Wednesday Tailgate: Ranking first-year Group of Five coaches
One year isn't enough to assess a head coach's long-term prognosis at a new job. One-third of one year is even less fair. But it's also true that first impressions are lasting ones. Some new FBS bosses have already made their presence felt.
There are eight first-year head coaches in the power five conferences. We'll get to those tomorrow. Today, we'll rank the immediate impact made by the first-year leaders of programs in the group of five leagues. Again, this is not a prediction of future success or failure. It is simply a quick evaluation of which new coaches have had the biggest impact thus far after a month on the job.
Tom Herman, Houston: A 4-0 start is a good way to win over a fan base. Add in the fact that one of those victories came at the expense of a major conference member, Louisville, and Herman is the easy choice to top the list. There's also mounting evidence that the former Ohio State offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach is missed at his previous job.
John Bonamego, Central Michigan: Amid all the high-profile contests last weekend, one result might have slipped under the country's radar. But CMU's 29-19 takedown of defending Mid-American Conference champion Northern Illinois certainly made the new man in Mt. Pleasant very popular.
Tony Sanchez, UNLV: The Rebels' hire of a high school coach raised a few eyebrows, but beating your in-state rival in your first encounter is a good way to quiet the skeptics. UNLV staved off Nevada 23-17 in Reno on Saturday, also giving Sanchez his first Mountain West Conference victory.
Philip Montgomery, Tulsa: Early indications are fairly positive for the Golden Hurricane, like winning their first two games. Oklahoma and the aforementioned Houston Cougars provided a bit of a reality check, but Tulsa was at least competitive in both those 14-point losses. Some tough games remain on the slate, but bowl eligibility isn't out of the question.
Lance Leipold, Buffalo: Leipold might have taken the biggest career risk of any of the FBS hires, leaving his hugely successful gig at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater for a MAC school where it can be hard to make headway. His Bulls dropped their conference opener last week but came within six points of East Division favorite Bowling Green.
Mike Bobo, Colorado State: With three-point losses to Minnesota and Colorado, the Rams have been agonizingly close to getting that breakthrough win for Bobo, who had some rather large shoes to fill. Boise State is on deck, so things might not get better right away. But CSU's schedule eases a bit in the season's second half, keeping bowl eligibility a realistic goal.
Chad Morris, SMU: Morris inherited arguably the most challenging schedule of any Group of Five school. James Madison is a very good FCS program, but you're still not supposed to lose to FCS programs. Unfortunately for Morris and the Mustangs, that game followed encounters with Baylor and TCU. In addition to Thursday night's date with Houston (There are those Cougars again), SMU's remaining slate includes three other squads who haven't lost yet — Temple, Navy and Memphis.
Neal Brown, Troy: There haven't been many opportunities yet to move the needle for Brown, still seeking his first win against an FBS opponent with the Trojans.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL VIDEO PLAYLIST