- Sep 8, 2014
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Rising star CFB coaches:
http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/cfbs-rising-star-coaching-candidates/ar-BBBveiG
CFB's Rising Star Coaching Candidates
So many college football head coaching jobs have switched hands in the past few years that the supply of rising potential head coaches is getting scarce. There are plenty of potential candidates, but nearly all of the rising stars expected to be hired the past few years have gotten the call, from Tom Herman to Justin Fuente to Matt Rhule to P.J. Fleck, leaving fewer certainties and more projections.
The American Athletic Conference has particularly been hit hard as it becomes a breeding ground for Power Five head coaches. Nearly every coach in the league is still a relatively new one, so there's more doubt about who could be called up to bigger jobs this year than the past couple seasons.
Last week, we covered the returning head coaches who are under the most pressure to win. There will inevitably be a bunch of changes come November and December, so it's time to start gauging which coaches could be in line to move up. Not all will jump at the first chance -- several of the top Power Five coordinators can literally afford to be patient and may be comfortable where they are -- but if the names on our list have impressive 2017 seasons, they'll be talked about for FBS head coaching jobs that come open at the end of the year.
Here's how the hiring broke down last cycle:
Current Group of Five Head Coaches
1. Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State. Satterfield came so close to getting an attention-grabbing win opening weekend against Tennessee last year, but the Mountaineers came up just short in overtime. Then they got blown out at home vs. Miami a couple weeks later. He's nevertheless done a phenomenal job shepherding Appalachian State from FCS to FBS, as the transition period essentially lasted for the first half of the first season. In three years in the Sun Belt, Satterfield is 28-10 overall and 18-4 in the conference. He's 27-5 in his past 32 games. The Mountaineers won the league title last season, ranking first in the Sun Belt in yards per play on offense and second on defense. It's been a fantastic FBS transition for the 44-year-old head coach and his program, and an experienced roster puts the Mountaineers in position to be the Sun Belt frontrunner again. Appalachian State just gave him a contract extension, but he makes significantly less money than many of the Power Five coordinators listed below.
2. Bryan Harsin, Boise State. Harsin's biggest problem is his predecessor. Chris Petersen set a ridiculous standard for success at Boise State that may be impossible to duplicate, going 92-12 in eight seasons. Harsin, a Boise State alum and former Petersen offensive coordinator, has lost nine games in three seasons, going 12-2, 9-4 and 10-3 with only one Mountain West title -- 2014, when the Broncos won another Fiesta Bowl. Being the coach who follows Petersen is a tough task, even if a foundation was in place to continue to succeed, and the Broncos have had a few frustrating hiccups. Nevertheless, Harsin has a star junior QB in Brett Rypien, and this is capable of being a top-25 Boise State team that competes for a major bowl spot if it can navigate tricky road trips to Washington State, BYU, San Diego State and Colorado State.
3. Jason Candle, Toledo. It's still early for Candle, who was promoted from offensive coordinator last year to replace Matt Campbell. But he has built an excellent offense led by quarterback Logan Woodside and receiver Cody Thompson, and with P.J. Fleck gone from Western Michigan, the Rockets will enter the season as the favorite to win their long-awaited first MAC championship since 2004. If Candle can do that and take aim at double-digit wins, he can quickly become the biggest rising star coach in the MAC, which puts him on the Power Five radar.
4. Neal Brown, Troy. A Sun Belt power last decade, Troy had five straight seasons without a winning record before Brown's turnaround in his second season. The Trojans went 10-3 last year and even briefly appeared in the AP top 25 after an 8-1 start in which they beat Appalachian State and took Clemson down to the wire. They blew their chance at the Sun Belt title late in the season, but it was a highly successful season in which they played terrific defense. Brown is an offensive coach, the 37-year-old former offensive coordinator at Texas Tech and Kentucky. With a veteran offense, Troy could duplicate lat year's success and will be in the mix with Appalachian State at the top of the Sun Belt.
5. Craig Bohl, Wyoming. The 58-year-old Bohl is older than the other coaches on this list, having gone from Nebraska's staff as linebackers coach under Tom Osborne and defensive coordinator under Frank Solich to head coach at North Dakota State, where he guided the Bison from Division II to FCS and built the Bison up to the point where they won three straight national titles before he took the Wyoming job. (They won two more after he left.) After a rough first two years of rebuilding the Cowboys in which he went 6-18, Bohl took Wyoming to the Mountain West title game last year, ultimately finishing with an 8-6 record. Now, hopes are high because of the presence of touted junior quarterback Josh Allen, who is being hyped as a possible No. 1 draft pick. Bohl created an FCS dynasty in Fargo, and he's putting Laramie back on the college football map.
6. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy. One of the toughest names on this list to gauge. There is no question that Niumatalolo is a great head coach who's worthy of a lot of opportunities. The 52-year-old is a remarkable 77-42 at Navy, including two double-digit-win seasons and a top-20 finish in 2015. He's done a phenomenal job attaining a consistently high level of success at a military academy. However, he's also had that success with an option offense, and it's tough to tell which Power Five schools might be interested. Georgia Tech did hire Paul Johnson, Niumatalolo's predecessor, and it's reasonable to believe that Niumatalolo could adapt to a somewhat different offense while operating in a CEO role. But he turned down BYU last year, and he could prove to be a Navy lifer, because right now, even after the loss to Army, his job is as steady and safe as anybody in the country.
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http://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/ncaafb/cfbs-rising-star-coaching-candidates/ar-BBBveiG
CFB's Rising Star Coaching Candidates
So many college football head coaching jobs have switched hands in the past few years that the supply of rising potential head coaches is getting scarce. There are plenty of potential candidates, but nearly all of the rising stars expected to be hired the past few years have gotten the call, from Tom Herman to Justin Fuente to Matt Rhule to P.J. Fleck, leaving fewer certainties and more projections.
The American Athletic Conference has particularly been hit hard as it becomes a breeding ground for Power Five head coaches. Nearly every coach in the league is still a relatively new one, so there's more doubt about who could be called up to bigger jobs this year than the past couple seasons.
Last week, we covered the returning head coaches who are under the most pressure to win. There will inevitably be a bunch of changes come November and December, so it's time to start gauging which coaches could be in line to move up. Not all will jump at the first chance -- several of the top Power Five coordinators can literally afford to be patient and may be comfortable where they are -- but if the names on our list have impressive 2017 seasons, they'll be talked about for FBS head coaching jobs that come open at the end of the year.
Here's how the hiring broke down last cycle:
- Eight Power Five jobs switched hands. Teams hired three AAC head coaches, one Conference USA head coach, one MAC head coach, one Big Ten defensive coordinator and two assistants promoted from within.
- Thirteen Group of Five jobs changed. These teams hired four former Power Five head coaches, three Power Five coordinators, four Power Five assistants and one promoted coordinator, plus one current Power Five coordinator who used to be a head coach (Lane Kiffin).
Current Group of Five Head Coaches
1. Scott Satterfield, Appalachian State. Satterfield came so close to getting an attention-grabbing win opening weekend against Tennessee last year, but the Mountaineers came up just short in overtime. Then they got blown out at home vs. Miami a couple weeks later. He's nevertheless done a phenomenal job shepherding Appalachian State from FCS to FBS, as the transition period essentially lasted for the first half of the first season. In three years in the Sun Belt, Satterfield is 28-10 overall and 18-4 in the conference. He's 27-5 in his past 32 games. The Mountaineers won the league title last season, ranking first in the Sun Belt in yards per play on offense and second on defense. It's been a fantastic FBS transition for the 44-year-old head coach and his program, and an experienced roster puts the Mountaineers in position to be the Sun Belt frontrunner again. Appalachian State just gave him a contract extension, but he makes significantly less money than many of the Power Five coordinators listed below.
2. Bryan Harsin, Boise State. Harsin's biggest problem is his predecessor. Chris Petersen set a ridiculous standard for success at Boise State that may be impossible to duplicate, going 92-12 in eight seasons. Harsin, a Boise State alum and former Petersen offensive coordinator, has lost nine games in three seasons, going 12-2, 9-4 and 10-3 with only one Mountain West title -- 2014, when the Broncos won another Fiesta Bowl. Being the coach who follows Petersen is a tough task, even if a foundation was in place to continue to succeed, and the Broncos have had a few frustrating hiccups. Nevertheless, Harsin has a star junior QB in Brett Rypien, and this is capable of being a top-25 Boise State team that competes for a major bowl spot if it can navigate tricky road trips to Washington State, BYU, San Diego State and Colorado State.
3. Jason Candle, Toledo. It's still early for Candle, who was promoted from offensive coordinator last year to replace Matt Campbell. But he has built an excellent offense led by quarterback Logan Woodside and receiver Cody Thompson, and with P.J. Fleck gone from Western Michigan, the Rockets will enter the season as the favorite to win their long-awaited first MAC championship since 2004. If Candle can do that and take aim at double-digit wins, he can quickly become the biggest rising star coach in the MAC, which puts him on the Power Five radar.
4. Neal Brown, Troy. A Sun Belt power last decade, Troy had five straight seasons without a winning record before Brown's turnaround in his second season. The Trojans went 10-3 last year and even briefly appeared in the AP top 25 after an 8-1 start in which they beat Appalachian State and took Clemson down to the wire. They blew their chance at the Sun Belt title late in the season, but it was a highly successful season in which they played terrific defense. Brown is an offensive coach, the 37-year-old former offensive coordinator at Texas Tech and Kentucky. With a veteran offense, Troy could duplicate lat year's success and will be in the mix with Appalachian State at the top of the Sun Belt.
5. Craig Bohl, Wyoming. The 58-year-old Bohl is older than the other coaches on this list, having gone from Nebraska's staff as linebackers coach under Tom Osborne and defensive coordinator under Frank Solich to head coach at North Dakota State, where he guided the Bison from Division II to FCS and built the Bison up to the point where they won three straight national titles before he took the Wyoming job. (They won two more after he left.) After a rough first two years of rebuilding the Cowboys in which he went 6-18, Bohl took Wyoming to the Mountain West title game last year, ultimately finishing with an 8-6 record. Now, hopes are high because of the presence of touted junior quarterback Josh Allen, who is being hyped as a possible No. 1 draft pick. Bohl created an FCS dynasty in Fargo, and he's putting Laramie back on the college football map.
6. Ken Niumatalolo, Navy. One of the toughest names on this list to gauge. There is no question that Niumatalolo is a great head coach who's worthy of a lot of opportunities. The 52-year-old is a remarkable 77-42 at Navy, including two double-digit-win seasons and a top-20 finish in 2015. He's done a phenomenal job attaining a consistently high level of success at a military academy. However, he's also had that success with an option offense, and it's tough to tell which Power Five schools might be interested. Georgia Tech did hire Paul Johnson, Niumatalolo's predecessor, and it's reasonable to believe that Niumatalolo could adapt to a somewhat different offense while operating in a CEO role. But he turned down BYU last year, and he could prove to be a Navy lifer, because right now, even after the loss to Army, his job is as steady and safe as anybody in the country.
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