Written by Zac Ellis at SI.com
This season’s college football coaching carousel felt a bit more dramatic than usual. Longtime coaches like Steve Spurrier and Gary Pinkel resigned after more than a decade at South Carolina and Missouri, respectively. At the midway point of the season, USC shockingly fired Steve Sarkisian after several off-field transgressions became public. Meanwhile top-tier openings sparked activity on the secondary market, as departing coaches left holes to fill at their previous schools.
Overall 28 FBS programs hired new head coaches. Which schools emerged from the coaching carousel in the best position to win, and which schools whiffed on their searches? We offer grades for every college football coaching hire in the FBS.
Dino Babers, Syracuse
Say this much for Syracuse: The school knew what it had to fix in its football program. That much is clear after the Orange hired Babers away from Bowling Green. Syracuse finished the 2015 season 12th in the ACC in total offense (5.11 yards per play), and Babers, a disciple of Baylor coach Art Briles, knows a thing or two about offense. His Falcons boasted the MAC’s top-scoring attack (42.2 points per game) behind record-setting quarterback Matt Johnson. Babers comes to Syracuse fresh off a MAC championship at Bowling Green.
Grade: A
Matt Campbell, Iowa State
Campbell was the youngest head coach in the FBS (32) when he took over at Toledo before the 2011 season. Four years later, he has arrived at Iowa State after leading Toledo to two straight nine-win seasons and consecutive MAC West titles. It’s not easy to win in Ames—previous coach Paul Rhoads went 16–45 in Big 12 play over seven seasons—but Campbell’s affable personality could serve as a spark for the Cyclones. In a way, his hiring has already paid off: Iowa State touted its 2016 signing class, which finished 46th nationally, as one of the best in program history.
Grade: A
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