Grading the Power Five hires
The coaching carousel is still spinning as Stanford has yet to replace David Shaw and Scott Satterfield left Louisville for Cincinnati, leaving the Cardinals without a coach for now. But it’s still a good time to grade the Power Five coaching hires with all the other ones filled.
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MORE: Recruits react to Scott Satterfield's move from Louisville to Cincinnati
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NEBRASKA: Matt Rhule
Grade: A+
Rhule rebuilt Baylor from basically as bad as it gets following the Art Briles mess and took the Bears to the Sugar Bowl in his third year. He had a winning record in his second season in Waco and won the Texas Bowl. Rhule is a program builder and it’s exactly what Nebraska needs now - but Rhule also needs patience.
He went 1-11 in his first season at Baylor and if anything close like that happens in Lincoln, the fan base will be prone to turn on him. That cannot happen. Rhule is a smart guy who knows how to run college programs and he has to be a little embarrassed by how his NFL experience went.
There is massive motivation on both sides for this to work but it’s not going to happen overnight. This was an excellent hire and Nebraska could not have done any better.
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AUBURN: Hugh Freeze
Grade: A
There is absolutely no questioning Freeze’s ability to coach football and win games. He’s an offensive mastermind, his teams play hard, his Ole Miss teams beat Alabama twice, his Liberty teams won games they shouldn’t have, including at Arkansas this season. In that sense, Freeze is a home run hire and the person I advocated for Auburn to hire even over Lane Kiffin.
It’s just the baggage Auburn fans should be concerned about and whether he really has changed from recruiting violations and other off-the-field issues at Ole Miss or not. Second chances are important and Freeze is talented enough to give him a shot.
The low point was Bryan Harsin’s tenure on The Plains. It can only go up from here, right?
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WISCONSIN: Luke Fickell
Grade: A
As much as it would have been a feel-good story to give the job to Jim Leonhard, when someone as talented as Fickell becomes available that opportunity cannot be passed up. Let’s just start with this: He took Cincinnati to the College Football Playoff. That’s extraordinary.
He had a 57-18 record at Cincinnati and his only losing season was his first. Fickell is the spark that Wisconsin needs and now he has to implement it. The Badgers are still going to run the ball a lot behind a behemoth offensive line but the offense needs a spark, the threat of throwing the football downfield and opening things up a little bit. Fickell can deliver that.
Can he recruit elite talent to Madison, though, enough to not only win the Big Ten West but conference titles? That’s a whole other ballgame.
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COLORADO: Deion Sanders
Grade: A-
Sanders has coached a total of 32 games at the college level and that was at Jackson State so we’re still not certain of his coaching acumen at the Power Five level or how any of this is going to work out. Coach Prime has an idea of what he wants the Buffaloes to become. He has an idea how to get there – the transfer portal is going to play a huge role apparently – and Sanders is a winner, but this is a very difficult job in a high-end conference.
His opening remarks to the current Colorado team were at the same time motivating and a major turn-off, basically telling them to go to the transfer portal because, “I’m coming.” Well, a lot of elite coaches are already there and Sanders hasn’t proven himself at the highest levels of coaching yet for all of his bluster.
Still, it’s a new direction and a breath of fresh air that was needed to jumpstart a struggling program.
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ARIZONA STATE: Kenny Dillingham
Grade: B
Dillingham is super-smart, super-connected and young. That could be a great thing or a little concerning considering the NCAA is still investigating the program for alleged recruiting misdeeds under former coach Herm Edwards and his staff. But Dillingham is from the state, he understands the culture and DNA of Arizona State football, he was a high school coach at Scottsdale (Ariz.) Chaparral and has learned under some great coaches – especially Mike Norvell along the way.
He’s only 32 years old but knows his stuff, especially on the offensive side of the ball, and he’s a phenomenal recruiter as well. There might be some learning pains but Dillingham will be worth the wait.
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GEORGIA TECH: Brent Key
Grade: C+
In three full seasons, Geoff Collins never won more than three games. In his first eight games, Key won four which really makes a statement about both coaches probably. Key’s Yellow Jackets beat Pittsburgh and Duke in his first two games as interim coach before a choppy finish, so it’s clear the players want to compete for him.
He’s a talented coach but are elite players in Atlanta, in Georgia and across the Southeast going to turn down higher-profile options to play for Key at Georgia Tech? Recruiting could be a challenge and that’s a little of the same old story with that program.
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RIVALS RANKINGS WEEK
Sunday: Who should be No. 1?
Monday: Five-Star Countdown | Meet the new five-stars | Latest recruiting news on five-stars | Is Proctor too low?
Tuesday: Rivals250 released | Biggest Movers | Gorney's thoughts | Teams that should be pleased
Wednesday: Offensive position rankings released
Thursday: Defensive position rankings released
Friday: State rankings released
Saturday: Roundtable
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