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There's no such thing as long-term planning in college football anymore. Not for players, coaches or administrators. Today's reality could be an ancient relic by next week; the rules and landscape of the sport are ever-shifting.
That it has impacted the coaching market. While patience has been wearing thin for a while, the advent of NIL and the transfer portal have exhausted it quicker. Coaches were once afforded three seasons to put their footprint on a program. Now, if you haven't gotten things figured out by the end of Year 2, you're in deep doo-doo. Heck, you may have been fired already.
Where do the members of the 2023 coaching cycle sit after their first two seasons in charge? There are some resounding success stories -- though not as many as the 2022 class, which saw both TCU's Sonny Dykes and Washington's Kalen DeBoer coach in national title games in their first two seasons. There are failures, too. Multiple coaches from that cycle have already been fired, and a few others are in perilous situations heading into 2025.
Power Four
| Team | Coach | Record | Analysis | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kenny Dillingham | 14-12 | How quickly things can turn around. After a 3-9 debut season with the Sun Devils, Dillingham's squad went 11-3 in 2024, won the Big 12, and took Texas to overtime in the College Football Playoff quarterfinals. It's both a testament to Dillingham's coaching ability and the unpredictable nature of the Big 12: all the favorites stumbled this season, and Cinderellas popped up everywhere. Dillingham will head into the 2025 season with one of the most promising QBs (Sam Leavitt) in the country, so expectations will be high. | A | |
| Hugh Freeze | 11-14 | This isn't what Auburn fans were hoping for when they ousted Bryan Harsin and brought Hugh Freeze back to the SEC. The Tigers are only 11-14 in two seasons under Freeze, including a mark of 5-11 in the SEC. The 2025 offseason will be a pivotal one on The Plains. I'm not confident a third straight season with a losing record will lead to a fourth year for Freeze. | D+ | |
| Scott Satterfield | 8-16 | Satterfield is another coach facing a make-or-break third season. His hiring wasn't received with unanimous support initially, and an 8-16 mark overall and a 4-14 record in the Big 12 hasn't helped. The good news is Year 2 was better, but you wonder how Cincinnati fans felt watching teams like Arizona State, Colorado, and BYU jockey for top of the standings while they watched from afar. | D+ | |
| Deion Sanders | 13-12 | The second verse was much better than the first. While Deion Sanders generated plenty of headlines and buzz at Colorado in his first season, a 4-8 mark after a hot start led to plenty of skepticism heading into 2024. The Buffs answered by going 7-2 in the Big 12. Travis Hunter won the Heisman Trophy, and Shedeur Sanders solidified his status as one of the best QBs in the country. The upcoming season will be interesting as Sanders' first year coaching without one of his sons on the team. | B+ | |
| Brent Key | 18-16 | Key's record includes his 4-4 mark as interim in 2022. This is an interesting case because Key's been remarkably consistent. The Yellow Jackets have gone 7-6 in each of his two full seasons with a 5-3 record in the ACC. They've also scored huge upsets over the best teams on their schedule. The problem is they've lost games they shouldn't, too. If Key figures out how to win both the big and little games, it's a program that will be flirting with ACC titles and playoff bids. | B- | |
| Jeff Brohm | 19-8 | Brohm is one of the few coaches out there who will receive plenty of runway from the fanbase as a prodigal son, and his results through two seasons haven't hurt. The Cardinals have won at least nine games in each of Brohm's two years, though they took a step back in 2024. After going 7-1 in 2023 and appearing in the ACC Championship Game, Louisville dropped to 5-3 in ACC play this season, but only the Stanford loss was one that makes you scratch your head. | A- | |
| Matt Rhule | 12-13 | Rhule accomplished the first goal at Nebraska, ending the program's seven-year bowl drought. They'd have preferred ending it after six, but better late than never. Still, the overall results remain a bit lackluster. The arrival of touted QB Dylan Raiola raised expectations, but the Huskers went 7-6, and their three conference wins came against Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin (a combined 13-24). If there isn't a big step forward in 2025, you wonder what kind of potential fallout could follow. | C+ | |
| David Braun | 12-13 | Braun was one of the biggest surprises of 2023. He stepped in late in the offseason and led the Wildcats to a surprising 8-5 mark; however, regression came in 2024. The Wildcats split their season playing home games at their practice facility and Wrigley Field. The offense wasn't nearly good enough, and the Wildats fell to 4-8 overall and 2-7 in the Big Ten. | C+ | |
| Ryan Walters | 5-19 | Walters was always working from behind. Purdue fans were skeptical of hiring a defensive coordinator when the school's successful teams have been built on offense, and he needed to show progress heading into 2024 following a 4-8 record in 2023. Instead, things got worse. After losing two of their best players to SEC schools in the portal, the Boilermakers went 1-11 and 0-9 in the Big Ten. They allowed at least 45 points in six of their 12 games, and their losses came by an average of 31 points. Walters was fired following the season. | F | |
| Troy Taylor | 6-18 | Taylor is in a tough situation. Stanford is already one of the tougher places to win in the Power Four, and after his first season, he had to oversee a move to the ACC (and the opposite coast). While the conference and schedule changed, the results didn't. The Cardinal went 3-9 again, and the only reason they had one fewer conference loss is because the ACC plays fewer conference games than the Pac-12 did. | D | |
| Luke Fickell | 13-13 | I don't know if Luke Fickell is on the hot seat entering 2025, but it's getting warm. Fickell was tasked with bringing Wisconsin back into the Big Ten and playoff picture the same way he did at Cincinnati. After going 7-6 in his first year, the Badgers regressed to 5-7 in 2024 and missed a bowl game for the first time since 2001. Making matters worse, the Badgers lost both rivalry games to Iowa and Minnesota. Granted, an early injury to Tyler Van Dyke played a big role, but all of the changes Fickell made to his coaching staff following the season are an indication of how important he feels 2025 is. | D |
Group of Five
| Team | Coach | Record | Analysis | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biff Poggi | 6-16 | Poggi was hired at Charlotte in something of a dual role. Yes, he was supposed to coach the football team, but the school hoped that given his background as both a coach and hedge fund manager, he'd help sell a young program to the local Charlotte populace. Clearly, the folks in charge felt he wasn't doing a good enough job at both. Fair or not, it's hard to argue with the results: the 49ers were 4-10 in the AAC under Poggi. | F | |
| Tim Beck | 14-12 | Never want to be the guy replacing the greatest coach in program history, particularly when that program is barely old enough to drink legally. Beck took over after Jamey Chadwell left for Liberty, and after the Chanticleers went 31-7 in Chadwell's final three seasons, they're 14-12 in two years under Beck. Making matters worse, 2024 was the third straight season Coastal's win total decreased. The first one was under Chadwell, but that doesn't help Beck's cause. The Chants are only 8-8 in the Sun Belt on his watch. | C- | |
| Tom Herman | 6-16 | Herman is the fourth member of this class who will not be around for a third season (Zach Arnett never saw a second season at Mississippi State). He was fired during Year 2 after a 2-8 start and an 0-6 record in conference. That left him at 6-16 overall and 3-9 in conference play. Once a rising star who turned a Peach Bowl appearance at Houston into the Texas job, Herman's reputation has been going the wrong direction for a while now. | F | |
| Kenni Burns | 1-23 | Even at the hardest gigs, you don't often see coaches go 1-23 in their first two seasons and 0-16 in conference and get a third year, but here we are. The Flashes went 22-21 in Sean Lewis' final four seasons before Burns, so I don't think anybody will be surprised if Burns is let go during the 2025 season. | F | |
| Jamey Chadwell | 21-5 | Chadwell's first season at Liberty was everything it was supposed to be. The Flames went 13-1, won Conference USA and went to the Fiesta Bowl. They were poised to compete for a playoff bid in 2024, but things went awry. Instead, Liberty finished 8-4 and gave Kennesaw State its first win as an FBS program in late October. Given the financial advantage this program has over the rest of its conference brethren, results should've been far better. | B | |
| Brian Newberry | 15-10 | The goals at Navy are pretty simple. Put a respectable product on the field that gives teams problems, and beat Army. Newberry went above and beyond in 2024. He followed his 5-7 debut with a 10-3 record that saw the Midshipmen not only beat Army 31-13, but follow it up with a bowl win over Oklahoma. It doesn't get much better than a 10-win season and the Commander-In-Chief's Trophy. | A | |
| Eric Morris | 11-14 | Morris replaced Seth Littrell at North Texas after winning a bunch of games and scoring a bunch of points at Incarnate Word. He's done a decent job scoring points with the Mean Green, but the wins haven't come as often as hoped. Making matters worse is the Mean Green started 2024 with a 5-1 record before dropping six of their last seven to finish 6-7. They're also only 6-10 in the American under Morris. | C | |
| Alex Golesh | 14-12 | Golesh's second season at South Florida looked exactly like the first. The Bulls went 7-6 overall, with a 4-4 mark in conference, and finished the year with a bowl win. However, the vibes are higher heading into the offseason because the Bulls finished the year with five wins in their last seven games, which helped erase some of the sting of blowout losses to Alabama, Miami, Tulane and Navy. South Florida is still a program that wants to compete for conference titles, so Golesh will have to show improvement in the AAC soon. | B- | |
| G.J. Kinne | 16-10 | I don't know how Texas State fans see it, but in my eyes, the 2024 season was a disappointment. The Bobcats were looked at as a favorite in the Sun Belt and added Jordan McCloud at QB from James Madison. Yet they finished the season 8-5 without a truly impressive win on which to hang their hat. The result was a second consecutive 8-5 season for Kinne. Maybe I'm being unfair, but Kinne was hyped up to me by a lot of people whose opinions I respect, and I just haven't seen it yet. | B- | |
| Kevin Wilson | 7-16 | This was a hire that raised plenty of eyebrows when it was made, and those suspicions were proven correct. Wilson was let go during the 2024 season and leaves Tulsa with a record of 7-16 overall and 3-12 in the AAC. | F | |
| Trent Dilfer | 7-17 | The 2025 season is huge for Trent Dilfer because the results have not been there in his first two seasons. The Blazers are only 7-17 overall and 6-11 in the AAC. Complicating matters, Bryant Vincent was a popular figure among the fanbase after going 7-6 as interim, replacing the beloved Bill Clark in 2022, and Vincent just took ULM from 2-10 to 5-7 in his first season with the Warhawks. | D- | |
| Barry Odom | 19-8 | Barry Odom was a revelation for UNLV, and unfortunately for Rebels fans, he did too good a job to stick around. Odom went 19-8 in two seasons and appeared in two Mountain West Championship Games while pairing a fun, exciting offense with salty defense. That kind of profile becomes attractive to bigger jobs, and one came calling. Odom will be patrolling the Purdue sideline next year. | A | |
| Lance Taylor | 10-15 | While the overall record of 10-15 won't lead to a parade, what matters is Taylor followed up a 4-8 record in his first season with a 6-7 mark in 2024, and got the Broncos to a bowl game. More importantly, the conference record improved from 3-5 to 5-3. If Taylor can carry that into the 2025 season, the Broncos could make some noise in MAC play. | B |
