Ask Farrell: Which first-year coach can make the biggest splash?
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Hiring a new coach is a time for struggling college football fan bases to believe the change will bring a fresh start, more wins and greater relevance to their program.
The coaching carousel two seasons ago was incredibly busy, as many national programs made a switch at the top. This past offseason was not nearly as hectic, but there were still many coaching changes - and some serious surprises - along the way.
Neal Brown took over at West Virginia. Chris Klieman took the unenviable job of replacing Bill Snyder at Kansas State. After Mark Richt’s surprise retirement, Manny Diaz left Temple for the Miami position.
Matt Wells took over at Texas Tech after Kliff Kingsbury was fired. Geoff Collins is now at Georgia Tech. Scott Satterfield is the new coach at Louisville after it parted ways with Bobby Petrino. Mel Tucker is the new face at Colorado.
At North Carolina, Mack Brown is back in action in Chapel Hill. At Kansas, Les Miles is looking to rebuild the Jayhawks quickly. And at Maryland, Mike Locksley takes over.
ASK FARRELL
Ryan Day takes over at Ohio State, too, but for this question, he’s excluded. So, we ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell which coach from the list above does he think can turn his program around most quickly to become a contender for a conference championship?
“There’s no doubt in my mind it’s Diaz at Miami. He has a great recruiting base, the ACC isn’t loaded at all, especially in his division, and Miami is a big brand name. Based on the way he is recruiting in 2020 things are going well and there is a buzz around Miami, so that helps. I like Brown at West Virginia as well, but my answer is Diaz far and away.”