Ranking recent CFB assistant coaching hires

With the Arizona job officially filled, there are no more major college head coach openings, which means for now the coaching carousel has officially stopped. But with the addition of a 10th on-field assistant job at FBS schools and the Early Signing Period triggering moves earlier than normal, the assistant coaching market is hotter than ever.

In the first of a weekly series, we rank the best assistant coach hires at Power Five programs from the past week from a recruiting perspective and name our assistant coach hire of the week.

NOTE: Not all hirings have been officially announced, but have been reported by multiple outlets.

MORE: Farrell's Three-Point Stance | Wommack on Arizona hiring Sumlin

Snyder is a well-known name in the college football world and comes to Florida State from Michigan State. Other stops in his past include a defensive coordinator stint at Texas A&M, where he helped recruit eventual No. 1 overall draft pick Myles Garrett. He has been an assistant at UCF, USF, Ohio State and Minnesota and was the head coach at Marshall from 2005-09.

Local reaction: “FSU landed a defensive coach that certainly passes the test when it comes to experience with Snyder having defensive coordinator experience and one that did very well as a DE coach a year ago with Michigan State. When you focus on the stats and the fit, he will have with some great young players at FSU. Now as far as recruiting, that's one thing we don't know yet in regards to the areas of strength for Snyder and how he will settle in for specific areas around the Southeast and Florida. But being Harlen Barnett's right-hand man in that defense certainly makes the transition easy.

"He has a solid reputation of being a coach with a lot of intensity and a guy that should settle in well with the type of ends FSU likes. But how quickly he adjusts to recruiting is the big question mark. Don't think you will have a lot of current targets that know him, but with FSU having three big visit weekends coming up, all of those targets should get a very detailed view of his style and the system he wants to run. Overall, a solid hire from the coaching standpoint and it continues the buzz FSU has going with this staff.” – Michael Langston, Warchant.com

Farrell’s take: “Snyder has been around for a long time, has head coaching and defensive coordinator experience, and is known as a great teacher and a solid recruiter. He’s known for coaching his players up quite well at most of his stops and he’ll be a great addition to Harlon Barnett’s staff as he has familiarity with him.”

1. David Corley – Penn State (running backs)

Corley comes to Penn State from Army, where he worked one year as the wide receivers coach. His most notable experience came at UConn from 2014-16, where he coached both the running backs and wide receivers. A former player and coach at William & Mary, Corley has deep ties to the Mid-Atlantic.

Farrell’s take: “Corley may not come from high-level recruiting schools, but James Franklin knows excellent recruiters and has been following Corley’s progress. He’s a good talent evaluator, gets the most out of his players and has worked so many different roles, including some in recruiting engagement. I think he becomes a big part of this staff as a recruiter.”

2. Bradley Dale Peveto – Texas A&M (special teams)

Peveto is a well-known name is the coaching world, having spent two stints on Les Miles' former staff at LSU during some of the best runs in recent history. He comes to Texas A&M from Ole Miss, where he spent one season coaching linebackers and special teams. Peveto has also spent time in the SEC at Kentucky and had a four-year run as the head coach at FCS program Northwestern State.

Farrell’s take: “Peveto is a Texas native and graduated from SMU, so he will help the Aggies' recruiting efforts in the state. He’s also known as an excellent recruiter and has experience in the SEC West at Ole Miss, LSU and Arkansas, so he’s familiar with the game. He’s known as a better recruiter than coach, but he’s had some success with players and can develop prospects as well.”

3. David Johnson – Tennessee (wide receivers)

A relatively new name in the coaching world, Johnson started in the high school ranks, with his last prep job at Louisiana power program St. Augustine, where he coached future stars Tyrann Mathieu and Leonard Fournette. He moved from there to Tulane, where he spent four seasons before taking a job at Memphis where he coached receivers in 2016 and 2017.

Farrell’s take: “Johnson worked with and developed Anthony Miller at Memphis which is as impressive as anything that can be put on a resume. I love Miller as a prospect and he was clearly coached up well. He will help in-state recruiting efforts and also has experience in Louisiana, a state that many SEC teams would like to poach, from his time at Tulane and in the high school ranks.”

4. Randy Bates – Pittsburgh (defensive coordinator)

Another well-established name in the coaching world, Bates had become a fixture at Northwestern, where he spent the past 11 seasons coaching linebackers. He’s credited with helping recruit and develop several future stars, including 2017 Big Ten freshman of the year, linebacker Paddy Fisher. Prior to his time with the Wildcats, Bates spent six years on the staff at Louisiana Tech.

Farrell’s take: “Bates hasn’t been at huge schools recruiting major targets but he has a ton of experience, did a great job coaching up players at Northwestern and has good ties to the Midwest for recruiting. He coached James Harrison at Kent State and this past season did a great job with redshirt standout Paddy Fisher. He will improve the defense on the field and his no-nonsense recruiting style will play well as a closer.”

5. Tracy Claeys – Washington State (defensive coordinator)

Most recently the head coach at Minnesota, Claeys didn’t coach in 2017 after being fired despite leading the Golden Gophers to a 9-4 record and a win over Washington State in the Holiday Bowl. A long-time assistant who took over the head job at Minnesota after Jerry Kill resigned due to health concerns, Claeys has also coached at Northern Illinois and Southern Illinois.

Farrell’s take: “A players' coach, Claeys is known as an excellent player development guy and a solid recruiter. His time at Minnesota was impressive despite the end where he was fired for backing his players accused of sexual assault. He’s similar to Mike Leach in his rebel reputation and will fit in well on the staff and improve the defense.”