If you think three SEC head coaching changes in one SEC division is a whirlwind, you haven’t been tallying the coordinator changes throughout the conference the last two years.
These once were positions of greater security, particularly at strong programs. The upside was deciding to become a head coach elsewhere and the downside was collecting a paycheck and coaching with an inherent talent advantage every year.
Now the positions usually pay seven figures, but the leash is as short as one year. Both the money and the pressure on head coaches has long since trickled down to the next level (see: John Jancek, Tennessee).
Hiring a strong staff has become as important as any individual aspect of building a team, as coach Nick Saban and Alabama continue to demonstrate.
We’ll wait to evaluate some of the recent coordinator hires until the 2016 season gets underway. But now seems like the perfect time to take stock of the wave of hires prior to the just-completed 2015 season.
BEST HIRES
- Dan Enos, Arkansas: The former Central Michigan head coach received plenty of consternation early in the season when the Razorbacks resembled an Air Raid offense in losses to Toledo and Texas Tech. But by the end of the year, Arkansas fielded a dynamic, balanced offense that was as good as any of the Bobby Petrino-era units. If only the team’s passing defense wasn’t a sinkhole in 2015.
- Geoff Collins, Florida: One of several defensive coordinators to migrate away from Starkville, Miss., during Dan Mullen’s tenure, Collins leveraged a unit soaked with NFL talent at every level into an SEC East championship. The group seemed to run out of mental and physical energy carrying the maligned offense at the end of the year but still managed to finish near the top of every statistical category in the SEC. Those Gators athletes loved Collins’ full-throttle aggression.
- Barry Odom, Missouri: The Tigers finished the season ranked fifth in the nation in scoring defense — despite one of the worst offenses in recent memory, losing a pair of top-flight pass rushers to the NFL and then two more projected ’15 starters on the defensive line. Then Odom became head coach, an in-house replacement for the retiring Gary Pinkel. Many questioned the decision to choose Odom ahead of long-time defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski, but in hindsight it looks like the right decision.
- John Chavis, Texas A&M: The results weren’t as immediately gratifying as some hoped. It’s going to take another two years to get the personnel right at linebacker and defensive back. But Chavis significantly improved the pass defense and installed a more aggressive culture even as the team’s offense waned. This still looks like a very good hire long-term.
WORST HIRES
- Will Muschamp, Auburn: The Tigers made Muschamp the highest-paid assistant coach in all of college football. In return, he was supposed to team with coach Gus Malzahn to get Auburn into the College Football Playoff. Instead, his defense was mediocre. Then he bounced for South Carolina after just one season, poaching several good assistants on his way out. He recruited well for a year, but this wasn’t what Auburn hoped for when it landed the biggest assistant coaching free agent of last offseason.
- Brian Schottenheimer, Georgia: He can’t be blamed for Georgia’s lack of quarterback talent, but his recent NFL track record isn’t doing him any favors with this narrative. UGA didn’t have much of an answer once Nick Chubb got hurt. The offensive line took a step backward. The decision to start Faton Bauta against Florida, and run the same pro-style offense, remains baffling. The hire just didn’t work out.
- Shannon Dawson, Kentucky: That escalated quickly. After Neal Brown became Troy’s head coach, Dawson wooed the media and appeared to be a fantastic fit on paper. He knew the Air Raid offense and seemed like the perfect guy to mold quarterback Patrick Towles and a burgeoning group of young skill players. Instead, he came up with few answers as the offense stalled mid-season. Mark Stoops couldn’t have anticipated moving on from Dawson so soon.
- Kevin Steele, LSU: Yet another one-and-done coordinator, Steele got the unenviable task of replacing Chavis, whom Texas A&M poached. For all the talk of LSU’s offense, the Tigers made huge statistical gains on that side of the football in 2015. The Bayou Bengals were thin at linebacker and inexperienced along the defensive line. But with that array of athletes, no way LSU should’ve finished 10th in the SEC in scoring defense, behind Texas A&M and Mississippi State. A Tigers defensive coordinator got poached once again as Steele left for Auburn, but the fan base should consider Dave Aranda as an upgrade.
- Jon Hoke, South Carolina: Coach Steve Spurrier tried to revive the duo’s Florida magic by installing Hoke as “co-coordinator.” The Gamecocks finished last in the SEC in scoring defense and total defense. This was as much of a failed experiment as any on the South Carolina team in 2015, although personnel was a big part of that.
An itinerant journalist, Christopher has moved between states 11 times in seven years. Formally an injury-prone Division I 800-meter specialist, he now wanders the Rockies in search of high peaks.
