ACC
The Good
Robert Anae, Offensive Coordinator, NC State
Garret Riley is the easy answer here, but I’m going with Anae. He did great things with Bronco Mendenhall at BYU and Virginia before one year at Syracuse. He also reunites with Brennan Armstrong, who hit the portal and ended up with the Wolfpack. This was a sneaky good move by Dave Doeren, a man who’s made several good moves during his tenure in Raleigh.
The Bad
Brad Lambert, Defensive Coordinator, Wake Forest
There are few people who praise Dave Clawson more than me, but I just can’t get behind this one. Lambert was solid as Charlotte’s HC a few years ago and brought them up several notches but he’s also been a part of some relatively lackluster defenses since then. I expected a more inspiring hire here.
The Ugly
Lance Guidry, Defensive Coordinator, Miami
Guidry is a heck of a coach, he did an amazing job leading the defense at Marshall last year. It was the offseason that got ugly. He took the job at Tulane, going home to Louisiana, only to turn around 17 days later and bolt to Miami. I like him as a coach, but I don’t like the job hopping he did in such a short period.
Big 10
The Good
Phil Longo, Offensive Coordinator, Wisconsin
Longo has done a great job as OC at Sam Houston St., Ole Miss, and most recently North Carolina. He helped mold Drake Maye into a future #1 NFL draft pick. This was a coup by Luke Fickell and one that will move them past the same offense they’ve had for 30 years while simultaneously allowing them to recruit elite-level QBs.
More Sports News
The Bad
Brian Hartline, Offensive Coordinator, Ohio St.
I accept all the flack and insults coming my way for this one. Doing well isn’t good enough for Ohio State; they demand 11 wins and a playoff appearance every year. I don’t think this helps you get there, and here’s why. Hartline is an elite recruiter, one of the best, but we don’t know if he can call plays. He also wasn’t a threat to leave OSU for another job when this promotion was made. They could’ve kept him on staff doing what he’s great at while also bringing in a world-class OC with experience. This hire gives you none of the upside while maximizing risk, among the elite-level teams.
The Ugly
Kevin Kane, Defensive Coordinator, Purdue
Kane’s hiring on the surface made sense, but I have philosophical thoughts on it. He was coaching with Ryan Walters at Illinois. I loved the Walters hire at Purdue. But when you’re a newly hired younger HC I always say hire your opposite in a coordinator. Hire a weathered veteran who’s seen it all and who can be your sounding board and tell you what you may not want to hear, but need to hear. Kane doesn’t fit that profile.
Big 12
The Good
Kendal Briles, Offensive Coordinator, TCU
Briles has done well as OC at Arkansas, Florida St., and Houston. The lack of QB depth that plagued the Hogs can’t come down to him, as they were a pretty salty team when KJ Jefferson was healthy. He’s a riser in the game and Sonny Dykes made a splash that TCU needed after a beatdown in the title game following a fantastic season.
The Bad
Chad Scott, Offensive Coordinator, West Virginia
No one in the P5 is on a hotter seat than Neal Brown. You could say he is this year’s Scott Frost. How can you promote a running backs coach with zero FBS coordinating experience as your OC knowing the end is this close? Did Brown have trouble finding coaches willing to jump on a sinking ship? More than likely.
https://twitter.com/mfarrellsports/status/1615099861338136596
The Ugly
Nathan Scheelhaase, Offensive Coordinator, Iowa State
This is the textbook ugly hire, in the best way. It may just work, as before 2022, Campbell had done a good job. But on the field, the Cyclones are doubling down. You want smashmouth, grind it out, rock fights? Well then keep doing what you’re doing and promote from within, that’s exactly what they did. I’m optimistic ISU will bounce back from a down 2022. However, for the casual spectator, they may not be easy on the eyes.
Pac-12
The Good
Charles Kelly, Defensive Coordinator, Colorado
Kelly was one of my favorite offseason hires. Deion Sanders can recruit, he can promote, but we don’t know how he’ll be on the field. Many, including me, said he needed to nail his coordinator hires. He did that with Kelly and Sean Lewis. Kelly comes from Alabama and has previous DC experience at Tennessee and Florida St., where he won a national title with Jimbo and sent waves of players to the NFL. Home run hire here!
The Bad
Jake Spavital, Offensive Coordinator, Cal
I was once on Team Spav, and someday maybe I will be again. But that day is not today. He was OC at West Virginia with Dana Holgorsen calling the shots and then he was HC of an abysmal Texas State team where he went 13-35. I don’t think this is a hire you can take chances on for Justin Wilcox, especially considering the fact that his is getting hotter by the day.
https://twitter.com/CalFootball/status/1622643984811327488
The Ugly
Troy Taylor, Head Coach/Offensive Coordinator, Stanford
This is an interesting one. I like Taylor as a head coach hire, but I dislike him also having the offensive coordinator duties. This is his first FBS head coaching gig, and he’ll have enough on his plate trying to resurrect a program that has been defective the last 3 years. Taylor would’ve done well to bring in a coordinator and focus on the CEO duties of an FBS head coach.
SEC
The Good
Dowell Loggains, Offensive Coordinator, South Carolina
Loggains brings with him a wealth of QB knowledge and over a decade of NFL experience. For the Gamecocks and Spencer Rattler, this is a match made in heaven. He’ll help attract recruits, both high school and portal, and hopefully, he can give us the Rattler we saw in late November all season this coming year.
https://twitter.com/GamecockFB/status/1611158420501012480
The Bad
Kirby Moore, Offensive Coordinator, Missouri
This isn’t so much a knock on Moore, as it is on Eli Drinkwitz’s lack of ability to read the room. Mizzou hasn’t been able to get out of 1st gear in a few years, and Drinkwitz is a sub-500 coach in three years there. Some urgency is needed or else he might be out the door, attracting a bigger name with a longer pedigree would’ve done him well.
The Ugly
Bobby Petrino, Offensive Coordinator, Texas A&M
Jimbo, Petrino, Durkin, this will either be The Empire crushing the resistance and the Death Star winning or it will be the building in Towering Inferno. There will be no in-between for the Aggies. Either way, I am here for the ride, friends!
