21 for 2021 College Football Topics, No. 16: What are the reasonable expectations for the new college football head coaches this season?
New Head College Football Coach Expectations For 2021
There are 17 new college football head coaches going into the 2021 season. That’s not a ton compared to some years, but there are plenty of big jobs being filled with plenty of big names moving around.
21 for 2021 College Football Topics
21: 21 Thoughts, Wishes, Hopes
20: 5 Best Programs To Not Make CFP
19: 5 Teams That Will Rebound
18: 5 Teams That Will Take A Step Back
17: Every Power 5 Team’s Letdown Game
What can fans hope for out of each new coach, and what can they look forward to over the next five seasons? Here’s the breakdown of all the new guys in four categories.
– Total rebuild with no instant expectations
– Lowered expectations … but go bowling
– Go bowling, and maybe do more
– You get a year, sort of. WIN NOW
Coaches in each category listed in alphabetical order
2021 New College Football Head Coaches: Total Rebuild. Do What You Can.
There’s little to no real pressure on these four coaches. All of them are walking into a tough situation with no real expectations other than to start building things up.
Terry Bowden, ULM
Top Lines of the Resumé: Led Auburn to an 11-0 season in 1993 when the program was on probation. Named Eddie Robinson Coach of the Year.
– Took Auburn to the 1997 SEC Championship Game (lost) and Akron to the 2017 MAC Championship Game (lost).
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Three wins and a spark for the offense. ULM had the worst record – 0-10 – in college football in 2020. It’s going to be a total overhaul.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Take ULM to a winning record within three seasons. 2012 was the only time the program finished better than .500 since 1980. It took three years for Bowden to get Akron to a bowl game.
Clark Lea, Vanderbilt
Top Lines of the Resumé: Notre Dame defensive coordinator for the last three seasons.
– Top assistant and linebacker coach at six places before rising up to the DC job at Notre Dame.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Create a positive identity and win four games. There are enough winnable games on the slate to at least get to three victories and then hope for an upset. More than that, Vandy has to get nasty on D.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Two bowl games and become a more competitive out. It’s always going to be an impossible uphill climb for Vandy in the SEC, but it needs to be more than the league’s free space game.
Lance Leipold, Kansas
Top Lines of the Resumé: Six-time Division III national championship head coach at Wisconsin-Whitewater.
– Two MAC Championship appearances – and three bowl games – in the last three seasons at Buffalo.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Win three games. That’s not a given considering at Coastal Carolina and at Duke are two of the non-conference games, but asking any coach for three wins isn’t looking for the world – even at Kansas.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Get to a bowl game within three years. Kansas isn’t the toughest Power Five head coaching gig, but it’s right there. If Iowa State could become a player in the Big 12 …
Kane Wommack, South Alabama
Top Lines of the Resumé: Indiana Defensive Coordinator over the last two seasons.
– South Alabama Defensive Coordinator for two years, including the 2016 season when the program went bowling.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Flirt with .500. It’s tough in a nasty Sun Belt with a whole slew of strong teams, but there’s enough talent and experience in place for the new coaching staff to push for six wins.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: A Sun Belt Championship appearance and at least two winning seasons. The Sun Belt West isn’t as tough as the East. It’s gettable in the right year.
– Lowered expectations … but go bowling
– Go bowling, and maybe do more
– You get a year, sort of. WIN NOW
NEXT: Lowered Expectations, But Go Bowling
2021 New College Football Head Coaches: Lowered Expectations … But Go Bowling
These four coaches are taking over okay situations. There’s no need for a total gut job, but there’s a ton of work to be done. However, with a little luck, a bowl game is possible.
Blake Anderson, Utah State
Top Lines of the Resumé: Two-time Sun Belt championship head coach at Arkansas State.
– Took ASU to six bowl appearances in his first six seasons before missing out in 2020.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Come up with a winning record. The schedule isn’t easy, but getting to six wins isn’t asking for the world even coming off a mystifying 1-5 season. It wasn’t all that long ago when Utah State went 11-2 in 2018.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: At least three bowl games, maybe four, and at least one appearance in the Mountain West Championship.
Bret Bielema, Illinois
Top Lines of the Resumé: Three-time Big Ten champion head coach at Wisconsin.
– 2006 Big Ten Coach of the Year.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Go bowling – or get close. Beat UTSA. Beat Charlotte. Win four more games among Nebraska, Maryland, at Purdue, Rutgers, and win an upset here or there.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Three bowl games, one push to at least make fans think there’s a shot at a Big Ten West title, beat Wisconsin at least twice, beat Northwestern at least three times.
Jedd Fisch, Arizona
Top Lines of the Resumé: NFL offensive coordinator at Jacksonville for two seasons and Minnesota for a season.
– Interim head coach at UCLA for two games in 2017 – he went 1-1.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Set the foundation for an Arizona team that actually plays defense while showcasing a consistently dangerous offense. Come up with a differentiating factor that’s good enough to win five games going into the showdown with Arizona State to close out the season.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Four bowl appearances, one Pac-12 South title, three wins over Arizona State.
Will Hall, Southern Miss
Top Lines of the Resumé: 31-9 at West Georgia with four D-II Playoff appearances
– Gulf South Coach of the Year: 2011, 2012
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Get to a bowl game. Southern Miss had five straight winning seasons before the 2020 clunker, and it’s got enough good parts – and a WAY easy schedule – to demand nothing less than six wins.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: The 41-year-old new head man brings his offensive coaching talents to the Golden Eagles with a fun style that brings at least one Conference USA title and bowl games over each of the next five years.
– Total rebuild with no instant expectations
– Go bowling, and maybe do more
– You get a year, sort of. WIN NOW
NEXT: Go Bowling, and Maybe More
2021 New College Football Head Coaches: Go Bowling, and Maybe More
These five head coaches will get a little while to get everything going, but fans will break something tasteful if there’s no bowl game.
Shane Beamer, South Carolina
Top Lines of the Resumé: Assistant head coach at Oklahoma over the last three seasons. Helped coach up Kyler Murray, Jalen Hurts, and Spencer Rattler.
– Assistant at South Carolina for four years before becoming assistant head coach at Virginia Tech for four seasons.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Get to a bowl game and make South Carolina look like a dangerous program on the rise. The schedule isn’t awful, but it’s going to take some work.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Bowl games become automatic, there’s one magical year with a trip to the SEC Championship, and there are at least two wins over Clemson, Florida and Georgia.
Bryan Harsin, Auburn
Top Lines of the Resumé: Three-time Mountain West Champion head coach at Boise State. 69-19 overall.
– Sun Belt Champion head coach in his one year at Arkansas State
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Come up with a winning season, go bowling, be relevant in the SEC West race through mid-November, beat Alabama. Not necessarily in that order.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Win an SEC championship, win the SEC West twice, beat Alabama at least twice, and come up with a tough brand of football that gives Auburn an even bigger identity in a state with that other team up the road.
Josh Heupel, Tennessee
Top Lines of the Resumé: National Championship-winning quarterback at Oklahoma. Heisman runner-up.
– American Athletic Conference champion head coach in 2018.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Create a fun and exciting offense the makes Florida, Georgia, and even Alabama worry about what’s coming in the near future. The schedule is manageable enough to get to a bowl game in Year One.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Bowl games in all five seasons, two SEC East championships, one SEC title.
Rob Ianello, Buffalo
Top Lines of the Resumé: Longtime star assistant head coach at Wisconsin, Alabama, Arizona and Kansas, and spent five years at Notre Dame.
– Akron head coach for two seasons. (We’ll just leave out that he went 2-22.)
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Win the MAC. Buffalo might lose a slew of key parts, but the talent is there to get back over the hump and win the conference after losing two of the last three title games.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Two MAC Championships, one other appearance, at least four bowl appearances.
Butch Jones, Arkansas State
Top Lines of the Resumé: Two-time Big East Champion head coach at Cincinnati.
– Two-time MAC Champion head coach at Central Michigan.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Get to a bowl game and make a push in the Sun Belt race. Arkansas State went to nine straight bowl games before going 4-7 last season.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Bowl games in each year he’s there with one Sun Belt championship – which turns the program around and leads to Jones leaving for a bigger gig.
– Total rebuild with no instant expectations
– Lowered expectations … but go bowling
– You get a year, sort of. WIN NOW
NEXT: You Get A Year, But … Win Now
2021 New College Football Head Coaches: You Get A Year, But … Win Now
Welcome to the family, coach. Now WIN RIGHT NOW OR ELSE. All four coaches are stepping into great situations and have to keep it all going.
Andy Avalos, Boise State
Top Lines of the Resumé: Oregon defensive coordinator for the last two seasons.
– Boise State assistant coach for eight years, defensive coordinator for the last three.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Win the Mountain West championship. If you’re the Boise State head coach, that’s what you do.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Win more Mountain West championships. Win at least three over the next five years with one appearance in a New Year’s Six game.
Charles Huff, Marshall
Top Lines of the Resumé: Assistant head coach and running backs coach at Alabama over the last two seasons.
– Assistant head coach at Mississippi State in 2018.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: At least come very, very close to winning the Conference USA championship. The team was right there last year but couldn’t finish it off.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Win at least two Conference USA championships and get into a bowl game every season.
Gus Malzahn, UCF
Top Lines of the Resumé: Took Auburn to within a drive of winning the 2013 national title. Won the SEC West in 2017.
– Beat Alabama three times.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: At least get to the American Athletic Conference championship. Cincinnati might be the star of the conference, but UCF has to get there and take its cuts.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: Win at least two American Athletic Conference championships, make a big push one year to get into the College Football Playoff, and maybe make the program strong enough to get a serious look by a Power Five conference.
Steve Sarkisian, Texas
Top Lines of the Resumé: USC head coach for two seasons.
– Washington head coach for five seasons.
Realistic Expectations In Year One: Play for the Big 12 Championship and make Texas look like a program that could be a year away from getting into the College Football Playoff.
Realistic Expectations Over Next Five Years: At least two Big 12 Championships, at least three wins over Oklahoma, and at least one College Football Playoff appearance.
21 for 2021 College Football Topics
21: 21 Thoughts, Wishes, Hopes
20: 5 Best Programs To Not Make CFP
19: 5 Teams That Will Rebound
18: 5 Teams That Will Take A Step Back
17: Every Power 5 Team’s Letdown Game
– Total rebuild with no instant expectations
– Lowered expectations … but go bowling
– Go bowling, and maybe do more
