It has been an unusual time in the college football coaching world as there have been less coaching changes than most seasons, but a high volume of brand name programs have been in the marketplace. The Nebraska Cornhuskers, Florida Gators, and Wisconsin Badgers are the traditional power programs that have already fired one set of head coaches and hired a new set.
As reported yesterday, Michigan is making an all our blitz for former Wolverine quarterback Jim Harbaugh, who is finishing up a disappointing season with the NFL San Francisco 49ers. After getting rid of Brady Hoke earlier this month, Michigan reportedly offered Harbaugh a contract worth $49 million over six years.
Let’s see how that kitchen-sink strategy compares with the others in our Power Five Coaching Carousel.
Florida Gators (Grade = B)
Will Muschamp was fired after four seasons on the job with Colorado State Rams head coach Jim McElwain in as the new coach.
It was no doubt time for Muschamp to go, as the fans spoke with their attendance and massive sections of empty seats were visible at The Swamp by the end of Muschamp’s tenure. The defensive-minded coach never embraced the Florida tradition of high flying and entertaining offense and his Neanderball style was not only boring, but ineffective. The Gators were never able to take advantage of an SEC East Division that is not nearly as strong as the East.
McElwain is a solid selection as he is coming off back to back bowl seasons in three total years on the job. Just as important is that McElwain is an offense oriented coach that had great success as offensive coordinator with the Alabama Crimson Tide where he won two national championships and is familiar with the jungle of SEC recruiting.
Nebraska Cornhuskers (Grade = C)
The fiery and volatile Bo Pelini was fired after seven seasons on the job and replaced by Mike Riley, who was in his second stint with the Oregon State Beavers.
While Pelini won no less than nine games each and every season in Lincoln, he never won a conference championship and failed rather poorly in some blowout losses in road games against the top Big Ten teams. With his personality, he had long ago worn out his welcome with the Nebraska Administration, as evidenced by yesterday’s reports that Pelini cursed the name of athletic director Shawn Eichorst during a recent player’s meeting.
Riley went a modest 93-80 at Oregon State but Corvallis is a tough place to win consistently at, especially in the shadow of the Oregon Ducks. Riley is known for developing quarterbacks and for being the nicest guy in college football. He now has all of the resources that he lacked at Oregon State to show just how good he can be.
Wisconsin Badgers (Grade = A-)
Second year head coach Gary Anderson bolted in a moment’s notice for the Oregon State Beavers job left vacant by Riley. Anderson was replaced by Pitt head coach Paul Chryst who was with the Panther for three seasons. Anderson is a solid coach who turned around a miserable Utah State Aggies program before keeping Wisconsin at its same level of solid football for two years but he was simply not comfortable in Madison, Wisc.
Chryst is a perfect fit as a Madison native, former UW quarterback and offensive coordinator, and a head coach at Pitt, where he led the Panthers to three bowl games.
Kansas Jayhawks (Grade = D)
Charlie Weiss was fired four games into his third season with a record of 6-22. David Beaty takes over after serving as receivers coach and recruiting coordinator of the Texas A&M Aggies.
Kansas deserves an F for hiring Weiss in the first place and Beaty is a curious hire to say the least. In fact the hiring of Beaty reminds us of when the Minnesota Golden Gophers hired Tim Brewster as head coach with a similar resume to Beaty’s.
Oregon State Beavers (Grade = C+)
Gary Andersen is the best possible replacement for Mike Riley as he knows and loves that area of the country and is a proven turnaround artist from his time at Utah State. Recruiting should not be a problem.
Michigan Wolverines (Grade = Incomplete)
This could be the biggest splash of them all. Michigan fired Brady Hoke after four seasons of regression but has backed up the truck for Harbaugh with a whopping $50 million offer that would make him the highest paid coach in college football. Anything less than Harbaugh would be failure however.
