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The original was posted on /r/cfb by /u/Pollaski on 2023-08-31 16:42:01.

Last Year’s Here: https://www.reddit.com/r/CFB/comments/wh2l2d/ranking\_2017s\_coaching\_hires\_five\_years\_later/

With the 2023 College Football season directly around the corner, its time for me to once again engage in one of my annual traditions- looking back at coaches who took over their programs five years ago, and see how they ended up doing. For this year, we’re looking at coaches who began their full-time tenure in the 2018 season (save for a couple who did coach the previous year’s bowl game). This year’s class is nineteen strong, and its marked by a lot of disappointment. There was a ton of hype behind this class, with several near sure-fire program saviors in the mix, but these never really panned out. There’s a few standouts at the positive end, but all in all, the Class of 2018 is one of the weaker coaching classes we’ve seen.

No. 19: CHAD MORRIS (Arkansas)

RECORD: 4-18 (0-14) / BOWLS: LMFAO / Fired on November 14, 2019 / Currently offensive analyst at Clemson

GRADE: EF

That’s EF for Epic Failure, because a simple F just doesn’t adequately describe what an utter disaster Morris’ tenure at Arkansas was. Hired after guiding SMU to a single winning record in three seasons, the pass happy Morris was a dubious fit at best coming in the wake of Bielema’s departure. But not even the most ardent skeptic could have possibly predicted how bad it would get. Not only did the Razorbacks fail to win a single SEC game under Morris, they also took losses to Colorado State and San Jose State, and got blown out by North Texas and Western Kentucky, the latter of which finally convinced the Arkansas brass to put poor Chad out of his misery. Forget worst hire for 2018… Chad Morris to Arkansas might quite possibly rank as the worst hire in college football history.

No. 18: WILLIE TAGGART (Florida State)

RECORD: 9-12 (6-9) / BOWLS: 0 / Fired on November 4, 2019 / Currently running backs coach for the Ravens

GRADE: F

Taggart wanted the Florida State job so badly that he was willing to jump from Oregon after just a single season, and Florida State wanted him so badly to replace Jimbo Fisher that they were willing to shell out $4 million just so the Ducks would let him go. Nobody at the time thought that Taggart would last only nine games longer than his abbreviated Oregon tenure. But Florida State is not a team used to having losing records, and that’s exactly what they got in Taggart’s first season. After a 4-4 start in his second year, FSU would be thrashed by a Miami team with an equivalent record, and that was enough. While there’s no comparing the scope of the disaster, it should be noted that Taggart’s FSU tenure was even shorter than Morris’ at Arkansas.

No. 17: SCOTT FROST (Nebraska)

RECORD: 16-31 (10-26) / BOWLS: 0 / Fired on September 11, 2022 / Currently unemployed

GRADE: F

Oh, Scotty, where did it all go wrong? After setting fields on fire at Oregon and winning National Championships at UCF, the former Nebraska QB was called home to work the same magic he did in Orlando, and he immediately cemented his authority by rejecting the transfer overtures of some Ohio State reject named Joe Burrow. So sure were the Husker Nation of Frost’s savior status that the governor pronounced the day of his first game against Akron “Scott Frost Day”. The game was cancelled due to severe weather, and the Huskers would then promptly lose their first six games, including a 24-19 howler to Troy. What followed were season after season of promised improvement, only to fall short of even reaching a bowl each and every year. This culminated in a 2021 season that saw the Huskers become the first team in college football history to lose nine games by single-digits, becoming possibly the statistically greatest 3-9 team in history. That earned Frost one more season, but when 2022 kicked off with a baffling loss to Northwestern after onside-kicking up 11 (the Wildcats only win of the year), and a 45-42 stunner to Georgia Southern, the Scott Frost project was finally shut down.

No. 16: STEVE CAMPBELL (South Alabama)

RECORD: 9-26 (6-18) / BOWLS: 0 / Fired on December 6, 2020 / Currently coach at UMS-Wright Prep in Mobile, AL

GRADE: D-

South Alabama isn’t exactly one of the premier mid-major jobs, but the previous coach Joey Jones, who oversaw the Jaguars transition from the FCS to the FBS, did manage to scrape out the occasional bowl season. No such luck for Campbell, who could only muster seasons of three, two, and four wins before being shown the door. At least their was an obvious high point- a 34-30 upset of Arkansas State in the 2019 finale, the Jaguars only win over an FBS team with a winning record in Cambpell’s tenure.

No. 15: KEVIN SUMLIN (Arizona)

RECORD: 9-20 (6-17) / BOWLS: 0 / Fired on December 12, 2020 / Currently offensive coordinator at Maryland

GRADE: D

This was supposed to be a turnaround moment for both Arizona, who had floundered in its final few years under Rich Rodriguez, and Sumlin, who had worn out his welcome at Texas A&M. Unfortunately, it never happened. Sumlin’s debut year was a disappointing 5-7, although it did see the Wildcats shock #11 Oregon in a lopsided thrashing. The next season began promising with a 4-1 start, but then the Wildcats lost their last seven to close out the season. Things got even worse in 2020, when Arizona failed to win even a single game. That 12-game losing streak became Sumlin’s undoing, particularly his final game, a 70-7 warcrime at the hands of their biggest rival.

No. 14: JEREMY PRUITT (Tennessee)

RECORD: 18-19 (10-16) / BOWLS: 2 (1 win) [Withdrew from 2020 Liberty Bowl] / Fired on January 18, 2021 / Currently unemployed

GRADE: D

A head coaching gig was a long time coming for Pruitt, who helped Alabama to five national championships as a defensive assistant, and he finally got a chance when the Vols came calling after that whole “Champions of Life” thing didn’t work out for Butch Jones. Things didn’t start off so well for Pruitt, with the 2018 Vols finishing dead last in the East, and their last two games- against Missouri and Vanderbilt- coming with a combined score of 88-30. 2019 started even worse: a 2-5 venture with losses to Georgia State and BYU, only for the Vols to shock the nation by winning their last six straight. Things were brought back down to earth with a miserable 3-7 season in 2020, and Pruitt was finally shown the door afterwards. But hey, they’ll always have that magical 2019 run. Actually, they won’t, considering the NCAA vacated all their wins from 2019 and 2020 thanks to recruiting violations that Pruitt himself was found to be complicit in, resulting in the former standout assistant getting a six year show-cause penalty just this last July.

No. 13: HERM EDWARDS (Arizona State)

Record: 26-20 (17-14) / Bowls: 3 (1 win) / Fired on September 18, 2022 / Currently unemployed

GRADE: C-

Stepping out of retirement after a decade-long hiatus, the always energetic Edwards attempted the college game following long careers in both the NFL and broadcasting. The start of his first two seasons became emblematic of his tenure at ASU- both years saw the Sun Devils upset a ranked Michigan State, enter the polls themselves, then promptly getting washed out after upset losses to San Diego State and Colorado, respectively. Such as it went for ASU under Edwards, flashes of potential followed by bitter disappointment. Unfortunately, the 2021 year, while decent at 8-5 on the record books, also saw the program dealing with NCAA allegations of illegal COVID practices, and the season finishing with a sizeable exodus of both players and coaches from Tempe. When the 2022 season started poorly with a blowout loss to Oklahoma State followed by a shocking upset by Eastern Michigan, Herm was shown the door. You could argue it was a bit of a quick hook, considering Edwards had a winning record in each full season the team played, but Sun Devil brass clearly thought things were heading in the wrong direction- a thought validated even further recently when ASU voluntarily took a one-year bowl ban due to infractions suffered under Edwards.

No. 12: MIKE BLOOMGREN (Rice)

RECORD: 16-39 (12-25) / BOWLS: 1 (0 win) / Still At School

GRADE: C

Rice is by no means an easy job to win at, but Bloomgren’s predecessor David Bailiff showed that success can be had there. Bloomgren hasn’t had that same level of success- in fact, he’s yet to come close to even having a winning season with the Owls. But the team has also showed a marked, if slow, improvement on a year to year basis, and it certainly reflected well when the Owls gained an APR exemption to play in the LendingTree Bowl last year despite just a 5-7 record, proving that academics remains strong with the program. With Rice moving into the much more competitive American Athletic Conference this year, it remains to be seen just how much expectations will rise on Bloomgren- and if he’ll manage to meet them.

No. 11: JOE MOORHEAD (Mississippi State)

Record: 14-12 (7-9) / BOWLS: 2 (0 wins) / Fired on January 3, 2019 / Currently the head coach of Akron

GRADE: C+

Of all the coaches in college football who only deserved two years at their job, Moorhead certainly wasn’t one of them. After taking Fordham to three …

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