Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where another South Carolina loss led to another South Carolina staff change (offensive coordinator Mike Shula is gone). First Quarter: Slouching Tigers, Shrinking Canes.
Second Quarter: The Rapidly Disappearing Hiring Class of 2023
The 2023 season dawned with fresh optimism on 25 campuses, after a momentous spin of the coaching carousel led to turnover in nearly 10% of the FBS jobs. New hires always spur hope that the best of times are ahead—a downtrodden program will improve, or a good program will get even better.
Fewer than three seasons later, 40% of those coaches are already gone. And only one of them left of his own accord for a higher-profile job. That turnover is likely to increase over the next month. By the time the smoke clears, more than half of those 25 new coaches figure to be somewhere different than where they were on Labor Day weekend 2023.
A Dash breakdown of a coaching class that is giving new meaning to the term “three and out”:
Gone
Zach Arnett (11), Mississippi State
Tenure: 10 games, 4–6 record. Arnett was a stopgap internal promotion after the death of Mike Leach. As it turned out, he didn’t even make it to his first Egg Bowl in charge. Arnett won one SEC game, beating Arkansas 7–3. He and Jimbo Fisher teamed up to make history by both being fired after Texas A&M routed the Bulldogs, 51–10.
Tom Herman, Florida Atlantic
Tenure: 22 games, 6–16 record. The former coach at Texas went to FAU for a reboot that many people figured would launch him back into the power-conference realm. Instead, it was a mess that led to an abrupt firing after a 2–8 start to his second season. Longhorns fans might find this familiar: Herman was 1–7 in one-score games at FAU.
Biff Poggi, Charlotte
Tenure: 22 games, 6–16 record. Sometimes, at a start-up like Charlotte, you have to take an unconventional swing and hire a guy in his 60s whose only head coaching experience was at the high school level. And sometimes, those swings strike out. Poggi was a strikeout.
Kevin Wilson, Tulsa
Tenure: 23 games, 7–16 record. The former Indiana head coach and Oklahoma offensive coordinator under Bob Stoops was an old-school coach in a new world, and it didn’t work out. Wilson’s Tulsa teams lost nine times by more than 30 points.
Troy Taylor (12), Stanford
Tenure: 24 games, 6–18 record. There have been several successful FCS-to-FBS jumps in recent years. This wasn’t one of them. Taylor moved from Sacramento State to Stanford at a time when the Cardinal were falling behind in the NIL/transfer world, and he compounded losing with off-field problems. He was fired last March after an investigation into alleged bullying behavior toward staffers.
Ryan Walters (13), Purdue
Tenure: 24 games, 5–19 record. A lot of people thought Walters was a smart hire, but he flamed out quickly and ignominiously. The former defensive coordinator’s second team went 1–11 and gave up 50 or more points four times, including a 66–0 humiliation at the hands of Curt Cignetti in Walters’s final game.
Kenni Burns, Kent State
Tenure: 24 games, 1–23 record. The Minnesota assistant took one of the hardest jobs in college football and made it worse, losing his last 21 games. Burns was fired in April for what the university said was violations of his contract, including use of a personal credit card.
Barry Odom, UNLV
Tenure: 27 games, 19–8 record. Behold, the only coach on this list to date who left the place he was hired voluntarily. Odom did great work establishing the Rebels at the high end of the Mountain West Conference before being hired to replace Walters at Purdue. His 19 wins across two seasons was the most at UNLV since 1973–74, when it was a Division II program.
Trent Dilfer, UAB
Tenure: 30 games, 9–21 record. This was another outside-the-box hire that ended badly. Being a successful NFL quarterback didn’t translate well to being a college head coach with no prior experience at that level. His UAB teams were bad defensively, turnover-prone and frequently penalized.
Hugh Freeze, Auburn
Tenure: 34 games, 15–19 record. One of the biggest hires of this cycle turned out to be one of the worst. See the Dash First Quarter for further details.
Going?
A couple of high-profile 2023 hires that are worth monitoring:
Luke Fickell (14), Wisconsin
Tenure: 34 games and counting, 15–19 record. This has been a surprising bust for a guy who was a massive success at Cincinnati. The problems started with Fickell’s misguided decision to depart from the program’s smashmouth offensive identity and install a spread attack. But it’s gotten worse this season even after redirecting—the Badgers are 2–6, with every loss by double digits. They’re on an 11-game losing streak against power-conference opponents. It would cost more money than historically frugal Wisconsin would like to pay to buy out Fickell, but this situation seems unsalvageable.
Deion Sanders (15), Colorado
Tenure: 34 games, 16–18 record. If Sanders departs, it would be his decision—and likely influenced by his continuing health problems. He’s elevated the program from where it was when he took over. This figured to be a rebuilding year after losing Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter and quarterback Shedeur Sanders, but it has taken a sharp turn for the worse the last two games. The Buffaloes were outscored 105–24 by Utah and Arizona combined, looking like a team that has bailed on the season.
In Demand
If they’re leaving their current jobs, it’s against those school’s wishes. They’ve been big successes.
Alex Golesh, South Florida
Tenure: 34 games, 20–14. A sharp offensive mind with a compelling backstory, Golesh has had a breakthrough third season as coach of the Bulls. After consecutive years going 7–6, USF is 6–2 and in the thick of the American race—which doubles as a playoff bid race. There is a pretty clear path to 10–2, but Golesh’s phone will be ringing along the way with interest from power-conference programs.
Eric Morris, North Texas
Tenure: 34 games, 19–15 record. Like Golesh, it has taken a couple seasons—but the breakthrough is at hand. The Mean Green are 8–1 and second in the nation in scoring at 44.4 points per game. A former player under Leach at Texas Tech who also coached Cam Ward for a season at Incarnate Word, he could be an attractive candidate at a program looking to light up the scoreboard.
Jeff Brohm (16), Louisville
Tenure: 35 games, 26–9 record. Brohm was the hometown savior Cardinals fans were pining away for and finally landed when Scott Satterfield’s exit for Cincinnati gave the school an opening. Brohm has more than delivered, taking Louisville to its first ACC championship game and recording major upsets despite quarterback turnover every season. He is as Louisville as a human being could possibly be, but some blueblood programs are going to make him say no to them.
Kenny Dillingham (17), Arizona State
Tenure: 35 games, 20–15 record. He took over a dilapidated program at age 33, endured a 3–9 debut season and has been a home run ever since. Dillingham lifted the Sun Devils to 11 wins, the Big 12 championship and a College Football Playoff berth last year, and this year’s team is 6–3 while enduring major injuries. More than a few people in the industry think he’s the next great rising coach.
Brent Key (18), Georgia Tech
Tenure: 43 games, 26–17 record. Key coached eight games in 2022 as the interim, then got the job full-time for ’23. His first two seasons were marked by major upset victories, and this year he’s elevated Tech to 8–1, contending for an ACC title and the College Football Playoff. He gives off Mike Elko vibes—a hard-nosed football guy who keeps his sharp intellect camouflaged. Given the number of high-level openings, Key might have to weigh staying at his alma mater against taking on a new challenge at a more established program.
Persevering
They’ve had good moments. They’ve had bad moments. No reason to build a statue, or fire them.
David Braun (19), Northwestern
Tenure: 33 games, 17–16 record. Braun was elevated from defensive coordinator amid brutal circumstances after the abrupt firing of Pat Fitzgerald in the summer of ’23. He immediately proved himself capable, guiding the Wildcats to an 8–5 season and earning the full-time job. Then came the backslide last year to 4–8, putting his status back in question. A four-game Big Ten winning streak put a shine on this season, with the Wildcats 5–3 heading into a challenging closing stretch.
Matt Rhule (20), Nebraska
Tenure: 34 games, 18–16 record. He has incrementally improved the product, although continued progress this season is in jeopardy after the season-ending injury to quarterback Dylan Raiola on Saturday. Given his ties to Penn State and athletic director Pat Kraft, there was immediate speculation about Rhule as a candidate at his alma mater. Nebraska responded by extending his contract last week for two years, through 2032, which seems like a lot for a guy who is barely above .500.
G.J. Kinne, Texas State
Tenure: 34 games, 19–15 record. Kinne was a hot name after a year at Incarnate Word and two at Texas State, going 28–12 across that span. This year has been a curious backslide to 3–5, with a current four-game losing streak. The Bobcats’ defense is giving up 42.8 points per game in Sun Belt play.
Tim Beck, Coastal Carolina
Tenure: 34 games, 19–15 record. The Chanticleers have slipped from the Jamey Chadwell/Grayson McCall glory days, but that was probably inevitable. After going 6–7 last year, Coastal should get back to a winning record in 2025.
Lance Taylor, Western Michigan
Tenure: 34 games, 15–19 record. Taylor seems to have things on a gradual build in Kalamazoo, Mich., going from 4–8 to 6–7 to the current 5–4. One thing in his favor: He’s a combined 4–1 against in-state rivals Eastern Michigan and Central Michigan.
Doing Well
Coaches who are stacking wins at places where they seem to fit.
Brian Newberry, Navy
Tenure: 33 games, 22–11 record. Newberry took over a stagnant program from Ken Niumatalolo and has injected some offensive life into it, with the Midshipmen averaging 31.3 points per game last year and 34.8 thus far this season. He also scored a huge upset of Army last season. Navy’s undefeated start this year ended Saturday against North Texas, and it could get ugly this week against Notre Dame.
Jamey Chadwell, Liberty
Tenure: 34 games, 25–9 record. Chadwell could well end up at a power-conference job, but he’s experienced declining returns in his tenure with the Flames. They started out 13–1 and played in the Fiesta Bowl, then went 8–4 last year and were thumped in the Bahamas Bowl by Buffalo. This year they’re 4–4, rebounding from a four-game losing streak to win three in a row.
Bouncing Back
Scott Satterfield (21), Cincinnati
Tenure: 33 games, 15–18 record. After two straight losing seasons replacing Fickell, Satterfield began this year on a scorching hot seat. Winning seven straight games changed the temperature appreciably, as the Bearcats rose into contention in the Big 12. A 31-point loss to Utah on Saturday was a reality check, but Cincinnati remains in the mix for the league title game with three games left to play.
More College Football on Sports Illustrated
Listen to SI’s new college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, below or on Apple and Spotify. Watch the show on SI’s YouTube channel.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Forde-Yard Dash: The Vanishing Coaching Class of 2023.