Second-year coaches succeed

Richt, Mendenhall, Fuente, Babers make impact in ACC.

Mark Richt wanted to put his imprint on Miami in his first year by establishing certain standards and his way of doing things.

Now in his second season, Richt has his alma mater back in the national spotlight. The No. 7 Hurricanes have the nation’s longest winning streak and are relevant again heading into Saturday’s showdown against No. 3 Notre Dame (8-1).

“They know the standard,” said Richt, who has led Miami to 13 straight wins. “I think it’s a matter of guys really truly understanding what coaches want and the willingness to not only get themselves to do it, but the players around them to do it.”

Miami is the Atlantic Coast Conference’s lone unbeaten team at 8-0 and one of five in the Football Bowl Subdivision. But he isn’t the only ACC coach winning in his second season in the league.

■ Bronco Mendenhall has Virginia headed to a bowl game for the first time in six years. The Cavaliers won just two games last season and were picked to finish last in the Coastal Division.

■ Syracuse’s Dino Babers’ has the Orange in position to possibly qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2013 with two of their final three games at home.

■ Virginia Tech’s Justin Fuente has 17 wins, the most by a coach in his first two years at the school. The Hokies have not lost consecutive games with Fuente in charge.

Former Clemson coach Tommy Bowden said there is one thing the four have in common — confidence.

“There is a gap you have to bridge in your second year because it’s a mix of players” between old and current staffs, said Bowden, a studio analyst for the ACC Network. “A lot of times you have to go in there and have discipline. I think if you go in there and feel confident

in what you are doing, the players sense it and buy in quicker.”

They’ve also shown there are various roads to success.

Miami and Virginia Tech have first-year starting quarterbacks in Malik Rosier and Josh Jackson, but the teams are among the league’s top defenses. Virginia and Syracuse have relied on downfield passing games. The Cavaliers’ Kurt Benkert leads the ACC with 20 touchdowns and the Orange’s Eric Dungey is sixth nationally in completions per game (25.0). His receivers — Steve Ishmael and Ervin Philips — have combined for 151 receptions.

Richt is the unquestioned second-year headliner in the ACC. After last Saturday’s 28-10 victory over Virginia Tech , the Hurricanes can clinch their first Coastal Division title on Saturday if Louisville beats Virginia.

“We’re not at the point where we can just line up and impose our will on people,” Richt said. “We have to battle every week.”

If not for Miami, Virginia might be getting more attention nationally.

If the Cavaliers (6-3, 3-2) win one more game, the five-win improvement would mark the same increase Mendenhall had his first two seasons (6-6 in 2005, 11-2 in’ 06) at BYU.

Syracuse’s 27-24 win over then-No. 2 Clemson on Oct. 13 was the secondhighest-ranked opponent the Orange (4-5, 2-3) have defeated in their 128-year history. That win and a possible bowl bid would give Babers a foundation to build on.

Fuente was replacing longtime Hokies coach Frank Beamer, but he said he didn’t have any preconceived notion about the program when he came in. The only thing he knew was the way how he wanted to run things and retain defensive coordinator Bud Foster.

“I knew Virginia Tech had a tradition and a level of competition that we needed to live up to,” said Fuente as the No. 17 Hokies (7-2, 3-2) prepare for Saturday’s game at Georgia Tech.

AP Virginia Tech’s Justin Fuente has 17 wins, the most by a coach in his first two seasons with the Hokies. They haven’t lost consecutive games on his watch.