Anointing an heir
Recapping the quick-moving coaching hires of the weekend
Black Sunday actually became Green Sunday as hires poured in across the nation instead of the firings we’re so accustomed to.
There’s too much that happened to cover it all in one article, so I’m going to split it into two. Here, you’ll get the Coaching Report Cards focused on the searches that weren’t searches at all. Meaning, I didn’t publish a shortlist between the firing/departure of the previous coach and the hiring announcement for the new one.
Later today, you’ll get a recap like last week with Coaching Report Cards and Coaching Shortlists for all the jobs that did have searches (read: Coaching Shortlists) and Report Cards for the new jobs opening up.
Got all that? Good. We don’t have any time to waste.
Coaching Report Card - Kentucky
Kentucky was always an interesting job. One that’s hard to judge in comparison to its SEC peers.
For one, I was in doubt it would ever come open. Athletic director Mitch Barnhart backed up a Brinks truck to keep program legend Mark Stoops in Lexington, making Stoops one of the sport’s ten highest paid coaches. I talked about it on the Sports Summit with
ahead of the season that Stoops finally was feeling the pressure to live up to that contract.When talking about Kentucky, you have to look at in in almost a pre- and post-Stoops era. For example, Stoops had two 10-win seasons in his 13 years leading the Wildcats. Prior to Stoops’ arrival in 2013, Kentucky’s last 10-win season came in 1977. Stoops had a stretch where his program made eight straight bowls from 2016-2023, going a dead even 4-4 in those contests. Prior to that, Kentucky had only made bowls in consecutive seasons four times: five straight from 2006-2010, then 1998-1999, 1983-1984, and three straight from 1949-1951.
Stoops was a transformational coach that built Kentucky into a respectable football program. But that respect dwindled in recent years as NIL and the transfer portal made the elder statesman in Lexington into a dinosaur. It was only this past season where Stoops actually embraced the portal to try to save his job, and even then, the class was underwhelming.
You also have to consider what sport comes to mind when you think of the Kentucky Wildcats. Despite this being a football newsletter, I guarantee it wasn’t football you think of when you conjure up the first thing that hits your mind when you see the interlocking UK logo. It’s basketball. And Kentucky is as big a basketball school as any.
So Stoops did well in his time in Lexington into making Kentucky into a dual-sport school at times. But he didn’t position the team well going forward and the past two seasons made it seem like Kentucky would struggle to compete in the American, let alone the SEC.
The Hire
There must’ve been a long search going on behind closed doors, because Kentucky landed on a guy almost immediately after news of Stoops’ firing broke. And that guy was a rising star in Oregon offensive coordinator Will Stein.
It’s long been thought that Stein was a head coaching candidate this cycle, especially after the success Kenny Dillingham had at Arizona State as a branch on the Dan Lanning tree. Now, he gets his chance.
Stein is a native Kentuckian, and despite his playing career at the hated Louisville, Kentucky faithful seem excited and energized by the young gun. Maybe having a Kentucky alum as a father helps with that.
With Lanning being a defensive-minded coach, his offensive coordinators always craft and call the plays on offense. With Stein leading the Ducks, Oregon has been one of the nation’s best on that side of the ball. Stein’s first game leading the Oregon offense saw the Ducks score a program record 81 points on FCS Portland State. And it’s been al roses since then. In the three years since Stein has been in Eugene, Oregon ranks second in the nation with 37.7 points per game.
Stein will remain with the Oregon program through the playoffs.
Grade: B
There’s a lot to like here with a legitimate youthful presence added to a Kentucky program that needed something to get excited about. Plus, Stein’s pedigree with Dillon Gabriel and Dante Moore should be enough to keep talented freshman quarterback Cutter Boley in town and developing.
Still, I’m always wary of a coach coming into the SEC without much of any experience. That league is a meatgrinder that you won’t see in any other conference in the nation. Yes, leading a highly successful offense through the Big Ten is a big deal, but the Big Ten has way more bottom feeders like UCLA, Purdue, Northwestern, Rutgers and Maryland compared to the SEC which has…Kentucky?
There’s also the recruiting piece, where Stein was never hailed as an elite recruiter. Still, Stoops wasn’t either. It’s a good carryover as the program focuses on talent development.
Oh, and Stein’s a first-time head coach. Not a bad thing, but something to keep an eye on.
The Job - Michigan State
To me, this one was the most out of left field.
Let’s be clear on one thing: Jonathan Smith wasn’t working in East Lansing. Since coming over from Oregon State, Smith’s Spartans mustered only a 9-15 record. Still, two years seems like a short leash for a hire that was regarded as a home run at the time.
To find what went wrong with Michigan State, we have to look deeper. For one, Smith was hired by Michigan State’s previous athletic director. The new one, J Batt, comes from Georgia Tech, where finding the right coach was the key to getting the program back on the national stage. Michigan State couldn’t be farther from that point.
Go on, tell me one result from the Smith era at Michigan State. Just one game. One play. One moment. One recruit. Anything?
Don’t worry, I cover this sport and I have nothing.
There was a lot of promise when Smith came over from Oregon State with talented quarterback Aidan Chiles hitching along with him. But Chiles was inconsistent, Smith was a non-factor, and the Spartans were the worst thing you can be: plain boring. They didn’t do anything good. They didn’t do anything particularly horribly to draw eyes to it. They just faded away into obscurity.
This is a program that sees itself sustaining high-level success. We saw with with Mark Dantonio, albeit that was in a different era. Mel Tucker had a great year, but how much of that was due to Kenneth Walker simply being the best player on the field? Then, Tucker had his whole downfall and the program slipped into irrelevancy.
Batt was hired to fix the financial situation in East Lansing to hopefully set up the basketball and football programs to return to elite-level competition. Remember, this is a program that earned a spot in the four-team playoff at one point. They can do it.
So, no matter how shocking the firing of Smith was, it was clear it was something that had to be done. Smith is a good coach, that hasn’t changed. But he’s an outsider that’s never coached east of Montana. He’s someone that isn’t raising the level of the program. Given more time, would he? Sure! I wholeheartedly believe he would. But is he the right guy to get the Spartans where they want to be? That’s debatable.
The Hire
To me, most schools have an archetype of a coach that just makes sense. For example, Iowa has to have a Ferentz on staff. Okay, maybe that’s too on the nose.
Places like Texas Tech and Oklahoma State need to have an offensive guru leading the program. USC has to have a guy that’s willing to take the media in stride. Midwestern coaches need to be down and dirty guys that for some reason keep putting mechanics jackets on to talk about how blue collar their program is.
Michigan State has the larger than life seasoned coach. Tom Izzo is Michigan State basketball. Mark Dantonio had that same vibe as an old-fashioned program head that wants to dominate the line of scrimmage and win the time of possession.
Pat Fitzgerald fits that mold.
Yeah, Michigan State hired Fitzgerald, who’s last breath in college football was in a massive hazing-related scandal. But, since then, he’s been vindicated. Fitzgerald had no involvement in that scandal at all and even sued Northwestern for wrongful termination and came to a nine-figure settlement where the school acknowledged that he had no wrongdoing.
Now, he lands at Michigan State.
The line on Fitzgerald doesn’t tell the full story. His 110-101 career record looks a lot worse than it is because he was at Northwestern of all schools. He’s taken the Wildcats higher than anyone else in program history.
More importantly, he fits Michigan State. He makes sense. He’ll fit in with the gritty nature of East Lansing. He’s not afraid of the cold and Big Ten football. In fact, he embraces it. It makes sense why he was Batt’s pick.
Grade: C+
There’s a lot of accolades on Fitzgerald’s sheet: five AP Top 25 finishes between 2012 and 2020; two Big Ten Championship appearances; Northwestern’s first AP Top 10 finish in 2020 since their 1995 Rose Bowl miracle.
But there’s also the way it ended. Putting scandal and controversy aside, Fitzgerald’s Northwestern teams were plain bad at the end of his tenure, going 4-20 across his final two seasons and falling below four wins in three of his last four. Is that the guy Michigan State is getting? Or the one that raised the floor for Northwestern?
Then, we do have to consider the controversy-filled end to his tenure. Yes, he had no part in it. That’s fact. It’s proven. But Fitzgerald’s call to fame is his ability to build a program, and the one he built at Northwestern was clearly dysfunctional. How can he prevent something like that from happening again? How can he keep Michigan State going?
That’s a lot of questions for a hire that I see as a safe one. We know he should raise the floor. Can he raise the ceiling? He did at Northwestern, which has major academic restrictions on its athletes. Could a more lenient environment at a state school like Michigan State truly let Fitzgerald’s coaching and recruiting chops shine?
I guess we’ll find out.
The Job - Ole Miss
Before I get any further into this, let’s be clear on one thing: This isn’t the Lane Kiffin article. That’s coming later and we’ll talk more about Lane’s move later today in the other coaching carousel article hitting your inboxes.
So, what is Ole Miss’s job on the surface? It’s one that’s gotten a lot more attention in recent years as Kiffin has built the Rebels into a College Football Playoff contender and likely has Ole Miss in this year’s field, barring some wild maneuvering from the playoff committee ahead on Selection Sunday.
As a whole, Ole Miss is a proud school that sees themselves as an SEC contender, but not quite as a national title contender. You could make an argument that Kiffin is the best coach in program history - a program that has the name of one of their former coaches on the stadium. But he’s won at a clip that hasn’t been seen in Oxford before now.
Every year since Kiffin arrived in Oxford, the Rebels have made a bowl game. Each year, they’ve inched closer and closer to the playoff conversation before firmly cementing their place in it this season.
Despite how the Rebels are positioned this year, this isn’t a blue blood program. This isn’t one that’s national championship or bust like LSU or Florida or Alabama or Georgia or Texas or half the SEC. For so long, the Rebels were eliminated weeks in advance of any meaningful postseason action. Now? They’re in the thick of it. And fans are happy with that placement, but eagerly awaiting a national championship shot.
All that is to say this isn’t a bad gig. The expectations aren’t sky high yet. And there’s plenty buy in based on how pricey Kiffin’s staff was.
The Hire
There was a lot of drama on when Kiffin would leave Oxford, both before and after his move to LSU was made official. That move is made now, with the playoff looming.
Ole Miss decided to go internal, promoting defensive coordinator Pete Golding to head coach and forcing Kiffin to take the long walk over the tarmac and fly to Baton Rouge like he wanted.
But that’s enough about Golding’s predecessor. After all, we’re here to talk about Golding, right?
One important thing to note: this isn’t an interim role to lead the program while they embark on a coaching search. Golding got the big, permanent job. He’s Ole Miss’s head coach going forward.
All eyes have been on Kiffin, but Lane had a great staff, starting with Golding. He’s been a defensive whiz in the SEC for much of his career and this year is no different. His Rebels rank in the top 25 in scoring defense, passing yards per game, and fourth down defense. They’re stingy against the pass with a lethal pass rush.
It’s strange going from offensive guru Kiffin to defensive whiz Golding, but the move works out based on continuity. After all, that’s what this hinges on.
Grade: B
Golding is a first time head coach thrust into the thick of a playoff race with vitriol all over the place. He’s got to keep his staff together in the face of Kiffin’s poaching moves. He’s got to work with administration to rebuild a personnel department that now resides in Baton Rouge. And, he’s got to keep his players focused on the prize.
That’s a lot to ask, but that’s all going to be answered in the immediate future.
One thing’s clear: Golding has the support of players. Throughout the Ole Miss facility, cheers were heard as Golding was announced as the next head coach - permanent head coach - to the team. He has them on his side. Whether or not he can keep them, as well as the high school commits heading into this week’s Early Signing Day, is another story.
He also has most of the offensive staff along for the ride, which should mean the offensive operation won’t have any hitches heading into the postseason.
This hire has a ton of potential to go a ton of different ways. Will Ole Miss rally together and make a CFP run that sets up the Golding era on a golden platter? Or, will he buckle under the pressure and Ole Miss drops to what it was pre-Kiffin?
Right now, I’m leaning to the more successful route.
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I felt underwhelmed when MSU announced that Fitzgerald was the hire. But, I am warming up to it. From what has been reported, all interested parties at MSU are on the same page. The president, AD, board of trustees (who notoriously love to meddle), boosters, and Izzo all said Fitz is our guy. The one time in my lifetime all parties have been on the same page was the Dantonio era.
He won the press conference, he got the crowd fired up at the basketball game last night. He's a big 10 guy who gets the importance of big 10 rivalries. I think I'm talking myself into supporting him in real time here. I'm not expecting an Indiana-like turnaround (weird words to type) but I just want to care about MSU football again.
Still, if it were up to me, I would have hired James Franklin. I know he can't beat Ohio State or Michigan. But right now we can't beat Minnesota. So his habit of choking in big games would have been a future problem.