College football is finally over, coaches are building their staffs, here are changes since the last time we updated (in bold).
Team |
Former Coach |
New Coach |
|---|---|---|
| Arizona | Rich Rodriguez | Kevin Sumlin |
| Arizona State | Todd Graham | Herm Edwards |
| Arkansas | Bret Bielema | Chad Morris |
| Florida | Jim McElwain | Dan Mullen |
| Florida State | Jimbo Fisher | Willie Taggart |
| Georgia Southern | Tyson Summers | Chad Lunsford |
| Kent State | Paul Haynes | Sean Lewis |
| Louisiana | Mark Hudspeth | Billy Napier |
| Mississippi State | Dan Mullen | Joe Moorhead |
| Nebraska | Mike Riley | Scott Frost |
| Ole Miss | Hugh Freeze | Matt Luke |
| Oregon | Willie Taggart | Mario Cristobal |
| Oregon State | Gary Andersen | OC/QB Jonathan Smith |
| Rice | David Bailiff | Mike Bloomgren |
| Tennessee | Butch Jones | Jeremy Pruitt |
| Texas A&M | Kevin Sumlin | Jimbo Fisher |
| SMU | Chad Morris | Sonny Dykes |
| South Alabama | Joey Jones | Steve Cambell |
| UCF | Scott Frost | Josh Heupel |
| UCLA | Jim Mora Jr. | Chip Kelly |
| UTEP | Sean Kugler | Dana Dimel |
Arizona
Previous Coach: Rich Rodriguez
New Coach: Kevin Sumlin, HC Texas A&M
Notes: Rich Rodriguez was fired amid a workplace misconduct violation. But that opened up an exciting opportunity for the Wildcats. Kevin Sumlin is a fantastic hire for Arizona, especially with sophomore QB Khalil Tate’s breakout season this past season. Since TAMU joined the SEC in 2012, Sumlin’s offenses have been fast paced and have ranked the passing offense in the top 4 in the SEC, including the best passing offense between 2012 and 2014, when Johnny Football was QB. Let’s compare the two:
Johnny Manziel:
Khalil Tate:
Both Manziel and Tate are clearly similar players that run north-south, have cannons for arms, make their own plays out of the pocket and have the athleticism to break multiple tackles and evade defenders. Although Manziel did have Mike Evans to help pad his passing stats, Tate will have a returning offensive weapons that will flourish in Sumlin’s offense.
Kent State
Previous Coach: Paul Haynes
New Coach: Sean Lewis, co-OC Syracuse
Notes: Kent St. hired Syracuse OC Sean Lewis back in December. Lewis is taking the lead of team that has consistently ranked at the bottom of the MAC conference for the last 10 years in passing offense and rushing offense (2008 is an anomaly, when Julian Edleman led the Golden Flashes to a 1st ranked rushing offense). Makes sense that Kent State is hiring a OC as their new Head Coach. In his introductory press conference, he set lofty goals, “We’re going to own the Wagon Wheel,” he said of the rivalry game with Akron. “We’re going to win the East (Division). And we’re going to win a MAC Championship.” Lewis has recently coached 49er’s QB Jimmy Garoppolo at Eastern Illinois and also led the Syracuse Orange to a win over Clemson this year. Lewis has signed a 5-year $2.3 million deal.
Louisiana
Previous Coach: Mark Hudspeth
New Coach: Billy Napier, OC ASU
Notes: The Ragin’ Cajuns hired Napier back in December. Most recently, he has been the OC/WR coach at Clemson (2009-2010), AHC/QB Coach at Colorado State (2012), WR Coach at Alabama (2013-2016) and OC/QB at ASU. He was recently going to join Herm Edwards as the AHC/OC at Arizona State, but left for the HC position at Louisiana-Lafayette. Napier is regarded as one of the best recruiters in the position and has 2 national championships during his time at Alabama. Much like Sean Lewis at Kent State, Napier will take over a program that has ranked at the bottom half of the Sub Belt conference offensively since 2012. Napier is an offensive mastermind that will bring the much needed championship mindset to the Louisiana football program.
College Football - Big Ten | The Final Snap 