Hey, Luke Fickell, Matt Rhule, Hugh Freeze (and others): You’ve got your work cut out for you.
This year’s crop of first-year coaches in college football raised the bar beyond all reasonable expectations. Sonny Dykes, Lincoln Riley and Kalen DeBoer are all legit National Coach of the Year candidates after putting together top 15 seasons for teams that were under .500 last year, Brian Kelly catapulted a 6-7 LSU team into SEC championship in his first season, and Mike Elko piled up eight wins at Duke after the Blue Devils had five the previous two seasons. Six of the 14 hires from the last coaching cycle finished the regular season in the top 25 and one is in the College Football Playoff.
"The transfer portal has a lot to do with (early success)," Dykes told Sporting News. "Every single team has strength and weaknesses, and the thing with the portal is, you can go and address weaknesses and turn those into a strength. We were able to do that, particularly with the defensive line. Had the transfer portal not been here, that probably would not have been the case."
The Sporting News takes a look at how the new hires have fared both on the field and on the recruiting trail since taking over last year. Coaches listed in alphabetical order by school.
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Mike Elko, Duke (8-4)
Notable wins: Wake Forest
Recruiting ranking: No. 34 (26 commitments)
Assessment: Elko was the runaway winner of the ACC Coach of the Year award in his first season in Durham. He took over a program that had suffered three losing seasons in a row and put together a stunning 8-4 season. One caveat — six of those wins came against FCS competition or teams that won three games or fewer. Still, few observers expected a bowl game in Year 1 and Elko has Duke at No. 34 in the recruiting rankings after the past three classes ranked No. 52, 56 and 62.
Grade: A-minus
SN grade at time of hiring: B-plus
Billy Napier, Florida (6-6)
Notable wins: Utah, South Carolina
Recruiting ranking: No. 9 (22 commitments)
Assessment: Five of Florida’s six losses were to teams that were either ranked at the time or at the end of the season, but that sixth loss to Vanderbilt stings. If you’re Florida, you’re looking for a little more out of that first season, especially with what some other first-year coaches were able to do at name-brand programs. A top 10 recruiting class is a good start to getting the Gators closer to the top of the SEC East.
Grade: C-plus
SN grade at time of hiring: A-minus
Brian Kelly, LSU (9-4)
Notable wins: Ole Miss, Alabama
Recruiting ranking: No. 5 (23 commitments)
Assessment: It was a wild year for the Tigers, who were unranked the first eight weeks of the season, rocketed up to as high as No. 6 in the CFP rankings, and now will enter into the Citrus Bowl at No. 17. An SEC West title coming off a 6-7 season is unquestionably a success, but an ugly loss at Texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend and a non-competitive SEC Championship game against Georgia leave a bit of a bad taste.
Grade: A-minus
SN grade at time of hiring: B
Mario Cristobol, Miami (5-7)
Notable wins: None
Recruiting ranking: No. 8 (22 commitments)
Assessment: Well … recruiting is going well. The on-field product, not so much. Miami did not beat a team with a winning record, lost to Middle Tennessee State by 14, Florida State by 42 and Clemson by 30. Quarterback Tyler van Dyke regressed significantly under the new staff and the five wins were the fewest for Miami in 15 years. Cristobol fell well short of his $8 million salary in Year 1. Only his top 10 recruiting class is saving him from an F.
Grade: D
SN grade at time of hiring: A-minus
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Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame (8-4)
Notable wins: Clemson, at North Carolina
Recruiting ranking: No. 3 (26 commitments)
Assessment: Notre Dame’s season was defined more by its stunning losses (Marshall, Stanford) than anything else. Freeman lost his starting quarterback in Week 2 and was able to cobble together a stretch of eight wins in nine games before being overmatched at USC in the season finale. Notre Dame was overrated in the preseason at No. 5, but nine wins probably should have been the floor. Freeman has lived up to his reputation as an elite recruiter thus far.
Grade: B
SN grade at time of hiring: A-minus
MORE: Transfer portal quarterback tracker
Brent Venables, Oklahoma (6-6)
Notable wins: Oklahoma State
Recruiting ranking: No. 7 (22 commitments)
Assessment: This was the worst Oklahoma season since 1998, when John Blake went 5-6 in his final season in Norman. Losses to the Big 12’s middle class of Baylor, West Virginia and Texas Tech and a 49-0 embarrassment at the hands of Texas left Sooners fans who were hoping to show Lincoln Riley that they didn’t need him realizing that they really do need him. Venables needs a rebuild quickly before jumping into the SEC waters.
Grade: D-plus
SN grade at time of hiring: B-plus
Dan Lanning, Oregon (9-3)
Notable wins: UCLA, Utah
Recruiting ranking: 12 (24 commitments)
Assessment: After an embarrassing 49-3 loss to Georgia to open the season, the Ducks regrouped and won eight straight before dropping two heart-breakers by three points in the final three games. Lanning made some questionable decisions in those losses, however, showing his inexperience as a first-time coach. Oregon’s offense was elite, and Lanning has maintained the recruiting standard Mario Cristobol set. Solid debut overall.
Grade: B-plus
SN grade at time of hiring: B
Sonny Dykes, TCU (12-1)
Notable wins: Kansas State, Texas
Recruiting ranking: No. 18 (21 commitments)
Assessment: TCU came within inches of being in position to finish 13-0. Dykes elevated a program that stumbled to a 23-24 record the past four years and led them to the No. 3 seed in the College Football Playoff after being picked seventh in the Big 12. It was a stunning turnaround in Year 1 that put Dykes in position to be National Coach of the Year.
Grade: A-plus
SN grade at time of hiring: B
Joey McGuire, Texas Tech (7-5)
Notable wins: Texas, Oklahoma
Recruiting ranking: No. 22 (25 commitments)
Assessment: Texas Tech was picked to finish ninth in the Big 12 but ended up in fourth place at 5-4 after its season-ending overtime win against Oklahoma. Texas Tech beat Texas and OU in the same season for the first time. McGuire’s recruiting ranking is also significantly higher than its average of No. 55 from the 2020-22 classes.
Grade: A-minus
SN grade at time of hiring: B
Lincoln Riley, USC (11-2)
Notable wins: UCLA, Notre Dame
Recruiting ranking: No. 14 (19 commitments)
Assessment: USC fell one game short of the College Football Playoff, which was truly impressive as Riley quickly rebuilt the Trojans through the transfer portal. Utah proved to be too much for USC, but it looks like Riley will have his third Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in Caleb Williams. Riley created buzz when he was hired, and it hasn’t really stopped.
Grade: A
SN grade at time of hiring: A
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Tony Elliott, Virginia (3-7)
Notable wins: None
Recruiting ranking: No. 65 (14 commitments)
Assessment: Elliott has rightfully received nothing but praise for his handling of the on-campus shooting that resulted in three players getting killed in November. His first team in Charlottesville endured a tragedy no player or staff is prepared for. On the field, Elliott’s first season was a disappointment, as quarterback Brennan Armstrong regressed and has since entered the transfer portal. It was the first losing season at UVa since 2017.
Grade: C
SN grade at time of hiring: B
Brent Pry, Virginia Tech (3-8)
Notable wins: None
Recruiting ranking: No. 41 (19 commitments)
Assessment: Virginia Tech was looking for some new energy around the program, but that didn’t quite happen in Year 1 for Frye. This is a program that did not have a losing season from 1993 to 2017 but has struggled to find its footing since. Blowing an 11-point fourth-quarter lead to Georgia Tech hurt, but the upset of Liberty to close the season ended things on an up note.
Grade: C
SN grade at time of hiring: B-minus
Kalen DeBoer, Washington (10-2)
Notable wins: Oregon State, at Oregon
Recruiting ranking: No. 26 (18 commitments)
Assessment: DeBoer was in the conversation for national Coach of the Year after rebuilding a program in disarray coming off a 4-8 season and finishing tied for second in the Pac-12. Washington went from 107th in scoring to fourth in one season. He brought quarterback Michael Penix in from Indiana, and Penix led the nation in passing yards per game. Washington’s win at Oregon was one of the games of the year and now the Huskies will head to the Alamo Bowl to take on Texas.
Grade: A
SN grade at time of hiring: B-plus
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Jake Dickert, Washington State (7-5)
Notable wins: None
Recruiting ranking: No. 70 (14 commitments)
Assessment: Wazzu drew a brutal Pac-12 schedule this year, playing the first- through fifth-place teams and going 0-5. The Cougars took care of business against the lower half of the league and lost by one score to Oregon and Utah. Quarterback Cam Ward proved to be solid in his first year since transferring in from Incarnate Word. Recruiting to Pullman will always be tough, but it was a solid first year for the former interim coach.
Grade: B-minus
SN grade at time of hiring: C-plus
