Super Bowl LIII: Alums weigh in on first-year Power Five coaches

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While 2018 saw its fair share of big head coaching moves such as Mark Richt and Urban Meyer retiring, it had nothing on the massive amount of turnover following the 2017 season. Like most fans and alums, several participants in Sunday’s Super Bowl LIII were paying close attention to see how the new coaches at their former programs fared in 2018.

Rivals.com caught up with five famous alums to get their thoughts on how the new coaches at their old schools are doing so far.

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“I think the new staff is great. He does a great job and he’s got a big open door policy for the ex-Razorbacks so as far as I know he’s doing it the right way. He’s doing a lot of recruiting and I think Arkansas will be on the rise. I think that would have been a fun offense to play in. When you have a guy like him running a spread offense, as a quarterback it's what you want to do. It’s all about winning, though, so I think he’s going to find the right guy to do it and they will get some wins.” -- Los Angeles Rams quarterback Brandon Allen, Arkansas 2011-15

“I haven’t had a chance to meet coach (Mario) Cristobal yet but I’m going to get back there soon. Their strength and conditioning coach was just down in L.A. and I met him. I think they’re doing a great job. They have a top five recruiting class (ranked No. 7 by Rivals), their quarterback is coming back, they’re obviously doing something and they’re growing. I think they’re going to get back to where they were when I was there.” -- Los Angeles Rams defensive back Troy Hill, Oregon, 2010-14

“I have a ton of faith in Jonathan Smith, he’s going to do a great job at Oregon State and they’re going to build that program pretty quickly. I’ve been back, I went to the Civil War with Brandin Cooks and Johnny Hekker and it lined up perfectly with our bye week. I was able to get back to Corvallis and catch the game and it was a lot of fun. It was fun to be back there and it’s cool with Jonathan being back, there’s a lot more familiar faces and it’s exciting for guys like us.” -- Los Angeles Rams quarterback Sean Mannion, Oregon State, 2011-14

“I think coach (Phillip) Fulmer is getting those guys in the right direction along with coach (Jeremy) Pruitt. Hiring coach Tee Martin combined with the improvements that coach Pruitt was able to make, I’m excited to see what the Vols have in store next year.” -- Los Angeles Rams running back John Kelly, Tennessee 2015-17

“I did go back but I haven’t had a chance to meet Jimbo (Fisher) yet. I was there for the spring game but he was busy with recruits and stuff. I want to go back and talk with him for a bit and see a lot of the guys I played with that are leaving now. They had their ups and downs but you can see they’re fighters. It was amazing the way they beat LSU and hopefully that’s a start of good things to come.” -- Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Joshua Reynolds, Texas A&M 2014-16