2006 CFB Coaching Carousel (Part 1)
There were a total of 23 schools that entered the 2005 season with new head coaches last year (see Wednesday’s Notes in the files on how they fared). There were only 10 new hires this year, but then, with the tragic death of Northwestern’s Randy Walker over the summer, this year’s “coaches carousel” jumped to 11. In a special weekend edition of Ness Notes, I’ll show a preview of the 11 schools and coaches. .
Last year’s 23 manager changes were broken like this. There were 10 schools that brought in coaches with previous experience and 13 schools that were giving their ‘boys’ their first head coaching job at Division IA level. Among the group of 11 changes this year, only two schools have hired guys with previous head coach experience.
The shortlist includes Dan Hawkins, who left Boise State to take the job in Colorado, and Dennis Erickson, who has had numerous college and NFL jobs (most recently as the 49ers head coach) and is returning to Idaho this year. (He was a coach there since 1982). -85). What follows are this year’s training changes, listed alphabetically by school.
Boise State (Chris Peterson): Peterson has been Boise’s OC for the past five years and has been an integral part of a team that averaged 41.3 PPG during that span, including an impressive 48.9 PPG in 2004. Team, it should be noted that the Broncos they have ranked in the top 25 nationally in rushing yards for three of the past four years. Boise saw the end of two 31-game winning streaks in last year’s 9-4 (6-5-1) season.
Their 31-game WAC winning streak ended Nov. 12 at Fresno State (27-7) and the school’s 31-game home winning streak ended at the MPC Bowl, when Boston College sidelined the Broncos in their famous “Blue Turf”. , 27-21. Since 1999, the Broncos have 45-2 SU at home and 30-11 ATS. Heading into this year’s schedule, Boise opens at home on a Thursday night with Oregon State (note: Boise is 1-10 SU and 2-6-1 ATS all-time versus Pac-10 schools).
Other tough spots will be in Utah on 9/30, a home rematch with Fresno State on Nov. 1 (prior to LY’s loss, Boise was 4-0 SU and ATS vs. Fresno since 2001, beating them 166-84) and in Nevada on November 21 (Wolf Pack tied Boise for last year’s WAC title at 7-1 and went SU 10-2 at home in 2004 and 2005). There’s little reason to believe the Broncos will lose a beat with Peterson in charge.
Buffalo (Turner Gill): Gill spent 17 years in Nebraska as his QB (three years) and then in various roles as an assistant. Cornhuskers’ record during that time was 176-38. So Buffalo will certainly be a “shock to the system.” The Bison joined Division IA in 1999 and have won a total of just 10 games, never winning more than two MAC games in a year. After an 0-11 season in 1999, the team won twice in 2000 and three times in 2002 before going 5-41 (18-25-1) in these past four seasons.
Last year’s 1-10 team (6-5 ATS) averaged a meager 10 PPG while allowing 29.7 PPG. However, that total was down from the previous three seasons, in which the defense allowed 31.9, 37.1 and 34.7 PPG. Turner will install new schemes on both sides of the ball this year and has the second fewest returning starters of any MAC team, so don’t expect much more from Buffalo this year.
Two notable games are the team’s first game on Aug. 31 at home against Temple and an Oct. 21 visit to Ohio University. In Temple, the Bison face a team that went 0-11 last year. and will bring a 12-game losing streak to the game and Ohio is coached by Frank Solich. Solich is a former Nebraska player and longtime assistant, and was the team’s head coach from 1998 to 2003 and Gill served as one of his assistants during that time.
Colorado (Dan Hawkins): Hawkins spent the past five years at Boise State compiling an impressive 53-10 record. His .841 winning percentage is number one among active coaches and his 53 wins are the fourth-most by a coach in his first five seasons at a major school. He dominated the WAC while in Boise, going 37-3 and winning four league titles.
He takes over a Colorado team that has won three Big-12 North titles in the past four seasons, but one that has nowhere near the talent of Big-12 South powerhouses Texas and Oklahoma. Hawkins is a great employee, but he only has five returning starters on offense and six to eight on defense. The Buffs open with Montana State, but then face Colorado State on September 9.
The favorite in this game is just 1-9 ATS in the last 10 years and is back in neutral (Invesco Field) after two straight years of playing at Boulder (Colorado won both games by three points on uncovered). Colorado visits Georgia on September 23 (Hawkins took Boise there last year and lost 48-13!) Plus, they play Norman on October 21 and Lincoln on November 24.
Idaho (Dennis Erickson): Erickson is just 40-56 in six seasons as the NFL head coach (four years with the Seahawks and two with the 49ers). However, he is 145-56-1 in the college ranks with stops in Idaho, Wyoming, Washington state, Miami and Oregon state. He won two national titles in Miami and led Oregon State to an 11-1 season and BCS Bowl (41-9 Fiesta Bowl win over Notre Dame) in 2000.
In his second tour of duty in Idaho, he takes over a team that has gone 11-47 the last five years and 23-29-2 ATS. Erickson has wanted to return to the college ranks since he was fired by the 49ers in 2004, but many schools walked away due to past problems with the NCAA. However, this was a “no-brainer” for Idaho, which brings in a “big name” coach. Erickson will take his Vandals to Pullman on September 9 to face Washington State (he was coach there from 1987-88) and Corvallis on September 23 to play at Oregon State (1999-2002).
Middle Tennessee State (Rick Stockstill): Stockstill has been an assistant for 17 years at the Division IA level, 14 years at Clemson (under Danny Ford, Ken Hatfield, Tommy West and Tommy Bowden). He has spent the last two years in South Carolina, with Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier. He takes over a team that many felt was as talented as any team in the SBC last year, but the Blue Raiders went only 4-7. In fact, the team is just 17-29 (21-23) the last four years.
The team held its own in both Alabama and North Carolina state last year and entered Vanderbilt and beat the Commodores 17-15, a loss that prevented Vandy from his first bowl attempt since 1982. Nine offensive starters return and I wouldn’t be surprised if the Blue Raiders posted their first winning record since going 8-3 in 2001. However, the Blue Raiders may have to pull off an upset in one of these games to pull it off. They are in Maryland (9/9), in Oklahoma (23/9), in Nashville to face Louisville (6/10) and in South Carolina (18/11).
The second part will follow on Sunday.