College Football Coaching Changes 2008
Jimmy Boyd has already taken a look at the NFL coaching changes for the upcoming season, and now he dissects the college football coaching changes. Find out how he sees these offseason moves affecting the teams these head men are taking over in this article.
In a short period of time June Jones took the Hawaii Warriors from a mediocre mid-major to a BCS team. Now Jones has walked away, probably because he knew that topping the 2007-08 season would be next to impossible. The Warriors hired Greg McMackin to replace the most decorated Hawaii football coach in the progam’s history. McMackin served two prior stints with the Warriors in 1999 and 2007 as defensive coordinator. The Warriors won the WAC title in both of the season that he led the defense. He improved the defense from 93rd nationally to 33rd last season. Hawaii should put a solid defense on the field again and it is going to have to be this side of the football which carries them in 2008, as the offense loses Heisman Trophy finalist Colt Brennan and four starting wide receivers. Those losses, more than McMackin, will cause the Warriors to take a minor step backwards. All in all, I always feel it is a good idea to promote from within as the players are already familiar with the coach. McMackin appears to be a good fit for Hawaii as long as the team can retain its offensive prowess. I won’t be fading the Warriors because of McMackin this season.
Perhaps the biggest coaching change in college football that took place was Michigan’s hire of former West Virginia head man Rich Rodriguez. Michigan has traditionally been a power running team and now Rodriguez brings the spread attack to town. This is going to take a lot of getting used to for the fans and the players as it is such a drastically different system. But this system helped Rodriguez take West Virginia to the brink of a national championship over the past few seasons and that’s more than the Wolverines can say lately. Still, it is going to take some time, and it is going to take Rodriguez getting some speedsters in Ann Arbor to make it work. There are currently no Pat White’s on this roster to play the all-important QB spot, and that leads me to believe it could be an adventurous first year under Rodriguez.
Going 5-7 for the season and finishing just 2-6 in conference play does not sit too well for the proud Husker nation. With that an intervention had to happen. So Bill Callahan is out and Bo Pelini is in. Mr. Nebraska, Tom Osborne, hired Pelini because of his defensive background, which was a must for the successor as the Huskers were among the worst defensive teams in the country in 2007. Pelini was the defensive coordinator of the Huskers in 2003 when the team went 10-3. In 2004, Pelini was co-defensive coordinator of an Oklahoma Sooners team which won the Big 12 championship and made an appearance in the BCS Championship game. The last three seasons, he has helped the LSU Tigers become the top defensive team in the country in terms of total defense. Pelini appears to be what the Huskers need, a man who has “Nebraska” experience and has enjoyed success at all of his stops. It will be unlikely that Pelini can be deemed a miracle worker in year one, but he appears to be a good move when looking toward the future.
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College Football Poll has a complete list of college football coaching changes each year.
