Grading first-year coaches is difficult, since each coach is entering the job under different circumstances. Some coaches are moving laterally from talented team to talented team, and others are in rebuild mode immediately. Lincoln Riley seems to be at the head of the class at this point.
- Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma to USC. A. Other than a one-point loss to #20 Utah, USC has this team humming along at 6-1 (4-1). The only remaining ranked team on the schedule is #12 UCLA. Last year the Trojans finished at 4-8 (3-6). This year they will likely finish at 11-1 or 10-2, with a high probability of winning a bowl game.
- Dan Lanning, Georgia DC to Oregon. A. Oregon is currently ranked #8 at 6-1 (4-0) with its sole loss being an utter 3-49 destruction at the hands of #3 Georgia. Oregon has key victories over #12 BYU and #9 UCLA, with #20 Utah being their only key challenge remaining. Oregon is in a position to win the Pac-12 in his first year as a head coach.
- Brian Kelly, Notre Dame to LSU. A-. After a few missteps early in the season with his quirky recruiting practices and a loss to FSU, Kelly has turn things around and looks to have LSU back on top of the SEC west sooner rather than later. Currently the Tigers are 6-2 (4-1) and will likely end up 9-3 (6-2) with losses to FSU, #8 Tennessee, and #6 Alabama. Last year Kelly had the Notre Dame Fighting Irish at 11-2 (0-0) with losses to #7 Cincinnati and #9 Oklahoma State in the Fiesta Bowl. The LSU Tigers will likely land in a good bowl game this year.
- Billy Napier, Louisiana to Florida. C. Last year Napier got the Ragin Cajuns to a #18 ranking, a 13-1 (8-0) record, and another Sun Belt championship. He is taking over a Florida Gators team that has not seen a conference championship since 2008 when Clemson was just a tight ends coach at Clemson--before he became an offensive coordinator. Billy has some work to do as the Gators finished 6-7 (2-6) and are going on year 12 of utter mediocrity. He has the Gators at 4-3 (1-3) with a signature win over #7 Utah. He has losses to #20 Kentucky, #11 Tennessee, and LSU with #1 Georgia, Texas A&M, (South Carolina), and FSU coming up. Other than Georgia, all of those games are winnable despite Florida being an underdog to all of them (South Carolina's FPI and line might be higher than Florida in a few weeks). The Gators' destiny is harder to predict based on inconsistent wins and losses, so they could end up 5-7 or 7-5 or anywhere in between.
- Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame DC to head coach. C-. This will be Freeman's first time as head coach, so he gets some time to figure out the job after learning from Brian Kelly. Freeman's only head coaching experience was as an interim head coach where his team lost in the Fiesta Bowl. Currently the Irish are 4-3 with key losses to #2 Ohio State, Marshall, and Stanford. They will likely finish at 6-6 with additional losses to #16 Syracuse, #5 Clemson, and #10 USC.
- Brent Venables, Clemson DC to Oklahoma. B-. Venables has the tough job of following Lincoln Riley, but he is standing pat at 4-3 (1-3) with key losses to Kansas State, TCU, and Texas. He had the team ranked as high as #6 in weeks 3 and 4, but the Sooners fell out of polls after a loss to TCU in week 5. He does have a nice win over #19 Kansas to hang his hat on. His next big challenge will be #9 Oklahoma State at Bedlam. His other games are winnable, so he could end up 7-5 or 8-4 with a shot at 9-3.
- Mario Cristobal, Oregon to Miami. D. Miami's rebuild is a train wreck in year one, but their future could still be bright with NIL money flowing. Last year he had Oregon at 10-3 (7-2), a #22 ranking, and an Alamo Bowl berth (which the team lost to #16 Oklahoma after he left). Miami will be lucky to finish at 6-6 after already losing to #24 Texas A&M, Middle Tennessee, North Carolina, and Duke with FSU, #5 Clemson and Pitt coming up.
