Report Card: Grading All The G5 Coaching Hires

First off, I have not written on this blog in a while, but for know here are my grades for a the G5 coaching changes. Hopefully I'll be posting some more content on the MAC, Sun Belt, AAC, C-USA, and Mountain West.

Houston: Major Applewhite
After news started to spread that Lane Kiffin was the next head coach, the University came and said that was 100% false.  Just days later, Houston promoted Applewhite from OC to head coach.  It was clear that he was not their first choice, but he was on their big board.  I think most fans are hoping he keeps some of Tom Herman's traditions alive.  Under Applewhite the offense was good, but it wasn't dominate. Let's hope this is Tom Herman 2.0. Applewhite signed the 4th ranked recruiting class in the American.
Grade: C+


Cincinnati: Luke Fickell:
I thought this was the best hire in the conference. The fan base was not on board from the start, but once Fickell started to move in, I think they realized how good of a coach they actually got. Fickell relieves Tommy Tuberville, who really had no success with his own players, because he refused to recruit the Cincinnati area.  Fickell will do the opposite of that.  He was one of the best recruiters in the nation. He signed the top ranked recruiting class in the American. Plus, I think the only thing Fickell cares about is winning and nothing else. Lastly, with Fickell you even get some experience from when he was the interim at Ohio State for a year.
Grade: A

South Florida: Charlie Strong
A lot of people were saying this is a home run hire, and I just don't see that.  I do think it was a solid hire, but Charlie Strong has only two seasons where he has won more than 7 games.  Thrown in the fact that he has been a head coach for 7 seasons. That is not the definition of a home run hire.  With that being said, I still do give it a thumbs up.  Strong will be a great recruiter in the Florida area and South Florida will continue to go to bowl games with him.  I'm just not sure if they can break through to new heights.  I see more of 8-4 and 7-5 seasons for the Bulls. String signed the 5th ranked recruiting class in the American.
Grade: B



Temple: Geoff Collins
This hire is the hardest for me to judge. Collins was the DC at Florida and the Gators had one of the best defense's in the nation the last two years, but other than that I really don't know much about Collins. This is his first ever head coaching job and he will have big shoes to fill for Owls who are coming off a 10 win season. To judge this hire, I'll have to wait until I see what Temple does on the football field. For now, it's an average hire. Unfortunately, Collins and the Owls had the worst recruiting class in the American.
Grade C



UConn: Randy Edsall
Uh...okay.  Nobody really knows where this hire came from. Edsall was with the program way back in the day before he eventually left to become the Maryland coach, where he had no success whatsoever.  For the last year and a half he had something to do with the Lions in the front office. I'll be honest, I hate this hire.  First off, where was this move three weeks before? Why did Bob Diaco not get fired until all the good coaching candidates were gone. As much as it pains me to say, why not keep Diaco another year? He certainly does not deserve it, but how much of an upgrade was this? The only reason the Huskies do not get an F is because they actually pulled the trigger and did fire Diaco. I hope I am wrong, Huskie fans, I really do, but I think they may be in for a couple more rough years at the Rent.
Grade: D

Florida Atlantic: Lane Kiffin
FAU went out and got a big name to replace Charlie Partridge.  Although it may not seem like Kiffin has had much success, he has coached 5 years as a college head coach and has never finished below .500. Even when he was fired from USC he still had a winning record when he was fired.  Kiffin has certainly had an impact after he signed the best recruiting class in Conference USA. The problem with Kiffin is has he matured yet? That has always been the question with him.  This is probably the last chance he gets as a head coach is he doesn't win.
Grade: B

Florida International: Butch Davis
The former ESPN annalist is back in the coaching business. This is Davis' first collegiate head coaching job since he was let go from North Carolina because of academic misconduct. Davis certainly has potential considering he has had at least 8 wins in 8/10 years he has been a college head coach.  Davis signed the 4th best recruiting class in the conference, but I think FIU reached a little bit on this hire. Plus the academic fraud situation is still lingering on me....
Grade: B-

Fresno State: Jef f Tedford
The Bulldogs went with the former player route.  Tedford played QB for Fresno where he set many passing records and had a great career. He was the former Cal head coach for 11 years where he was the Pac 10 coach of the year in 2006.  With that being said, Tedford doesn't really have sustained success. With Cal he only had more than 7 wins 6 years of the 11 that he was there.  Although I like that he is an alumni who will be energetic to turn the program around, I just haven't seen enough winning. Plus, Cal was his only head coaching job so it's not like he is coming in here with tons of experience like Butch Davis, Lane Kiffin, or Charlie Strong.
Grade: C

Georgia State: Shawn Elliot
In case you were wondering where you heard this name before, Elliot was named the Acting Interim coach at South Carolina after Steve Spurrier abruptly resigned. Elliot is a high energy guy who has a lot of passion for football and I think that is what GSU needs. Elliot signed the 4th best recruiting class in the Sun Belt this year.
Grade: B+

Nevada: Jay Norvell
The problem I have with this hire is that he has never been the head coach and he didn't even have full control of the offense at Oklahoma considering he was the co-offensive coordinator from 2010-2015. He has the play calling duties for Texas last year. What did the Longhorn offense show you last year that was so impressive? I could live with this hire if it were from the MAC or Sun Belt, but I consider the American/Mountain West a tier up and would of liked to see Nevada go after a guy who had at least some success.  Norvell signed the 6th ranked recruiting class in the Mountain West.
Grade: C

San Jose State: Brent Brennan
Brennan was a former assistant on the SJSU staff from 2005-2010 and that is why he got the job. I don't think it was because the AD was so impressed with his work with the Oregon State wide receivers from 2011-2015.... Just like Norvell, this was a deflating hire.  Brennan signed the 8th ranked recruiting class in the Mountain West. For what it's worth, I thought former coach Ron Caragher deserved another year.
Grade: C-

Western Kentucky: Mike Sanford Jr.
The Hill-toppers have been known for their potent offense so they went out and got a guy who was a pretty solid offensive coordinator. Sanford was the coordinator and high powered Boise State and Notre Dame.  If WKU wants to keep their style on offense then I think they got the right guy.  He signed the 5th ranked recruiting class in Conference USA.
Grade: B+

Western Michigan: Tim Lester
Lester has some big shoes to fill as the Broncos are coming off their best three seasons in school history with PJ Fleck. Lester was the QB at WMU from 1996-99.  Lester was previously the QB coach for Purdue where he coached David Blough which averaged over 300 yards a game, and that was good for a top 20 passing offense. He signed the 3rd ranked recruiting class in the MAC, but some of those guys were signed by PJ Fleck who left to go to Minnesota. Fleck took a lot of players with him, but some remained faithful to WMU.  The Broncos should be seeing another bowl game this year.
Grade: B