed by the Chicago Bears as an offensive analyst. Herman's teams do win for him, but his social skills with his players, the media and fans are lackluster at best. One fun fact is that FAU has now hired two HCs that have lost games to Clay Helton. Facepalm.
Georgia Tech
OUT: Geoff Collins
IN: Brent Key
To say Geoff Collins' time at with the Yellow Jackets was disastrous is an understatement. His teams won just three games a year in his first three seasons which included embarrassing losses to FCS members The Citadel and Kennesaw State. His Teams were also winless against arch-rival Georgia, being outscored 97-7 in two games. So after a 1-3 start to the 2022 season, Collins was sent packing. Tech tabbed Brent Key as the interim HC and his 4-4 finish down the stretch was enough for the school to lift the interim tag off him and give him the full time job. This is such a lazy hire. Key was around for the whole Collins era. What makes anyone think he can turn the program around? Maybe it was the two years he once spent as the OL coach at Bama that got him the job. Hmmmmmmmmm.
Kent State
OUT: Sean Lewis
IN: Kenni Burns
Sean Lewis' tenure with the Golden Flashes was an up and down one. After a 2-10, 2018 season, his teams made two bowl games while going .500 or higher the next three seasons That was this first time that happened at Kent State since 1972-74 when the great Don James accomplished the feat. Lewis then left being a HC behind to be the OC for HC Deion Sanders at Colorado. The Kent State braintrust then looked to the land of 10,000 lakes for their next leader. Kenni Burns has spent the last six seasons as RB coach then AHC/RB coach for P.J. Fleck at Minnesota. Burns's whole coaching career has been on the offensive side off the ball with midwest schools. His only non-midwest coaching job was a one year stint as the WR coach at Wyoming in 2014. Burns inherits a nearly empty cupboard with not a single returning starter on offense and just four on defense. Year one for Burns looks to be a pretty rough one.
Liberty
OUT: Hugh Freeze
IN: Jeremy Chadwell
With Hugh Freeze leaving to rejoin the SEC at Auburn, Jeremy Chadwell thought it would be a good idea to leave Coastal Carolina for Liberty. This seems like a lateral coaching move at best unless Chadwell sees this as his chance to audition for the SEC. Other than that thought, this move by Chadwell is a real head scratcher.
Louisville
OUT: Scott Satterfield
IN: Jeff Brohm
When Scott Satterfield left Louisville in his rear view mirror to go to Cincinnati, the pull to come home was too much to resist this time for former Cardinal QB Jeff Brohm. The now former Purdue HC was offered the job at Louisville back in 2018, but turned it down. Brohm got a rare second chance to lead his alma mater this past winter and could not say no. In six years at Purdue, Brohm led the Boilermakers to a level of competence that had not been seen in West Lafayette since Joe Tiller and Drew Brees called the place home. Brohm will bring big offense to Louisville, but will he be able to put together a defense to make the Cardinals a power in the ACC?
Mississippi State
OUT: Mike Leach
IN: Zach Arnett
Tragedy struck MSU, their fans and the college football world as a whole when Mike Leach suffered a massive heart attack and died of complications from it last December 12th. There was nobody like Leach. His press conferences were nutty affairs where he would answer almost any question asked of him. I've heard Leach opine on anything from Bigfoot to his summer job as a kid in Cody, Wyoming. Trying to fill Leach's shoes will be Zach Arnett. Arnett is the total opposite leach in football terms. He was Leach's DC the last three seasons at MSU and has spent his whole coaching career on that side of the ball. He spent spent nine years at SDSU being mentored by Rocky Long, the defensive mastermind who is the modern guru of the 3-3-5 defense. Things will be a little duller and more traditional at MSU this year, but will it lead to more wins?
Nebraska
OUT: Scott Frost
IN: Matt Rhule
Scott Frost's return to Lincoln as HC in 2018 was seen like Jim Harbaugh's return to Michigan. One of the program's great players, who had played for one of their great coaches, had retuned to lead the team back to glory. While Harbaugh has had a great impact at Michigan, Frost foundered at Nebraska. His teams just couldn't get it done. Frost was fired after an 1-2 start to the 2022 season with an overall record of 16-31. In comes Matt Rhule. Rhule comes back to the college game after having a terrible time in the NFL with the Carolina Panthers. However, Rhule is still a fine college coach. Remember this is the man who guided Temple to back-to-back 10-win seasons in 2014-15 then took Baylor and brought them back from the dead. The Bears ended up just a couple of plays away from a Big XII title. I look at Rhule as John Madden looked at Lou Saban. Madden always said that if he had a bad team, he'd want Lou Saban to coach it. Meaning that Saban could build a team from the ground up. Rhule has the ability to do that for Nebraska.
Navy
OUT; Ken Niumatalolo
IN: Brian Newberry
The Midshipmen let go of the winningest coach in their history after last season. Niumatalolo won 109 games at the USNA, but after going 11-2 in 2019, the Middies won just 11 total games from 2020-2022 and the admirals in Annapolis opted for change. However, they didn't look far their next HC, picking Niumatalolo's DC, Bryan Newberry, for the job. Newberry has never been a HC at any level in his 23-year coaching career. Newberry may be the right man for the job with his knowledge of how the USNA works, but he seems more like a pick of convenience than one with winning in mind.
North Texas
OUT: Seth Littrell
IN: Eric Morris
One of Seth Littrell's stated goals when he became the HC of the Mean Green back in 2016 was to win a bowl game in his first year on the job. In seven years, Littrell's squads never got a bowl win and went 0-7 in bowl games/conference title games over his tenure. The folks from Denton, TX fired Littrell and went west to hire a disciple of The Pirate. Eric Morris played WR for Texas Tech from 2004-2008. Morris spent time with Leach at Wazzu and then on Kliff Kingsbury's staff as the OC for Texas Tech where he coached some kid named Patrick Mahomes. From 2017-21 he was the HC at Incarnate Word before leaving to be the OC/QB coach at Wazzu last year. From Morris' career path, it's pretty clear the Mean Green will throw the ball a good 50-60 times a game this year. If Morris is given the time necessary to rebuild the program, North Texas might actually have bowl win to celebrate soon.
Fun Fact: Former UNT HC Seth Littrell really is an Okie from Muskogee. Littrell was born and raised in Muskogee and played for Oklahoma after a stellar career as a RB at Muskogee High.
Northwestern
OUT: Pat Fitzgerald
IN: David Braun
A late addition to the coaching carousel, Pat Fitzgerald, the winningest HC in Wildcat history was booted out of Evanston amid a hazing scandal. Fitzgerald was originally given a two week suspension by the university after an internal investigation of the program into hazing allegations. Word of the investigation got out to the public via an article in the school's newspaper, The Daily Northwestern. A number of former players have come forward out to corroborate the atmosphere of hazing on the team. Lawsuits have been filed by former players and now stories of hazing and abuse going on in other teams at the school have now come to light. Read about em all here, Purple Hazing. Bottom line for the football team going forward is that David Braun is now the head coach. Braun was hired at the start of 2023 to be the new DC for the Wildcats. I believe Braun gets this interim job because he has never coached at Northwestern. His career has mostly been spent on FCS sidelines. He spent his last three years as the DC/S coach at FCS powerhouse North Dakota State. Braun is one of five new assistant coaches hired by Fitzgerald in the offseason. The five new hires and the holdovers form the 2022 staff will all remain as coaches for the 2023 season.
Purdue
OUT: Jeff Brohm
IN: Ryan Walters
Jeff Brohm, the former Louisville QB star, saw an opportunity to be the HC at his Ama Mater and left West Lafayette where he had compiled record of 36-34 over the past six seasons. The man chosen as the next HC of the Boilermakers, Ryan Walters, stands as a departure from any Purdue HC over the last 40 years. He is now the first defensive minded HC at Purdue since Leon Burtnett paced the Black and Gold sidelines from 1982-86. The 37-year old Walters spent his college playing days as a safety at Colorado and has been on the defensive side of of the ball ever since. He coached DBs at Arizona, Oklahoma, North Texas, Memphis and Missouri. He was named the DC of Mizzou in 2016 and spent five seasons there. For the last two years he has been the DC for Bret Bielema at Illinois. Walters' defense at Illinois was ranked #2 in total defense last year. The fans at Purdue will have to adjust to a team that now values T.O.P and grind-it-out games over scoreboard popping offense this year.
Stanford
OUT: David Shaw
IN: Troy Taylor
David Shaw's first eight years on The Farm were great. His teams lived his philosophy of intellectual brutality on the field to the tune of eight straight bowl game appearances. Two Rose Bowl victories were apart of those eight bowl games and Stanford was a calm island of old school power football in a sea of modern spread offenses. Then it all fell apart. The Cardinal lost more games in Shaw's final four years than in his first eight. Stanford got pushed around on the field and in recruiting. Shaw hung his whistle at the end of last season and the Cardinal stayed close to home for his replacement. Troy Taylor comes to The Farm from 120 miles up the road where he was the HC at Sacramento State. Taylor was the OC at Utah before he made the Sac State Hornets a Big Sky power with a 30-8 record and three trips to the FCS playoffs. Taylor's offense is the opposite what Stanford has had for over a decade. Taylor offenses spread the field and play in uptempo mode all game. However this will be hard to accomplish with Shaw's leftover personnel. Taylor's rebuild job job has been made tougher by his own bosses. Stanford won't allow NIL groups and a very limited use of the transfer portal. With those handicaps, this could be a five year rebuild.
Fun Fact: Troy Taylor was the QB for Cal in the last ever Big Game to end in a tie. In 1988, he drove the Golden Bears down to the Stanford three-yard in the final seconds of the game. PK Robbie Keen's field goal attempt was blocked as time ran out and the game ended deadlocked at 19-19.
Tulsa
OUT: Phil Montgomery
IN: Kevin Wilson
Phil Montgomery led the Golden Hurricane to a 10-3 record in his second year on Tulsa time in 2016. He could never recapture that success and the program hovered around .500 for the next few seasons. He was fired at the end of 2022 with a 43-53 overall record. Tulsa then made a somewhat controversial hire in Kevin Wilson. Wilson, if you recall, "resigned" from Indiana after a an investigation revealed that a number of players did not have their medical problems taken care of properly and were pressured to practice and play while seriously injured. Well, after six years in coaching rehab at TheeeOSU as their OC/TE coach, Wilson will now be an HC again. We will see if Wilson has truly rehabbed his coaching style.
Texas State
OUT: Jake Sapvital
IN: G.J. Kinne
It's pretty hard to build up a program just down I-35 from the University of Texas and Jake Spavital's Bobcats went a dismal 13-35 over the past four seasons. The admin fired Spavital and made a most interesting hire in G.J. Kinne. The 34-year old Kinne comes to the Bobcats from just further down the road in San Antonio where he spent a season as the HC on the FCS level at Incarnate Word. His Cardinals went 12-2 in his one year at the school and made it all the way to the FCS semifinals. That record and Kinne's ties to high schools in the area were enough for the Bobcats to hire him. Kinne is a spread offense minded coach. His career as an assistant shows stints with Chad Morris and Sonny Dykes at SMU and Gus Malzahn at UCF. Hopefully, the Texas State braintrust will give Kinne time to grow into the job.
UAB
OUT Bill Clark/Bryan Vincent
IN: Trent Dilfer
Bill Clark, the HC that led UAB Blazers football back from the dead a few years ago, quit last June due to a debilitating back condition and Bryan Vincent took over the program and became the only interim HC this intrepid reporter can remember who led a team for an entire season. Vincent went 6-6 and didn't get the nod for the full-time job. UAB then tabbed former NFL QB Trent Dilfer for the job. Dilfer years ago said, "The voice of God" led him to coaching. Dilfer comes to UAB from the high school level where he turned Lipscomb Academy in Nashville, TN from also rans to back-to back D-II Class AA State Champions in 2021 and '22. Who knows how he will do, but Dilfer's story is interesting. Read about his call to coaching here. Hello God, It's me, Trent
UNLV
OUT: Marcus Arroyo
IN: Barry Odom
Marcus Arroyo had quite a building project ahead of him when he left Oregon for the UNLV job in 2020. Arroyo's successor, local HS coach Tony Sanchez found out that all the money that backed him up and helped build a Nevada prep powerhouse at Bishop Gorman did not follow him to the Runnin' Rebels. Sanchez went 20-60 over five years and was fired. Arroyo suffered through an 0-6 COVID season in 2020, but did bring the team up to 5-7 by 2022. That wasn't enough progress for the admin and he was canned. Now, Barry Odom, the man who played for and has spent almost his entire coaching life at Missouri now finds himself in Sin City. However, Odom has arrived at a very sports-minded time in Las Vegas. The Raiders and soon the A's will both call the city home and if Odom can bring signs of life to the program, some big backers could come in to help lift the Rebels to the top of the Mountain West Conference. Hmmmmmm.
USF
OUT: Jeff Scott
IN: Alex Golesh
Jeff Scott was hired to replace Charlie Strong whose squads went a mediocre 21-16 from 2017-19. Scott's tenure would leave Bulls fans wishing for mediocrity. From 2020-2022 Scott's USF squads were the worst in school history. Scott's 4-26 record and .133 winning percentage rank as the worst of any non-interim HC in USF history. Scott has been praised for all his outside of football work to help the program and school, he just never won and winning is the key part of being a successful football coach. The man tabbed to reverse the fortunes of the Bulls is Alex Golesh. Golesh came to the U.S. as youngster with his parents when they emigrated from Russia. The family settled in Dublin, OH and Alex fell in love with football. His first college coaching job was as a Student Assistant for Jim Tressel at TheeeOSU in 2004. He then moved up the ranks as mainly a TE coach for Toledo, Illinois and UCF before becoming Josh Heupel's OC/TE coach at Tennessee these past two years. He seems to be a guy worth rooting for.
Western Michigan
OUT: Tim Lester
IN: Lance Taylor
Tim Lester was the king of being a shade over .500 at WMU. His 37-32 record includes five winning seasons and three bowl games. Back in January of 2022 it looked like he would be a Bronco until at least 2025 with the contract extension he was given by new AD Dan Bartholomae. Then ten months later after the Broncos stumbled to a 5-7 mark, Lester was canned. Basically what happened was that Bartholomae wanted Lester to be P.J. Fleck and although Lester was a loyal WMU lifer from back to his playing days, that wasn't enough to keep the job. Lance Taylor comes to Kalamazoo with a good deal of experience on both the college and pro level. Taylor has lived a life of persistence. As a walk-on at Alabama he earned himself a scholarship despite having had four different HCs. He played WR for a number of arena ball teams before staring out as a GA at Bama in 2007. From there, Taylor has seen time with the New York Jets, Carolina Panthers, Stanford, Notre Dame and Louisville. He's always coached on the offensive side of the ball. This is his first HC job on any level. If Taylor hits it right with the Broncos, the Big Ten may reward his persistence and come calling for his services.
Wisconsin
OUT: Paul Chryst
IN: Luke Fickell
After the great Barry Alvarez left the sidelines of Badgerland in 2005, two subsequent HCs took the job in Madison only to abruptly bolt for other gigs. Bret Bielema, a guy not known for his class, led the Badgers for seven years then didn't bother to tell his bosses about interviewing then subsequently taking the job at Arkansas. After Bielema, Gary Andersen came from Utah State only to leave after two seasons. Andersen's last game at Wiscosnin was a 59-0 thrashing at the hands of TheeeOSU in the 2014 Big Ten title game. Andersen left for the job at Oregon State citing concerns over family as his reason for leaving. So, the Badgers braintrust then went for a familiar name in former Wiscy assistant and then Pitt HC Paul Chryst. Chryst went 67-26 in seven plus seasons in Madison that included three Big Ten West titles and a 5-1 bowl record. However, the program seemed to drop off a bit as of late under Chryst. Repeated blowout losses to TheeeOSU and Michigan along with being pounded by Notre Dame led to calls for his ouster. Chryst's days seemed be numbered when the Sons of Bucky were upset at home by Wazzu in the second game of the 2022 campaign. Chryst was fired 22 days later. Onto to the Wisconsin sidelines steps a sturdy son of Ohio in Luke Fickell. Except for when he played one season for the New Orleans Saints, Fickell's entire football life has been spent in Ohio. He grew up in Columbus, played for TheeeOSU and coached there for 16 years. He even served as the interim HC there when Jim Tressel was suspended for five games in 2011. When he left to be the HC at Cincinnati, it was assumed that he would be back one day to lead the Scarlet and Gray. However, after a successful run with the Bearcats, he accepted the HC job in Madison. Fickle could truly take the Badgers to higher level. Folks at UW have to wonder if they can keep him if the Buckeyes calling anytime soon.
Until next time, remember that all coaching hires are just educated guesses.
-The Commissioner
