By Mike Farrell
Bill Belichick-North Carolina
Career Record: 333–178 (NFL)
6 Super Bowl championships
Widely considered the greatest NFL head coach of all time, Belichick is making the transition to college
football. He has promised to bring a pro-style organization to the collegiate level. Many questions come
with this coaching hire. Will he even coach at UNC or will he take an NFL job if offered? Will he be able
to recruit and relate to the college players? Will his coaching style work in college? One thing we know
for sure, Tom Brady has no more eligibility.
Barry Odom-Purdue
Career Record: 45–33
Missouri: 25-25; UNLV: 20-8
Odom started his head coaching career with four years at his alma mater Missouri. He spent two
seasons at UNLV, leading the Rebels to a bowl game in each of those seasons. He comes over to Purdue
after guiding UNLV to an 11-3 season in 2024, which included an LA Bowl win over Cal. With his
defensive background, he heads to Purdue to take over a team that went 1-11 in 2024 and struggled to
stop offenses. The transfer portal should help Odom improve the talent on the roster quickly.
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Rich Rodriguez-West Virginia
Career Record: 190–130–2
West Virginia: 60-26
Michigan: 15-22; Arizona: 43-35; Jacksonville State: 27-11
He’s back…Rodriguez returns to West Virginia to attempt to recapture past glory. He coached seven
seasons, with the best year coming in 2005. That year the Mountaineers went 11-1, beat Georgia in the
Sugar Bowl, and finished #5 in the AP poll. In each of his last three seasons there he won at least 10
games. After three forgettable seasons at Michigan, he found some success at Arizona. In 2014, the
Wildcats won the Pac-12 South and played in the Sugar Bowl. He has spent the last three seasons at
Jacksonville State, leading them to bowl games in two of those seasons. After a 6-7 season West
Virginia looks to a blast from the past to resurrect the program.
Dan Mullen-UNLV
Career Record: 103–61
Mississippi State: 69–46; Florida: 34–15
After spending three seasons in the broadcast booth, Mullen returns to the sidelines. Mississippi State
went to seven straight bowls in his eight seasons there. In 2014, the Bulldogs went to the Orange Bowl
and finished #11 in the AP poll. The Florida Gators came calling in 2018. In the first three seasons, they
went 29-9, went to three New Year’s Day games, and appeared in the 2020 SEC Championship game. In
2021, he went 5-6 and was fired before the end of the season. It will be interesting to see how he does
in the new world of recruiting. That was one of the criticisms of his tenure at Florida.
Scott Frost-Central Florida
Career Record: 35–38
UCF: 19–7; Nebraska: 16–31
He’s back part 2…Like Rodreguez, Frost returns to where he had the most success. He only coached the
Knights for two seasons but took them to a bowl in each of those seasons. In 2017 they went 13-0, won
the Peach Bowl, and finished #6 in the AP poll. The return of the “prodigal son” to Nebraska did not turn
out well. In just over four seasons, the Cornhuskers never finished better than fifth in the Big 10 West
and Frost was fired after just three games in 2022, which included a home loss to Georgia Southern.
After a 4-8 season, UCF looks to Frost to guide them through the Big 12 as they were in the AAC when
he left in 2018.
