The month of February is not the main month in which college football head coaches are hired – that’s December, once the regular season ends and schools make the decisions to fire head coaches, thereby initiating new head coaching searches.
Once head coaches settle into their jobs, many are able to find coordinators right away, but a number of them don’t. What also happens is that after the bowl games are over, some coordinators re-evaluate their situations and leave for other jobs they find more appealing. This was the case when Auburn offensive coordinator Rhett Lashlee left AU after its Sugar Bowl loss to Oklahoma. He went to Connecticut to join head coach Randy Edsall.
Nearly all coordinator spots have been filled – just a few remain. Here are the four best hires from the past cycle:
Jim Leavitt, Oregon Ducks
The ability of Oregon coach Willie Taggart to not only find a quality coach, but a coach inside the conference who knows how various opponents work, was a masterstroke. Leavitt was one of five finalists for the 2016 Broyles Award, given to the best assistant coach in college football, usually a coordinator. Leavitt revived a Colorado defense which had been mediocre for a long time. He made the Buffaloes a lot more physical, and a lot better able to defend downfield passes, which are a feature of many Pac-12 offenses. This is an aggressively open conference, and Leavitt is better than most at containing aerial attacks. Oregon should benefit a lot from Leavitt’s presence in Eugene.
The Ducks have had a rough start to the Taggart era with multiple players being hospitalized due to grueling practices. Clearly, Taggart wants to change the culture at Oregon. Leavitt will be a big part of that in the future but hopefully the Ducks can avoid these types of headlines in the future.
Mike Elko, Notre Dame Fighting Irish
There was a lot of concern about the Notre Dame defense last season. Head coach Brian Kelly had to fire defensive coordinator Brian VanGorder. Although the defense improved in the latter half of the season, Kelly knew he needed someone with an impressive track record. Elko should fit the bill. He helped head coach Dave Clawson return Wake Forest to a bowl game this past season, finding ways to effectively rush and pressure opposing quarterbacks. Wake Forest’s defense wasn’t always nasty, but it was usually effective. Players were in the right spots, even if they didn’t always finish plays. Elko should really enrich the Irish’s defense in 2017.
2017 is going to be a key year in the Brian Kelly era in Notre Dame. Another lousy performance and he’ll find himself squarely on the hot seat – if not out of a job altogether. However, if Elko can help the defense improve and the Fighting Irish can return to the Top 25 and be far more competitive, that’ll be enough for Kelly and company to keep the operation going.
Matt Canada, LSU Tigers
When a coach creates the amount of offense Pittsburgh did in 2016, he deserves to make an upward move, and that’s what Matt Canada did, going from Pitt to LSU to join Ed Orgeron. It’s up to Canada to solve LSU’s quarterback problems, and to get the Tigers’ offense to become a strength, not merely a neutral-value unit which is no longer a weakness. There are questions about Orgeron’s ability as head coach; he is counting on Canada to be the X-and-O mastermind the Tigers need. He was a very good selection at an important moment in LSU football history.
Bob Diaco, Nebraska Cornhuskers
This is an excellent hire by head coach Mike Riley, who knows that he is changing quarterbacks in 2017 and therefore needs a defense which cannot merely be good, but needs to become great. Diaco, as a defensive coordinator, guided Notre Dame to the 2013 BCS National Championship Game against Alabama. He is exactly what Nebraska needed, and he could be the difference maker for the Huskers this year, as they try to leap past Wisconsin for the Big Ten West Division title.
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