Ask Farrell: Which new Big 12 coach will be most successful?
Nearly half of the Big 12 teams enter this season with a new head coach as four schools have new regimes. Dana Holgorsen left West Virginia for Houston and the Mountaineers hired Neal Brown after a successful run at Troy.
At Texas Tech, coach Kliff Kingsbury was not retained and after a short stint as USC’s offensive coordinator, he accepted the Arizona Cardinals job. The Red Raiders hired away Matt Wells from Utah State, where he had a 44-34 overall record.
Bill Snyder was a fixture at Kansas State and coached 27 years with the Wildcats before retiring in December. K-State hired Chris Klieman away from North Dakota State and he was wildly successful there going 69-6 there and winning four FCS national championships.
The last time Kansas had a winning record was in 2008, but former LSU coach Les Miles is going to do his best to make the Jayhawks relevant again. That is possible, although difficult, because in a stretch from 2003-2008, Kansas went to four bowl games.
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We ask Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell which new Big 12 coaching staff could have the biggest impact over the next few seasons and whether he sees any of those programs keeping it interesting with Oklahoma and Texas for conference supremacy?
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FARRELL'S TAKE
“I think Neal Brown will have success at West Virginia as he has a lot to work with there and he’s a great hire. I like all four hires but something about Brown and the fit at WVU intrigued me. Will they compete with Texas and Oklahoma? I doubt it, as those two programs are really going to distance themselves from the rest of the conference in the next few years. But I think WVU will be in that second tier.”