This past summer, after Jeremy Pruitt had his first full season as Tennessee’s head coach under his belt, we looked back on the long list of Vols’ coaching candidates to see how they did in 2018 relative to Pruitt. Now that Pruitt has turned a 1-4 beginning in 2019 into a 4-1 hot streak, we thought we’d use the second bye week of the season to take another peek.

This is a long post. The details of each candidate’s updates are below, but I’ve included my own re-ranking both here at the top and at the bottom for the sake of convenience and in the interest of fighting back against carpal tunnel.

Here’s my re-ranking as of right now:

Good bets

Dan Mullen
Jeremy Pruitt
Jimbo Fisher
Gary Patterson
Matt Campbell
Justin Fuente
Mike Norvell
Mike Leach
Les Miles
P.J. Fleck
Joe Moorhead
Jeff Brohm

Calculated risks

Lane Kiffin
Chip Kelly
Jon Gruden
Charlie Strong
Scott Frost
Mel Tucker
Mike Bobo

Unknowns (as head coach)

Brent Venables
Kevin Steele
Tee Martin

Goodness, what did we almost do?

Chad Morris
Willie Taggart
Greg Schiano
Bobby Petrino
D.J. Durkin

Head coaches hired as head coaches

1. Dan Mullen

2018

Hired as head coach at Florida
Went 10-3 (5-3), tied for 2^nd in the SEC East
Beat No. 23 Mississippi State, No. 5 LSU, and No. 7 Michigan
Only losses were to Kentucky, Missouri, and No. 7 Georgia

2019 so far

Currently 8-2 (5-2), 2nd in the SEC East
Beat then No. 7 Auburn, 24-13
Lost to then No. 5 LSU 42-28 and No. 8 Georgia 24-17
Team is currently No. 11 in the CFP rankings
On pace to exceed GRT 2019 expectations

2. Jimbo Fisher

2018

Hired as head coach at Texas A&M
Went 9-4 (5-3), tied for 2^nd in the SEC West, No. 16 in both polls
Beat No. 13 Kentucky, No. 7 LSU, a bunch of others; lost by only 2 to No. 2 Clemson

2019 so far

Currently 6-3 (3-2), 4th in the SEC West
No wins over ranked teams
Lost to No. 1 Clemson 24-10, No. 8 Auburn 28-20, and No. 1 Alabama 47-28
Not ranked in the CFP rankings
On pace to meet or exceed GRT 2019 expectations

3. Willie Taggart

2018

Hired as head coach at Florida State
Went 5-7 (3-5), tied for 5^th in the ACC Atlantic
Beat No. 20 Boston College, but lost to No. 20 Virginia Tech, No. 17 Miami, No. 2 Clemson, No. 21 NC State, No. 3 Notre Dame, No. 11, and unranked Syracuse.

2019

Fired mid-season after a 4-5 (3-4) start capped by a 27-10 loss to rival Miami

4. Jon Gruden

2018

Hired as head coach at the NFL’s Oakland Raiders
Went 4-12, beating only Cleveland (in OT), Arizona (by 2), Pittsburgh (by 3), and Denver

2019 so far

Currently 5-4, 2nd in the AFC West

5. Scott Frost

2018

Hired as head coach at Nebraska
Went 4-8 (3-6); Beat only Minnesota, Bethune-Cookman, Illinois, and Michigan State, all unranked

2019 so far

Currently 4-5 (2-4), 6th in the Big Ten West
Only wins over South Alabama, Northern Illinois, Illinois, Northwestern
Currently on a three-game losing streak to then-unranked teams

Coordinators hired as head coaches

1A. Joe Moorhead

2018

Hired as head coach at Mississippi State
Went 8-5 (4-4), 4^th in SEC West
Beat No. 8 Auburn, No. 16 Texas A&M, and others; finished No. 25 in the Coaches Poll

2019 so far

Currently 4-5 (2-4), 5th in the SEC West
Lost four of the past five games, with the lone win coming against an Arkansas team that just fired its Year 2 coach
Will fail to meet GRT 2019 expectations by at least two games

1B. Jeremy Pruitt

2018

Hired as head coach at Tennessee
Went 5-7 (2-6), last in the SEC East
Beat No. 21 Auburn and No. 11 Kentucky, but lost to No. 1 Alabama, No. 2 Georgia, No. 17 West Virginia, and unranked Florida, South Carolina, Missouri, and Vanderbilt

2019 so far

Currently 5-5 (3-3), 3rd in the SEC East
Won four of the last five games, with the one loss coming to No. 1 Alabama
Two bad losses to unranked teams to begin the season
Other three losses all to Top 10 teams
On pace to meet GRT 2019 expectations overall, to exceed expectations for the SEC

3. Chip Kelly

2018

Hired as head coach at UCLA
Went 3-9 (3-6), 5^th in the Pac-12 South
Only wins were against California, Arizona, and USC, all unranked

2019 so far

Currently 4-5 (4-2), 3rd in the Pac 12 South
Started the season 1-5 (1-2)
Currently on a three-game win streak, which includes a win over No. 24 Arizona State

4. Chad Morris

2018

Hired as head coach at Arkansas
Went 2-10 (0-8), last in the SEC West
Only beat Eastern Illinois and Tulsa

2019 so far

Fired mid-season after a 2-8 (0-6) start, on the heels of a non-competitive seven-game losing streak

Candidates who got fired shortly after we were talking about hiring them

The next three guys not only didn’t get any offer compelling enough to move somewhere, they couldn’t even keep their existing jobs for one more season.

Greg Schiano

2018

Remained as defensive coordinator at Ohio State in 2018.
When Urban Meyer was suspended for three games, he handed the reins not to Schiano but to offensive coordinator Ryan Day.
The Buckeyes defense was not as good in 2018, and when Meyer retired at the end of the season, Day was made head coach. He did not retain Schiano after the season.
Schiano was hired as defensive coordinator for New England in February, 2019, but left after only a month.

2019 so far

Likely to return to Rutgers to take the open head coaching job

Bobby Petrino

2018

Remained at Louisville as head coach until he was fired in November
Team went 2-10 (0-8), last in ACC Atlantic
Only wins were against Indiana State and Western Kentucky

2019 so far

Back on the coaching carousel this November

D.J. Durkin

2018

In fall camp last year, a player died, and allegations of toxic culture under Durkin led to his suspension. He was later reinstated for a day and then fired.

2019 so far

Currently a consultant for the Atlanta Falcons.

Head coaches who stayed put

1. Mike Leach

2018

Basically hired by John Currie, who apparently did not have the authority to do so
Stayed at Washington State
Went 11-2 (7-2) and tied for first in the Pac-12 North
Beat No. 12 Oregon, No. 24 Stanford, but lost to No. 16 Washington. Beat No. 24 Iowa State in the Valero Alamo Bowl
Finished No. 10 in the AP and Coaches polls

2019 so far

Currently 4-5 (1-5), 6th in the Pac 12 North
No wins over ranked teams
Lost five of the last six games

2. Les Miles (former head coach, unemployed in both 2017 and 2018)

2018

Not hired by anyone until after the season.
Now head coach at Kansas for 2019

2019 so far

Currently 3-6 (1-5), 9th in the Big 12
No wins over ranked teams
Lost five of the last six games, although this stretch includes a two-point loss to No. 15 Texas
Has Kansas much more competitive than in the past

3. Matt Campbell

2018

Remained at Iowa State as head coach
Went 8-5 (6-3), tied for 3^rd in the Big 12
Beat No. 25 Oklahoma State, No. 6 West Virginia, and several others

2019 so far

Currently 5-4 (3-3), 4th in the Big 12
No wins over ranked teams
Two one-point losses to No. 19 Iowa and No. 9 Oklahoma

4. Mike Norvell

2018

Remained at Memphis as head coach
Went 8-6 (5-3), tied for 1^st in the American West
No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

Currently 8-1 (4-1), 3rd in the American Athletic West
One win over a ranked team: 54-48 over No. 15 SMU
Currently No. 18 in the CFP rankings

5. Gary Patterson

2018

Stayed at TCU as head coach
Went 7-6 (4-5), tied for 5^th in the Big 12
No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

Currently 4-5 (2-4), 7th in the Big 12
Beat No. 15 Texas, 37-27
Lost to No. 12 Baylor, 29-23 in 3OT
All losses but one (to Iowa State) were one-possession games

6. Charlie Strong

2018

Stayed at South Florida as head coach
Went 7-6 (3-5), 4^th in American East
No wins against ranked teams, and lost last six games

2019 so far

Currently 4-5 (2-3), 4th in the American Athletic East
No wins over ranked teams
Only game against a ranked opponent resulted in a 49-0 loss to No. 19 Wisconsin
Two opportunities against No. 17 Cincinnati and No. 18 Memphis up next

7. P.J. Fleck

2018

Remained as head coach at Minnesota
Went 7-6 (3-6), tied for 5^th in the Big 10 West
No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

Currently 9-0 (6-0), 1st in the Big Ten West
One win over a ranked opponent, but it was a good one: 31-26 over No. 4 Penn State
Two more opportunities against ranked opponents to close out the season (No. 20 Iowa tomorrow and No. 14 Wisconsin on 11/30)

8. Justin Fuente

2018

Remained at Virginia Tech as head coach
Went 6-7 (4-4), tied for 3^rd in ACC Coastal
Beat No. 19 Florida State, No. 22 Duke

2019 so far

Currently 6-3 (3-2), 3rd in the ACC Coastal
One win over a ranked team: 36-17 over No. 19 Wake Forest
One-point loss to No. 16 Notre Dame
Two other losses were one-possession to Boston College and a blowout loss to Duke

9. Jeff Brohm

2018

Remained at Purdue for his second season
Went 6-7 (5-4) and tied for second in the Big 10 West
Beat No. 2 Ohio State, No. 16 Iowa, and No. 23 Boston College, but lost to Northwestern, Eastern Michigan, Missouri, Michigan State, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Auburn, all unranked

2019 so far

Currently 4-6 (3-4), 5th in the Big Ten West
No wins over ranked teams
One-possession loss to No. 23 Iowa

10. Lane Kiffin

2018

Remained at Florida Atlantic as head coach
Went 5-7 (3-5), 5^th in C-USA East
No wins against ranked teams

2019 so far

Currently 7-3 (5-1), 1st in Conference USA East
Two losses against No. 5 Ohio State and No. 18 UCF to start the season, then 7-1 the rest of the way

11. Mike Bobo

2018

Remained as head coach at Colorado State
Sidelined by health issues early, and team went 3-9 (2-6), 5^th in MWC Mountain
Only wins were Arkansas, San Jose State, and New Mexico

2019 so far

Currently 4-5 (3-2), 4th in Mountain West Mountain
No wins over (or losses to) ranked teams

Coordinators who stayed put (at the time)

1. Brent Venables

2018

Remained at Clemson as DC
5^th nationally, 2^nd in the ACC in total defense last year

2019 so far

Still at Clemson as DC
4^th nationally, 1st in the ACC in total defense

2. Mel Tucker

2018

Remained at Georgia as DC. Hired as head coach at Colorado for 2019.
13^th nationally and 2^nd in the SEC in total defense last year

2019 so far

First year as head coach at Colorado
Currently 4-6 (2-5), 6th in the Pac 12 South
Two wins over then-ranked teams: 34-31 OT over No. 25 Nebraska, 34-31 over then No. 24 Arizona State
1-5 over the last six games
Colorado was 5-7 each of the past two seasons before Tucker arrived

3. Kevin Steele

2018

Remained at Auburn as defensive coordinator
38^th nationally and 8^th in the SEC in total defense

2019 so far

Still at Auburn as DC
28th nationally and 4th in the SEC in total defense

4. Tee Martin

2018

Remained at USC as OC; was released along with most of the staff in late November
83^rd nationally and 10^th in the Pac-12 in total offense last season
Hired as a wide receivers coach at Tennessee

2019 so far

Still coaching wide receivers at Tennessee

Re-ranking the 2017 Tennessee coaching candidates

Based on all of that, here’s how I’d rank them as of right now:

Good bets

Dan Mullen
Jeremy Pruitt
Jimbo Fisher
Gary Patterson
Matt Campbell
Justin Fuente
Mike Norvell
Mike Leach
Les Miles
P.J. Fleck
Joe Moorhead
Jeff Brohm

Calculated risks

Lane Kiffin
Chip Kelly
Jon Gruden
Charlie Strong
Scott Frost
Mel Tucker
Mike Bobo

Unknowns (as head coach)

Brent Venables
Kevin Steele
Tee Martin

Goodness, what did we almost do?

Chad Morris
Willie Taggart
Greg Schiano
Bobby Petrino
D.J. Durkin

Your turn

What about you? How would you rank those guys now?

0 0 votes

Article Rating