The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
2018 hires have been mostly disappointing
After three miserable years watching Jim McElwain’s offenses further lay ruin to Florida’s “Fun ’n’ Gun” culture, the Gators faithful desperately wanted an offensive wizard to save them late in the fall of 2017.
Who would be more perfect for college football’s biggest coaching vacancy than Chip Kelly, the understated and quirky genius who turned Oregon into a national title contender and flamed out at a couple of NFL stops?
The Florida private jet with an envoy of school representatives reportedly flew to New Hampshire to court Kelly, but there was also a sense that he could be a better personality fit for UCLA, which had fired Jim Mora Jr.
The Florida job was set up to win sooner than the Bruins’ position, but frequent College Football Playoff visits were in no way a gimme with the Gators, who have to contend with a resurgent Georgia in the SEC East and Alabama, Auburn and LSU coming out of the West each year.
Kelly ultimately chose the path of lesser competitive resistance — and lesser fan intensity — with UCLA and the struggling Pac-12 Conference. Florida moved on quickly, the next day scooping up Mississippi State’s Dan Mullen, a former Gators offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer.
One of the most thrilling and treacherous things about hiring season in college football is that you never know how it’s going to turn out, no matter what the data says beforehand.
Mullen’s then-No. 10 Florida team beat No. 7 Auburn 24-13 on Saturday in Gainesville, Fla., in a battle of undefeated teams trying to stay in the hunt for the College Football Playoff. It wasn’t exactly “Fun ’n’ Gun,” but being 6-0 is fun enough in Gainesville.
Later, across the country in a somber Rose Bowl, UCLA lost to Oregon State 48-31, moving the Bruins to 1-5 this season and 4-14 overall under Kelly.
It’s easy to look at where Florida and UCLA are right now and say the Gators really dodged a bullet. Frankly, halfway into Year 2, it’s a risk to make any judgment, no matter how good or bad it looks.
There were 12 new coaches hired in the Power Five conferences in the winter of 2017, and some of them — Kelly included — appear to be in trouble.
Here’s a look at where things stand for this highly pressurized dozen, the coaching class of 2018.
So far, so good
■ Dan Mullen, Florida: There have been some rocky aspects to Mullen’s start at Florida — player behavior off the field has been a consistent issue. But the Gators’ 16-3 overall record, led by a talented defense, has allowed the offense to lag behind and continue to figure itself out.
■ Herm Edwards, Arizona State: In Edwards’ first season, the Sun Devils finished 7-6 and contended for the Pac-12 South title. In Year 2, it’s even more clear this was a terrific move for Arizona State as the Sun Devils (4-1) have won road games against Michigan State and California.
■ Mario Cristobal, Oregon: The Ducks blew a chance at a big victory in their opening loss to Auburn. Because of a muddled Pac12, Oregon (4-1) won’t have another shot at a nationally relevant win until its bowl game, but regionally, going to Seattle and beating Washington on Oct. 19 would register a resounding note.
Holding steady
■ Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: Fisher left Florida State, where he won a national title, for the riches of Texas A&M — he signed a 10-year contract worth $75 million. Texas A&M is playing the long game with Fisher, and the Aggies (3-2) are one of the youngest Power Five teams. Today they host No. 1 Alabama.
■ Scott Frost, Nebraska: Cornhuskers fans aren’t feeling as overjoyed to have Frost back in Lincoln as they were when the season started with hopes of a Big Ten West Division crown. Nebraska (4-2) choked the game away at Colorado and was blasted by Ohio State 48-7. But the program still feels as if it has momentum with Frost and is building a new identity. It’s just clear that this is not going to be an overnight rebuild.
■ Joe Moorhead, Mississippi State: In Moorhead’s first season as a head coach, the former Penn State offensive coordinator had a dependable senior quarterback in Nick Fitzgerald and three first-round NFL draft picks on defense. The Bulldogs finished 8-5. Now comes the hard part. The Bulldogs are 3-2 in a rebuilding season. Even a 6-6 finish would be viewed as acceptable.
■ Kevin Sumlin, Arizona: Sumlin’s first year in Tucson was pretty hard to watch. With quarterback Khalil Tate nursing a lingering ankle injury, the Wildcats limped to a 5-7 finish. Sumlin’s job this offseason was to rejuvenate Tate. The returns are positive enough with Arizona at 4-1 and coming off a win at Colorado to say that Sumlin has the Wildcats where they should be in his second season.
Too early in rebuild
■ Jonathan Smith, Oregon State: The former Beavers quarterback has built a competent offense in Corvallis around sixth-year senior Jake Luton and wide receiver Isaiah Hodgins. At a minimum, if Oregon State (2-3) can be exciting and fun to watch, then Smith has accomplished something big.
■ Chad Morris, Arkansas: The Razorbacks went 2-10 overall and winless in the SEC in 2018, and it doesn’t look much better in Year 2 at 2-3. Morris could be in trouble with Razorbacks fans sooner rather than later, but for now he deserves a forgiving leash.
Patience is fading
■ Chip Kelly, UCLA: How could it really be this bad for Kelly and the Bruins? UCLA has no buzz in recruiting and now plays in front of a near-empty Rose Bowl. A new athletic director will take over in Westwood with the No. 1 priority of deciding whether Kelly is the guy to get this done.
■ Willie Taggart, Florida State: In Taggart’s first season, the Seminoles did the unthinkable, missing a bowl game at 5-7. Taggart, who succeeded at South Florida and went 7-5 in his one season coaching Oregon, appears as if he might be overmatched. If Clemson blows out a 3-2 Florida State team today, Taggart had better watch out.
■ Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee: No program has been more embarrassed by 2019 than Tennessee, which lost to Georgia State and followed that up with another home loss to Brigham Young. At 1-4, there aren’t many potential wins in sight, but for Pruitt, getting to four or five could buy him a third season.