Ranking The Major 2015 College Football Head Coaching Hires

The college coaching shuffle season, barring someone pulling a late Petrino, is over. Here’s an admittedly premature, “at first glance” run down at those hires. Or, more charitably, how those hires feel as of January 2015. We stuck with the power five conferences, and major names moving from the power five conferences.

Home Run

Michigan [Jim Harbaugh] Harbaugh was the best coach available. He is among the best coaches, period. He brings the edge, the physicality and the quarterback development Michigan cried out for under Hoke. A former star quarterback and an 11 on the 10-point Schembechler scale, he’s a perfect culture fit. A national punchline program became an intriguing team of tomorrow overnight. Columbus won a national title. Ann Arbor is unfazed. Step one: attack social media with gusto.

SMU [Chad Morris] Morris is a great recruiter. He’s super tight with Texas high school coaches. He runs an exciting system and he can develop quarterbacks. In short, he looks like the exact sort of coach to bring SMU football back (and potentially back to a major conference). The Mustangs have a long way to climb from 1-11. But, they are on the mountain.

Houston [Tom Herman] Houston locked down Tom Herman before the playoff. That was wise. His profile and price would have skyrocketed. The Cougars sit on a rich, deep vein of Texas talent. Their head coach just won a national title with a third-string quarterback. Unlike SMU, Houston can see the mountain top and has been there.

Oregon State [Gary Andersen] Few thought Oregon State would be making a hire this off-season. Few thought they could poach an up and coming coach from a far more prestigious program. Both things happened. Andersen built Utah State into an 11-win, Top 20 team. He went 13-3 in conference with Wisconsin, despite a poor fit. The Beavers get a very good to potentially great head coach. The only trouble is everyone else in the Pac 12 has one too.

Intriguing

Pittsburgh [Pat Narduzzi] Narduzzi’s sunshine diminished a bit during a transition year. MSU’s vaunted defense was shelled by Oregon and Ohio State. But, Narduzzi was an elite coordinator. Pittsburgh needed a coach who will establish a system on defense and who will get the most out of lower-tier recruiting talent. Michigan State excelled at both. Pitt fans will hope Mark Dantonio does not retire and open up the Michigan State job in a couple years.

Kansas [David Beaty] Kansas had to take a risk. It’s not a job where a sure-fire candidate would be interested. Beaty does not have an extensive track record as an offensive coordinator. But, he has coached at Kansas. He comes from a strong system under Sumlin. Rebuilding starts with players. Beaty is one of the nation’s best recruiters. There’s reason to be interested in Kansas football, which is an improvement.

Colorado State [Mike Bobo] Bobo has his proponents and detractors. Georgia’s offenses were consistently productive. Georgia’s offense should have been given the talent. But, this is Colorado State. Pulling a coordinator from a plum SEC job, again, is a coup. Bobo should be well placed to pick up where McElwain left off and to score the odd, impactful SEC transfer.

Kind of Underwhelming

Florida [Jim McElwain] McElwain earned a shot at a bigger program for his Colorado State turnaround. Nonetheless, this isn’t a sexy hire on paper. It doesn’t put the rest of the SEC on notice. SMU and Houston found (at the very least) more exciting coaches. The tens of millions spent to make it happen set the bar super high. While Foley is the man who ~~found~~ made the obvious move hiring Urban Meyer, he’s the same guy who whiffed on Ron Zook and Will Muschamp.

Nebraska [Mike Riley] Riley was solid for Oregon State, leading the Beavers to four Top 25 finishes. But, he’s 61. He has reached two bowl games the past five years. Riley will be more congenial than Bo Pelini. He should help vital recruiting in California and Texas. But, Nebraska just fired a guy because 9-10 wins was not good enough. Does Riley get Nebraska beyond that? Is he a lock to get them there?

Wisconsin [Paul Chryst] Chryst was a good fit for Wisconsin. He’ll keep the system intact. He understands the constraints there. He’ll get along with Barry Alvarez. He’s an alumnus and will stay. But, beyond that, his 19-19 mark at Pitt, 10-13 in the ACC with non-conference losses to Youngstown State and Akron, did little to impress. This hire has more than a whiff of “Toyota Camry” about it.

[Photos via USAT, Getty]