Tuesdays with Gorney: Ten programs that need to bounce back in 2024
The regular season is finished and there are plenty of teams that did not live up to expectations. In today’s Tuesdays With Gorney, Rivals national recruiting director Adam Gorney looks at 10 programs who had forgettable seasons - and where they go from here:
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ARKANSAS
Finishing his fourth season, Sam Pittman is now 23-25 with the Razorbacks and this was his toughest season yet going 4-8 and winning only one conference game - at Florida, the first time Arkansas has won there in program history.
Fielding questions for weeks about his job status, Pittman said what he could but was then backed up by support from athletic director Hunter Yurachek that Pittman would return in 2024. It drew mixed-to-negative reviews from the fan base. Arkansas won only two games after Sept. 9 - Florida and FIU - although there were many close losses along the way but the season ended with an embarrassing 48-14 blowout to Missouri.
Through the struggles, recruiting has held up. Arkansas’ recruiting class is No. 23 nationally but that’s good for No. 12 in the super-competitive SEC recruiting world.
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BAYLOR
It feels so long ago that Baylor went 12-2, won the Big 12 championship in thrilling fashion and then won the Sugar Bowl as well when Dave Aranda was the darling of college football. Last season, the Bears fell to 6-7 and Aranda said he needed to hold the players more accountable but things got way worse this season as Baylor fell to 3-9.
There were some considerable rumors that Aranda could be fired but he saved his job by taking over defensive play-calling duties and firing offensive coordinator Jeff Grimes. Since 2011, Baylor has had six double-digit winning seasons so success can be found there but Aranda has to turn it around quickly in 2024 or he could be next to depart Waco.
The Bears also have to step it up in recruiting fast - or look to the transfer portal for more immediate help. Baylor is ranked No. 58 nationally in the team rankings and No. 11 in the Big 12 with just 14 pledges.
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CINCINNATI
How quickly Cincinnati has fallen from the Luke Fickell days - and the move to the Big 12 could have certainly hastened that decline. After going to the College Football Playoff just two years ago and having elite seasons under Fickell, Scott Satterfield (who went 25-24 at Louisville and was on the hot seat there) led the Bearcats to 3-9 in his first season. It’s the worst record for Cincinnati since 1998 when the Bearcats went 2-9 under Rick Minter.
Cincinnati won only one game since Sept. 9 - beating Houston, which just fired coach Dana Holgorsen - and ended the season with blowout losses to West Virginia and Kansas. The Bearcats are No. 45 nationally in the team rankings sandwiched between Mississippi State and Virginia Tech and they’re seventh in the Big 12 but have no four-star commitments.
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COLORADO
Colorado was so pitifully bad in 2022 that progress was made in Year 1 under coach Deion Sanders but not much. The Buffaloes finished 4-8 after starting 3-0 and won only one game - against lowly Arizona State - before losing six-straight to finish the season although many of them were one-touchdown games.
The Buffaloes just have no depth along the offensive line and they couldn’t run the ball late in the season along with quarterback Shedeur Sanders just getting pulverized every game. A curious in-season switch at offensive coordinator was probably the wrong move.
In recent days, 2025 four-star quarterback Antwann Hill and 2024 high three-star Danny O’Neil decommitted as Colorado’s recruiting class is ranked No. 68 nationally and No. 9 in the Pac-12 with only nine commits, the lowest in the conference. That seems to be an indication that Sanders is heading back to the transfer portal for quick fixes.
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FLORIDA
The last coach in Florida football history to have two-straight losing seasons to start his tenure was Raymond Wolf in 1946-47 and even then there was improvement as the Gators went 0-9 and then 4-5-1 until now as Billy Napier has gone 6-7 and now 5-7 through his second season.
Florida has endured three-straight losing seasons for the first time since 1945-47 and while Napier never really got too much hot-seat talk after just his second season, things need to turn around fast in Gainesville because the fan base there has very little patience for losing.
After starting a respectable 5-2, the Gators lost five-straight to end the season including an inexcusable home loss to Arkansas. Recruiting has gone really well, though, as young players grow into veterans and this recruiting cycle, Florida is ranked No. 12 nationally. The Gators were even higher but recently endured a string of decommitments.
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MIAMI
Mario Cristobal flipped Miami from 5-7 in his first season to 7-5 in Year 2 but this still feels like a missed opportunity for the Hurricanes, who didn’t bring Cristobal in just to have average outcomes. After starting 4-0 and whipping Texas A&M, the Hurricanes lost to Georgia Tech and then North Carolina beat Miami as well.
There was another stretch in November when Miami lost three-straight to NC State, Florida State and Louisville before trouncing Boston College to end the regular season before a bowl game. But quarterback play took a step back and was never really figured out, either.
There is a lot of young talent on the roster and much more on the way as Cristobal continues to be a phenomenal recruiter. The Hurricanes are ranked No. 10 in the team recruiting rankings and second in the ACC behind Florida State with two five-star pledges and 10 four-stars. Cristobal probably has a little longer leash to turn Miami back into a national power because of his connections to the school but 7-5 felt like a miss this season.
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NEBRASKA
It’s pretty hard to believe but Nebraska has now had seven-straight losing seasons and the Huskers had ample opportunities to not allow that to happen to close out Year 1 under coach Matt Rhule down the stretch.
Nebraska was 5-3 heading into November but lost four-straight to Michigan State, Maryland, Wisconsin and Iowa, three by three points and one by a touchdown. The over/under in its season finale against the Hawkeyes was 25.5 points and the total went under as the Huskers offense just had no juice at all.
Rhule is a smart coach who has turned around Temple and Baylor so time will be needed but this is a program that under former coach Bo Pelini went 67-27 and finished first or second in the Big Ten West and the Big 12 in every year except one not too long ago.
Recruiting has been fine with Nebraska sitting No. 26 nationally and fifth in the Big Ten as four-star tight end Carter Nelson is the jewel of the recruiting class.
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PITT
Pat Narduzzi has been Pitt’s coach since 2015 and this was by far his worst season at 3-9 with wins over Wofford and Boston College and a stunner by beating Louisville. Other than that, it was a really forgettable season as the Panthers averaged only 20 points per game and had just 10 rushing touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Frank Cignetti has already been fired.
Narduzzi also made an unfortunate comment after being battered by Notre Dame that Pitt lost a lot of good players from a year ago and the coaches thought they replaced them but that wasn’t the case. He didn’t lose the locker room after that comment apparently but it could have gone either way in a really frustrating season. The 3-9 record is Pitt’s worst since Walt Harris went 2-9 in 1998.
Pitt’s recruiting class is ranked No. 31 nationally and sixth in the ACC with four four-star commitments led by powerful RB Yasin Willis and DT Jahsear Whittington.
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SOUTH CAROLINA
From 2011-13, South Carolina had three-straight 11-win seasons under coach Steve Spurrier but then at the end of the Spurrier era followed by Will Muschamp and now Shane Beamer, the Gamecocks have really just been sort of average.
Beamer had winning seasons in his first two but South Carolina took a step back this year finishing 5-7 and enduring a grueling stretch in late September through late October losing to Tennessee, Florida, Missouri and Texas A&M. The Gamecocks also lost to rivals North Carolina and Clemson this season.
Recruiting has hung in there. South Carolina is ranked No. 27 nationally right in between Nebraska and Purdue as five-star defensive end Dylan Stewart is the jewel of this recruiting class.
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TCU
Sonny Dykes went from taking his team to the national championship game to 5-7 the following year and missing a bowl game. There were some close losses along the way - three points against West Virginia, seven at Texas Tech and three against Texas - but the Horned Frogs still sit with a losing record after a lot of losses following the title run.
Dykes did the unthinkable in his first season at TCU so he could probably stay for as long as he likes but getting back to winning ways will be crucial in 2024. No. 38 in the team recruiting rankings, the Horned Frogs are fifth in the Big 12 rankings as former Oklahoma WR commit Dozie Ezukanma could flip to TCU soon as well.