Grading this week's assistant coach hires

GRADING ASSISTANT COACH HIRES: Feb. 17 | Feb. 10

The head coaching carousel stopped spinning quite awhile ago, but the flurry of post-National Signing Day assistant coaching moves continued over the past week, with as many as 20 major programs announcing various changes. As we have done over the past few weeks, we rank the biggest impact hires over the past 14 days, getting views from experts at our Rivals.com team sites and National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell.

Local take: “I think the hire is underrated by some. With a staff full of very good recruiters, Johnson's hire is a perfect complement by having deep roots in California as well as Pac-12 experience. He is energetic and relates well to kids, has great connections already established in the high school community and is extremely personable. He also has 10 years of NFL experience, which will resonate well with many young players." – Scott Reed, DucksSportsAuthority.com

National take: “Despite all the hoopla about his potential hire at Michigan and his son, a talented 2019 quarterback, Johnson's resume is excellent and he's a very personable and effective recruiter. He relates very well to today's prospects having recently worked high school camps and coaching high school. That, along with his past experience in college, makes this a terrific hire.” – Mike Farrell, National Recruiting Director, Rivals.com

Grade: A

Local take: “Alabama is certainly college football's version of the New England Patriots. Daboll brings that 'demand for perfection' mentality to Tuscaloosa. Top offensive recruits will be impressed with him working so closely with Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski. He should fit in perfectly with Nick Saban.” – Andrew Bone, BamaInsider.com

National take: “Daboll might not have much college recruiting experience, but his NFL resume is impressive and he's worked with some great coaches and players at that level. That will draw recruits.” – Farrell

Grade: B+

Local take: “McCollough has been given a lot of credit for Indiana’s recent talent surge at tailback. Because of that, USC should continue to recruit that position at an incredibly high level. USC is obviously the name program out West and five different Trojan backs have won Heisman trophies. USC gets the pick of the litter when it comes to tailbacks, especially in Southern California. That’s going to continue. McCollough was a smart hire with a solid resume. He won’t hurt USC’s ability to attract talent at that spot.” – Chris Swanson, TrojanSports.com

National take: “McCullough has done a good job coaching running backs at Indiana and has been a solid recruiter, but this is a massive step up and he's filling some big shoes. He has a great product to sell and is known as an active recruiter, so he should do well.” – Farrell

Grade: B

Local take: “With Bicknell, his long connection to the NFL will always be an attractive quality with wide receiver recruits. Baylor has already put several in the league with the latest in KD Cannon. This demonstrates that the school wants to maintain that connection. But like most of Matt Rhule's staff, there is a ramp up period because he's new to the state of Texas.” Kevin Lonnquist, Sicemsports.com

National take: “Bicknell hasn't worked in college for a long time, but his NFL experience will help on the recruiting trail and he has good coaching bloodlines. The Bicknell family of coaches are known as relatable and good recruiters.” – Farrell

Grade: B

Local take: “Beard is young, energetic and his personality will play well with recruits. We have already seen it with Vol commitment Alontae Taylor. From a recruiting territory standpoint, Beard obviously has great ties in the state of Florida given his previous work with 7-on-7 teams that featured plenty of high profile prospects. It's also worth noting that Tennessee is making a bigger effort in the state of Florida. Tennessee signed seven prospects last month from the Sunshine State. They signed five from Florida a year ago.” – Brent Hubbs, Volquest.com

National take: “Beard is young and has recent high school coaching experience, but beyond that he'll be making his reputation at Tennessee for the most part after a brief stint as a field coach in Miami. He's a bit of a mystery.” – Farrell

Grade: C