Going into the 2019 season, how do the MAC coaches stack up? Here’s the preseason ranking of all the head men.
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Who do you want as your head coach for right now, and how good are the all the current MAC coaches?
Record and resumés aren’t necessarily everything, but of course they matter. Where are each of the teams going, which guys have the buzz, and which ones need to prove themselves a bit more?
These aren’t Hot Seat Rankings – those are coming later. These are the rankings based loosely on what the head coaches have done, and mostly about what they’re about to do.
Think of it this way. If you were to hold a head coaching draft …
12. Mike Neu, Ball State
To be fair, he hasn’t had too many positive breaks so far. His star guys in the backfield were hurt, then just okay, and now gone – QB Riley Neal to Vanderbilt and RB James Gilbert to Kansas State – but that doesn’t account for the miserable defenses so far. Neu is 10-26 in three years with two last place finishes in the MAC West after finishing second-to-last last season.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 12
– 2019 Ball State Preview
11. Tom Arth, Akron
Simultaneously in the you-never-know and watch-him-become-the-next-Saban categories, the 38-year-old’s John Carroll teams of the D-III world were great, but once he got that stepping-stone job at UT Chattanooga, the results were a big bag of 9-13 meh over the last two years. Remember, Akron played for the MAC title two seasons ago.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: Not Ranked
– 2019 Akron Preview
10. Sean Lewis, Kent State
Still really, really young, the 33-year-old is trying to get his Fast-Fast offense to get going, and there were signs of actual improvement despite the 2-10 season. It’s still going to take a while, but eventually, his offense will be a whole lot of fun. Give him another year or so – he’s got the upside to make Kent State a MAC player.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 10
– 2019 Kent State Preview
9. Chuck Martin, Miami University
He’s doing an okay job, but he’s now in his sixth season and hasn’t been able to build off of the one big year in 2016. He has yet to come up with a winning season, has gone to one bowl game – the RedHawks were snubbed last season – and he hasn’t been able to recreate the glory of his run at coach at Grand Valley State, where he went 74-7 with two national D-II titles.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 9
– 2019 Miami University Preview
8. Thomas Hammock, Northern Illinois
He knows Northern Illinois, knows how to get a running game going, and knows how to the program works. The pressure is on to keep the production and the winning going as one of the MAC’s superpowers, but the 38-year-old should be ready to give it a go after serving as a key assistant at Wisconsin and as the running backs coach for the Baltimore Ravens.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: Not Ranked
– 2019 Northern Illinois Preview
7. Scot Loeffler, Bowling Green
It’s a nice job at the right time for the 44-year-old Loeffler, who worked his way up the ranks as a solid offensive coordinator at Auburn, Virginia Tech and Boston College. He’s a veteran who’s getting his shot, and he should have the offense to make the Falcons interesting right away.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: Not Ranked
– 2019 Bowling Green Preview
6. Tim Lester, Western Michigan
This is the year when Lester needs to show he’s ready to take the Western Michigan program back to the elite conference level it enjoyed under PJ Fleck. There’s as much high-end talent as any team in the league, but after an underwhelming 13-12 start and 9-7 MAC record, it’s time to play for a conference title.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 8
– 2019 Western Michigan Preview
NEXT: Preview 2019 Top 5 MAC Coach Rankings
5. Lance Leipold, Buffalo
The chances were there last season to be special. After building the program up, Leipold’s fourth year was a monster with a 10-4 run at a program that’s struggled to do much of anything great. However, his team gagged away the MAC title, lost its bowl game, and now has to replace most of the top offensive starts. The guy who went 109-6 at Wisconsin-Whitewater with six national championships really can coach, but he has some work to do.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 4
– 2019 Buffalo Preview
4. Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan
Eastern Michigan has gone to two bowl games in the last three seasons. Shhhhhh, let that sink in. The program beat San Jose State in your 1987 California Bowl, and that was it for the post-season fun until 2016. Creighton might be 22-40 in his five years in Ypsilanti, but he is doing the near-impossible by making EMU football interesting.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 7
– 2019 Eastern Michigan Preview
3. Jason Candle, Toledo
This is the season to see if he really can rise up and become the next Matt Campbell. He’s only 39, but he has taken Toledo to three straight bowl games after winning one as the interim head man in place of Campbell in 2015. However, he’s 0-3 in bowls over the last three seasons, and his program took a step back last season after winning the 2017 MAC championship. He’s still the league’s brightest-young-star head coach, but now he has to prove he’s ready for a Power Five gig.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 1
– 2019 Toledo Preview
2. Jim McElwain, Central Michigan
McElwain’s Florida teams played for the SEC championship in 2015 and 2016. He had one total clunker of a half a 2017 season, and he rubbed some people at Florida the wrong way, but he was good enough to be Nick Saban’s offensive coordinator on the way to a few national championships, win 18 games in two years after needing a year to turn around Colorado State, and yeah, again, he coached in two SEC title games. He was a great get for Central Michigan.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: Not Ranked
– 2019 Central Michigan Preview
1. Frank Solich, Ohio
Will the guy ever win a MAC championship? He has turned Ohio into a bowl-bid machine and an East powerhouse, going 106-75 in his 14 years at the helm. He hasn’t had a losing season since 2008, winning or sharing the division title four times.
He won a Big 12 championship with Nebraska back in 1999, and he’s overdue for another title. For now, though, two straight 9-4 seasons with two straight bowl wins isn’t bad for the 74-year-old.
Last Season Preseason Ranking: 2
– 2019 Ohio Preview
