{"id":896142,"date":"2026-10-27T07:52:15","date_gmt":"2026-10-27T07:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/896142\/"},"modified":"2026-10-27T07:52:15","modified_gmt":"2026-10-27T07:52:15","slug":"forde-yard-dash-the-best-and-worst-college-football-first-year-coaching-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/896142\/","title":{"rendered":"Forde-Yard Dash: The Best and Worst College Football First-Year Coaching Jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where Navy and Jacksonville State are the last two teams trying to recover an opponent\u2019s fumble this season. First Quarter: Does Anyone Want to Be National Champion?<\/a> Second Quarter: Dash Domino Theory, 2026 Version.<\/a><\/p>\n

Third Quarter: Feast or Famine for First-Year Coaches\u00a0<\/p>\n

We\u2019re on the back half of the season, well into conference play. So it\u2019s time for an updated check-in on first-year coaches around the country to see how they\u2019re faring. There has been a wide disparity in results to date.<\/p>\n

Feasting\u00a0Bob Chesney (21), UCLA<\/p>\n

Record: 7\u20130, 5\u20130 in the Big Ten. Last year at this time: 3\u20134, on the way to 3\u20139. In terms of instant impact, he\u2019s the closest thing to Curt Cignetti since Curt Cignetti. Not even a season-ending injury to the Bruins\u2019 starting quarterback has deterred them from their best start since 2005.<\/p>\n

Morgan Scalley (22), Utah<\/p>\n

Record: 7\u20130, 4\u20130 in the Big 12. Last year at this time: 5\u20132, on the way to 11\u20132. Scalley was an internal promotion after nudging program fixture Kyle Whittingham out the door (more on him below). Scalley\u2019s hire of offensive coordinator Kevin McGiven has worked out extremely well, thanks in no small part to retaining quarterback Devon Dampier and running back Wayshawn Parker, among others. The next three games (at Cincinnati, home against BYU and at Arizona) will tell us a lot more.<\/p>\n

JaMarcus Shephard (23), Oregon State<\/p>\n

Record: 5\u20132, 3\u20130 in the Pac-12. Last year at this time: 0\u20137, on the way to 2\u201310. Veering outside the Power 4 conferences to note one of the better stories of 2026. The Beavers were left for dead by their old Pac-12 brethren and appeared to be fully flatlined last year. The hiring of Shephard, a former assistant under Kalen DeBoer, has been transformational. With a quarterback from FCS program Mercer, Braden Atkinson, and an electrifying freshman wide receiver from Baltimore, Jesse Legree, the Beavers have won five straight games and rank fourth nationally in scoring at 42.7 points per game. Legree made waves last week when he announced he intends to stay at Oregon State next season, despite major interest from P4 schools. Contrast the can-do ascension in Corvallis with the swoon at powerhouse rival Oregon\u2014which played a key role in the destruction of the old Pac-12\u2014and it feels like karma kept some receipts here.<\/p>\n

Will Stein (24), Kentucky<\/p>\n

Record: 7\u20131, 5\u20131 in the SEC. Last year at this time: 3\u20135, on the way to 5\u20137. Stein\u2019s homecoming and revival of the Wildcats has been well documented<\/a>, for good reason. He has the best record through eight games for any first-year coach at Kentucky since Edwin Sweetland went 9\u20131 in 1909, when the school was known as Kentucky State College. That was the first year the nickname \u201cWildcats\u201d was applied to the school.<\/p>\n

Eating wellJames Franklin (25), Virginia Tech<\/p>\n

Record: 6\u20132, 3\u20132 in the ACC. Last year at this time: 3\u20135, on the way to 3\u20139. He\u2019s pretty much delivered as advertised, and immediately upgraded the program\u2019s competitiveness. The Hokies\u2019 victory at Clemson on Saturday was their first against the Tigers since 2007 and first in Death Valley since \u201906. Tech is 18 seconds and a few inches away from undefeated, losing to Pittsburgh on a field goal that barely missed over the top of the upright and a last-minute touchdown by California. Does anyone think Franklin is aware that Penn State, which fired him last season, is 3\u20134?<\/p>\n

Pete Golding (26), Mississippi<\/p>\n

Record: 5\u20132, 3\u20132 in the SEC. Last year at this time: 6\u20131, on the way to 13\u20132. Golding has done the two most important things asked of him\u2014kept the program operating on a high level and beat Lane Kiffin in a game that would have been intolerable to lose<\/a>. The beatdown thereafter at Florida was bad but not surprising, given the emotional investment to beat LSU, and the Rebels nearly pulled off an epic comeback at Texas on Saturday. All goals remain in play for a program that had justifiably high expectations.<\/p>\n

Alex Golesh (27), Auburn<\/p>\n

Record: 4\u20133, 2\u20133 in the SEC. Last year at this time: 3\u20134, on the way to 5\u20137. The Tigers have been up and down, but scored what might be the most surprising win of anybody nationally this season by shocking Georgia between the hedges. Given the difficulty of the schedule, getting Auburn to seven wins for the first time since 2019 would be a fine start to Golesh\u2019s tenure.<\/p>\n

\"Auburn<\/p>\n

Auburn coach Alex Golesh led the Tigers to the most surprising win this season when they beat Georgia. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Eric Morris (28), Oklahoma State<\/p>\n

Record: 5\u20132, 3\u20131 in the Big 12. Last year at this time: 1\u20136, on the way to 1\u201311. Morris brought everything but the last speck of Who-Hash with him from a talented North Texas team, and after a shocking upset loss to Tulsa in the opener has produced the expected upgrade. Drew Mestemaker is second nationally in passing yards and the Cowboys lead the Big 12 in scoring at 40 per game. If Oklahoma State takes care of business on the road the next two weeks, a home game against Texas Tech looms large in the Big 12 race.<\/p>\n

Jon Sumrall (29), Florida<\/p>\n

Record: 5\u20132, 3\u20132 in the SEC. Last year at this time: 3\u20134, on the way to 4\u20138. It\u2019s been a season of wild mood swings: a 4\u20130 start highlighted by a beatdown of Mississippi<\/a>; then two straight blowout losses; then a stunning upset win at Texas. That certainly beats the perma-gloom of the Billy Napier era. The Gators remain in the College Football Playoff conversation, something they last experienced this deep into the season in 2020.<\/p>\n

Appropriate portionsScott Frost (30), Central Florida<\/p>\n

Record: 4\u20133, 2\u20132 in the Big 12. Last year at this time: 4\u20133, on the way to 5\u20137. The vibe around Frost 2.0 changed completely on Saturday, when the Knights took down No. 2 BYU. Frost made some brutal decisions late in regulation in terms of time and score but lived to tell about it, catching the Cougars in a hangover game and taking advantage of it. It was UCF\u2019s first win over a top-five team in school history. Prior to that, this UCF team had lost the games it should have lost and won the games it should have won.<\/p>\n

Tavita Pritchard (31), Stanford<\/p>\n

Record: 4\u20134, 2\u20133 in the ACC. Last year at this time: 3\u20135, on the way to 4\u20138. The Cardinal have pulled off a couple of heartening league victories at home, over Georgia Tech and North Carolina State. They\u2019ve also been crushed by every good team they\u2019ve faced, losing by a combined 172 points to Miami, Duke, Wake Forest and Notre Dame. If Stanford can scrape out its first bowl bid in eight years, it would be a definitive sign of progress in the Andrew Luck\u2013led rebuild.<\/p>\n

Jimmy Rogers (32), Iowa State<\/p>\n

Record: 3\u20134, 1\u20133 in the Big 12. Last year at this time: 5\u20132, on the way to 8\u20134. No P4 coach took over a more decimated roster than Rogers, who is rebuilding after nearly everyone packed and left with Matt Campbell for Penn State (see below). The results have largely been as expected, with losses to four teams with a combined record of 24\u20134. Rogers really won\u2019t be judged at all on this season.<\/p>\n

Ryan Silverfield (33), Arkansas<\/p>\n

Record: 3\u20134, 1\u20133 in the SEC. Last year at this time: 2\u20135, on the way to 2\u201310. This looked like a meager season all along, as the Razorbacks try to ramp up their roster spending, and that has played out as expected. But the Hogs have one more SEC victory than all of last year already, winning at Vanderbilt, and they were competitive in a loss to Tennessee. They might be able to win a couple more in the final five weeks.<\/p>\n

One plate onlyLane Kiffin (34), LSU<\/p>\n

Record: 5\u20132, 3\u20132 in the SEC. Last year at this time: 5\u20133, on the way to 7\u20136. They didn\u2019t pay Kiffin $13 million to lose to Kentucky, no matter how improved the Wildcats are. The loss at Ole Miss was more of a personal minefield for the coach than a problem for the program. The definitive chapters on Kiffin\u2019s first season in Baton Rouge are yet to be written, with all aspirations still attainable. But LSU has zero margin for playoff error and three straight difficult November games to play. A 9\u20133 or worse record would be a disappointment, given the payroll.<\/p>\n

\"LSU<\/p>\n

LSU coach Lane Kiffin and the Tigers still have all aspirations attainable in his first season in charge. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n

Collin Klein (35), Kansas State<\/p>\n

Record: 4\u20133, 2\u20133 in the Big 12. Last year at this time: 3\u20134, on the way to 6\u20136. Klein was the hero coming home to where he starred at quarterback, back when the Wildcats were a national contender. Getting back there isn\u2019t happening this season. Despite missing Texas Tech, BYU and Utah on the schedule, the Wildcats are all but out of the running in the Big 12, An injury to quarterback Avery Johnson took the wind out of the K-State offense\u2019s sails against defensively vulnerable Arizona State on Saturday.<\/p>\n

FamineMatt Campbell (36), Penn State<\/p>\n

Record: 3\u20134, 0\u20134 in the Big Ten. Last year at this time: 3\u20134, on the way to 7\u20136. For the second straight season, the Nittany Lions are seven games in without a single victory over a P4 opponent. Last year it was a case of collapsing under high expectations; this year the large-scale transferring of Iowa State talent simply hasn\u2019t been good enough. The true misfire here is that Penn State was gifted with the easiest schedule in the Big Ten and has done nothing with it.<\/p>\n

Pat Fitzgerald (37), Michigan State<\/p>\n

Record: 2\u20136, 0\u20135 in the Big Ten. Last year at this time: 3\u20135, on the way to 4\u20138. Dreams of renewed, spit-in-the-eye competitiveness from the Spartans have dissolved into a likely fifth straight losing season under three different coaches. Fitz does not have great talent and his roster has been decimated by injuries, but the Big Ten is a no excuses league. Maybe this week\u2019s open date will allow the depleted Spartans to finish with some vigor.<\/p>\n

Tosh Lupoi (38), California<\/p>\n

Record: 3\u20135, 2\u20133 in the ACC. Last year at this time: 5\u20133, on the way to 7\u20136. If Cal wanted to muddle along near .500 with a bad offense, it could have kept Justin Wilcox. Instead the Golden Bears opted to bring home alum Lupoi from Dan Lanning\u2019s Oregon staff, and the results have underwhelmed despite going to the mat to retain promising QB Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele. The last two games have been especially ugly, losing to Wake Forest and SMU by a combined 73 points. Offseason staff changes are nonnegotiable.<\/p>\n

Kyle Whittingham (39), Michigan<\/p>\n

Record: 4\u20133, 1\u20133 in the Big Ten. Last year at this time: 5\u20132, on the way to 9\u20134. Whitt\u2019s Wolverines are 130th nationally in total offense and 118th in scoring, having shuffled through one highly touted quarterback and on to the next without success<\/a>. There are some opportunities for big wins remaining, but to date an elite defense is going to waste. For Whittingham, starting over at age 66 in a completely foreign place might not have been the best idea, though it made sense at the time for Michigan in terms of a hire. (On the off chance Whittingham decides to be one-and-done in Ann Arbor and retire for real, one guy isn\u2019t coming back\u2014Jim Harbaugh. The NCAA sanctions against him will late well into his 70s.)<\/p>\n

PODCAST: Listen to Sports Illustrated\u2019s college sports podcast, Others Receiving Votes, hosted by Pat Forde, on Apple<\/a> and Spotify<\/a>. Watch the show on SI\u2019s college YouTube channel<\/a> or on SI TV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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