Grading the college football coaching hires

Now that the college football coaching carousel has officially stopped moving around the tracks, there is time to step back and look deeper at each hire. I am aware that grading coaching hires can often come back to make a person look very dumb, but I am going to hope this is not the case for me. See what grades I gave to the biggest coaching hires of the season below.

Luke Fickell to Wisconsin

Grade: A

This is the best hire by any team this off-season, and was the most shocking to me. When I first saw the news that Wisconsin was zeroing in on Fickell, I could not believe this was happening. Jim Leonard seemed like a shoe-in to get the job, and there had not been a single rumor that Fickell was looking to get out of Cincinnati this season. Fickell turned down big jobs in the past, including Michigan State and USC, so I just assumed he was waiting for the Ohio State job. However, he has apparently decided it is time for a change despite UC joining the Big 12 this upcoming season.

Wisconsin is getting a coach that knows how to build a culture and restore a program. He went from 4-8 in his first season at Cincinnati to leading the first ever group of 5 team into the Playoffs in just his fifth season. Fickell knows how to develop players and find under the radar recruits. He has recruited southwest Ohio very effectively, and can continue to use this area at Wisconsin.

Wisconsin fans should be thrilled by this hire. Fickell is a defensive minded coach, but his offensive coordinator hire shows he isn’t neglecting the offense. Phil Longo, the UNC offensive coordinator, is taking the role, and he is known for having high scoring offenses. The Big 10 will soon be changing with the addition of the California schools, but Fickell should be able to take advantage of being in the west quickly.

Matt Rhule to Nebraska

Grade: B+

I would give this hire a solid B+. It may not be the splashiest name, but this is what Nebraska needs. While Rhule’s time did not work out in the NFL, he has a very proven track record at the college level. Rhule turned around two programs, Temple and Baylor, that were at a rock bottom and got them back to great heights in just a few years. Rhule is very good at bringing in coaches who know how to recruit the area. For example, at Baylor he brought in high school coach Joey McGuire, who is now the head coach at Texas Tech. If Rhule can have someone like that help recruit him at Nebraska, it will be very beneficial. Nebraska has one of the highest potentials for NIL, which can help them bring anyone to Lincoln. Nebraska fans will need to give Rhule a few years, but I think he will do well here.

Hugh Freeze to Auburn

Grade: B-, F

Football wise, I would grade this a B-, but morally wise I give it an F. While at Ole Miss, Freeze’s teams broke 21 NCAA violations. He failed to have oversight on the program. On top of this, Freeze used company phones to call escorts. After being fired, he was of course hired by one of the most Christian universities, Liberty. There, he continued his track record of being a questionable human being by messaging a sexual assault survivor and telling her the man she was accusing was the most god loving man he knew, so there is no way he could have done that. So yeah, safe to say Freeze isn’t going to be setting the best example for the young men he is coaching at Auburn.

I do believe that retaining Cadillac Williams on staff is a great move. Williams had Auburn looking motivated and like they cared while he was the interim coach. Freeze was able to beat Alabama while at Ole Miss, and Auburn fans will be expecting him to do the same here.

Kenny Dillingham to Arizona State

Grade: C

Arizona State has hired alum Kenny Dillingham, the offensive coordinator at Oregon. Dillingham is only 32, making him the youngest coach at the college level. Because he is so young and does not have a long track record coaching, I will give this hire a C. Arizona State could be a sleeping giant, but it is going to take some time to turn this program around. Dillingham will need to ramp up the recruiting and hope they don’t get hit too hard by NCAA sanctions. Dillingham was able to turn Bo Nix around in one season, so the Sun Devils offenses should improve.

Scott Saterfield at UC

Grade: D

When I first saw the news of who UC had decided to hire, I was a little disappointed. To me, Saterfield is not a hire that is going to continue the excellence that Fickell had established. Up until this season, much of the media called him Scott “Hot-Seaterfield”. Louisville’s incoming recruiting class was looking strong, but besides that he hasn’t done anything too impressive with the Cardinals during his tenure. In early interviews, he does not seem to bring any kind of new energy to the program. When the first round of candidates were coming out, I thought UC would have landed someone a lot better than this. With names like Urban Meyer and Deion Sander being thrown around, Scott Saterfield just does not live up to that. Even Tom Herman would be a better fit, but since he took the FAU job it’s pretty clear UC wasn’t interested. I believe the program will regress under Saterfield.

Deion Sanders to Colorado

Grade: B

Colorado made a big name hire, but it is fair to question how well Deion will fit in at Boulder. This hire could end up being a home run, but I think a lot of people are expecting Deion to come in and turn Colorado around immediately, which simply is not going to happen. The Buffs were bad this year, like only winning one game this entire season bad. Even with the transfer portal, it will be hard for Deion to make a big change in year one. He was able to recruit well at Jackson State, especially using NIL, and it will be interesting to see what he can do with it at Colorado. I think we will need some time before we see how the Sanders hire pans out because of the extreme low point the program is at.

Jeff Brohm to Louisville

Grade: B+

Brohm said no to his alma mater the first time they came calling, but he could not turn the Cards down a second time. Brohn was a quarterback at Louisville in the early 90’s and the fan base has been trying to get him home for quite some time. Saterfield taking the UC job worked out perfectly for Cardinal fans who were tired of him and wanted to see what Brohm could do.

At Purdue, Brohm was known for his explosive offense and almost yearly upset of a top five team. He led the Boilermakers to multiple bowl games and a Big Ten title game. I would expect Brohm to run a similar offense to Purdue’s. Satefield showed it is possible to recruit high talent players to Loisville, especially with the help of NIL. I think Brohm will have Louisville competing in the top tier of the ACC in just a few years.

Ryan Walters to Purdue

Grade: B

Purdue has hired Illinois’s defensive coordinator Ryan Walters. Walters has been the Illini’s defensive coordinator for two years, but his defensive play calling this year is what really got him the Purdue job. Illinois was a top ten offense. Walters has shown a history of being a great defensive mind, including his three years as Missouir’s defensive coordinator. At 36, he will be the fourth youngest coach at the power five level.

This move is a big shift from Jeff Brohm, who is known for being an offensive mind. I am interested to see how much Purdue’s style of play changes under Walters, and who he brings in as his coordinators. Because this is such a big style change, I would not expect Purdue to be winning the West this season. However, I think this is a solid hire in the long run.

Jamey Chadwell to Liberty

Grade: A-

This is a great hire for Liberty, but I am pretty surprised this is the job Chadwell is leaving Coastal for. After Chadwell completely elevated the Coastal Carolina program, he was in the talks for quite a few lower power-5 jobs this season and last. I assumed he was waiting for what he thought was the right job, so was surprised when he took the Liberty one. Liberty will be joining Conference USA, which is not much of a step up from the Sun Belt. However, at Liberty he will be met with a larger budget and a program that has consistently been a upper level group of five team.

My only concern about this hire is the culture change Chadwell will experience. The culture around Coastal Carolina is extremely different from what the vibes are on the Liberty campus. Coastal Carolina dubbed themselves as “the mullets” when they played BYU, which is certainly different from what goes on at Liberty, one of the most Christian colleges in the country.

Troy Taylor to Stanford (C-)

Grade: C

Stanford certainly did not have top candidates knocking on the door for the job, which shows the current state of the program. Because of academic standards and the early signing period, it is very hard to bring in players, let alone keep them as graduate students. Troy Taylor has coached at Sacramento State for the past four years, and most recently led them to a No. 2 seed in the FCS playoffs. Troy Taylor’s biggest claim to fame may be his time as the offensive coordinator at Eastern Washington where he coached Cooper Kupp.

Since Taylor does not have experience as a head coach at the FBS level, it is hard to figure out how he might fare at Stanford. His offenses at Sacramento State have been high scoring and high-tempo, and I would think he will try to implement that at Stanford. I do not think it is possible for Stanford to get back to the point they were in the early 2010’s, but Taylor should be able to slightly raise Stanford’s floor.