The FBS head coaching carousel for the 2019 season has come and gone – barring an active head coach makes the jump to the NFL. In the SEC, Arkansas, Missouri and Ole Miss were the three schools to make coaching changes. Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports recently published his grades for the hires, breaking them down into winners, jury is still out and losers. Two SEC hires made the winners list (Ole Miss, Missouri) while Arkansas’ hire of Sam Pittman lands in “jury is still out.”

Dodd gave Ole Miss an A for hiring Kiffin:

Kiffin was eventually getting back to Power Five. That it is with the Rebels makes so much sense. The school has already a shown a certain recruiting-friendly approach to the game (see: Hugh Freeze, NCAA sanctions). Not to say Kiffin will do anything underhanded, but Freeze set the template for how it can be done — 10 wins, one of them being over Nick Saban. Believe it or not, Kiffin brings a more reasoned and credible approach. The Boy King who has flaunted both authority and convention has proved he can coach and be a stabilizing force at age 44. Our little Lane may growing up before our eyes. Wouldn’t that be something at Ole Miss?

Mizzou, meanwhile, earned a B- for hiring Eliah Drinkwitz from Appalachian State:

Missouri did OK for grabbing its fourth choice, or maybe fifth choice, in Drinkwitz. None of that is the coach’s fault. The search became public, and the board of curators got involved shooting down names (Skip Holtz, Blake Anderson, Jeff Monken). Drinkwitz appealed to curator chairman Jon Sundvold, an ex-basketball star at Mizzou who wields a lot of power. Drinkwitz makes quite a leap from NC State offensive coordinator (2017) to Appalachian State coach (2018) to SEC coach. Somehow, the fact that he took Scott Satterfield’s players and won the Sun Belt became a criticism. The opposite of winning with someone else’s players is losing. Missouri football needs to become exciting again. The former assistant under Gus Malzahn (Auburn) and Bryan Harsin (Boise State) has the personality and offensive chops to do it.

Dodd gave Arkansas a below passing grade of C- for hiring Pittman, but kept the Hogs out of the “losers” category:

As an SEC head coach, Pittman is a heck of an offensive line coach. That’s not to disparage Pittman, 58, who has coached for 35 years and been a part of nine FBS programs. Pittman was one of Kirby Smart’s top coaches at Georgia. However, Arkansas’ last six coaches have brought a combined 49 years of head coaching experience to the job. Pittman has none.

The full list of grades, including Colorado State hiring Steve Addazio as the only loser, can be viewed here.