2023 Report Card: Year 1 Grades for every Power 5 head coach, including Deion Sanders, Matt Rhule and Hugh Freeze
Aside from crowning a national champion, the 2023 season is in the books.
Bowl mania is now over, and the Early Signing Period has come and gone, so it’s the perfect time to circle back and hand out some grades for the 11 head coaches who made their debuts at new Power 5 schools this fall.
Just before the start of the 2023 regular season, I outlined reasonable “expectations for the 11 new faces in new places.”
So let’s hand out some postseason grades. Notably, a complete evaluation of a head coach requires more context and a sample size longer than a single season. But ADs are getting less and less patient, so 12 (or more) games and a full recruiting cycle is at least a solid understanding of which hires worked in Year 1.
And which ones didn’t.
Oh, and all grades aren’t equal, either, considering expectations and context. With that, 2023 Report Card for Year 1 head coaches at new P5 programs:
Kenny Dillingham, Arizona State: C+
The Sun Devils finished the season 3-9 — the same record they had in the final year under Herm Edwards & Co., in 2022. The roster was ransacked by the transfer portal and then Dillingham stripped the rest to the studs, bringing in around 50 new players before the season.
But depth and injuries were an issue all season, as ASU played four different quarterbacks including freshman Jaden Rashada. The Sun Devils’ defense showed marginal improvement, but Dillingham lamented the team’s regression over the second half of the season (blowout losses to Utah, Oregon and Arizona the last month).
Still, the future looks bright in Tempe. Dillingham, the youngest head coach in the FBS, recruited a solid 2024 recruiting class and has continued to make waves in the transfer portal.
Hugh Freeze, Auburn, C
I’ll leave it to Freeze himself to assess how Year 1 went on the Plains: “I don’t think I did a very good job,” Auburn’s coach said after the Tigers totally no-showed in a Gator Bowl blowout loss to Maryland.
Overall, it was a very topsy-turvy season for Freeze and the Tigers. They generated all sorts of juice and buzz off the field, but many of their actual games were total duds.
Auburn ended the season on a three-game losing streak, finishing under .500 for the third straight season. The Tigers were actually at their best against their most difficult opponents, pushing Georgia and losing in disastrous fashion to Alabama in the Iron Bowl. But then there was the inexplicable loss at home to New Mexico State, ugly defeats to Texas A&M and LSU and continued QB issues.
Freeze did ink an impressive Top 10 recruiting class, once again showing his ability on the trail, but he might’ve waited too late to target an impact starter at QB from the transfer portal.
Scott Satterfield, Cincinnati: D
Not unsurprisingly, it was mostly a forgettable Year 1 for Satterfield at Cincinnati — and that’s not a good thing for a head coach, who was eying a reset after making the move up I-71 last offseason.
The Bearcats went 3-9 in 2023, their worst season in nearly 25 years. The program’s transition to the Big 12 was always going to be difficult, but it was actually nightmarish — 1-8 in conference play, with multiple blown leads. While Satterfield didn’t inherit the roster Luke Fickell utilized to such success, Cincy’s defense regressed badly and the offense was a mess all year.
Deion Sanders, Colorado: B
No first-year head coach was under a greater microscope than Deion Sanders, and although the goalposts constantly shifted throughout the Buffs’ season, Colorado’s 4-8 record should be viewed as a successful season.
Sanders brought Colorado the energy, juice and exposure (sellout crowds, multiple Big Noon Saturday games) the program desperately desired.
The Buffs stunned TCU, upset Nebraska and pushed USC and Arizona to the brink. The season ended in a whimper, but Sanders has reloaded in the transfer portal again to gun for a bowl game in 2024.
Still, there have been some concerning hiccups — from demoting Sean Lewis, to throwing (the OL he recruited via the portal) under the bus and mostly ignoring high school recruiting in the 2024 cycle.
Brent Key, Georgia Tech, A
Key was the lone 2022 interim head coach to earn a promotion after going 4-4 upon taking over for Geoff Collins, and his in first full season in charge of his alma mater, Key elevated the program back to competency this fall.
The Yellow Jackets capped a 7-6 year with a resounding win over UCF in the Gasparilla Bowl. The Bees lost to a pair of Top 25 SEC teams (Ole Miss and Georgia), but they upset Miami and North Carolina en route to a 5-3 finish in ACC play — the program’s best showing since Paul Johnson’s final season in 2018.
Key’s offensive coordinator hire Buster Faulkner and QB transfer Haynes King (ACC-leading 27 touchdown passes) helped ignite a major offensive turnaround (14-point per game scoring improvement).
Jeff Brohm, Louisville, B+
Louisville’s season ended in a whimper, with the Cardinals losing three straight games to close out 2023 (Kentucky, Florida State and USC).
Still, Brohm delivered on his promise to quickly resurrect his alma mater, taking advantage of a posh schedule (no FSU, Clemson or North Carolina in the regular season) to take the Cardinals to their first ACC Championship Game in school history. Louisville had Top 25 victories over Notre Dame and Duke and won 10 games for the first time since 2013.
For the second straight offseason, Brohm has been one of the early winners of the transfer portal cycle, reloading Louisville’s roster with impact players like South Alabama wideout Caullin Lacy and Harvard defensive lineman Thor Griffith.
Zach Arnett, Mississippi State: D-
The Bulldogs’ first-year head coach lasted just a single season in Starkville, getting axed after going 5-7 with the most veteran roster in the SEC. Arnett inherited the job under unfortunate and unique circumstances, and after taking over the program following the unfortunate death of Mike Leach last December, he made the odd decision to pivot the program away from the Air Raid to a more pro-style offense.
The move proved disastrous, and it ultimately cost Arnett, a prized DC, his first head coaching job.
Matt Rhule, Nebraska, C+
Rhule was charged with returning Nebraska back to national relevancy, and while many of the same pitfalls that have plagued the program in recent seasons (poor quarterback play, iffy in-game management and too many close losses) remained present in Year 1, the Cornhuskers remain on the right track under the former Tulane and Baylor coach.
Nebraska went 5-7, losing four consecutive one-score games to end the year, and thus failing to snap the program’s extended bowl-less streak. The offense somehow regressed this season (125th nationally in scoring, nation’s worst 31 turnovers), but Tony White’s 3-3-5 defense was one of the stingiest in the Big Ten.
Still, the program is full of hope after Rhule inked a Top 25 recruiting class, headlined by flipping 5-star quarterback Dylan Raiola from Georgia.
Ryan Walters, Purdue, C-
Walters, just 37, took over a tough situation after Jeff Brohm led the Boilermakers to the Big Ten Championship last season. He brought in Graham Harrell as his OC and tabbed Texas transfer Hudson Card as his QB1, but the Boilermakers averaged just 23 points per game.
Through the first 10 weeks of the season, Purdue was mostly uninspiring (2-7), but the Boilermakers won two of their final three games (including a win over Indiana in the Old Oaken Bucket) to finish 4-8.
The program’s continued transition (Walters is a well-regarded defensive coach but Purdue finished the season ranked 11th against the run in the Big Ten in yards per play allowed) will be interesting to see unfold in a changing Big Ten next season.
Troy Taylor, Stanford: C-
Taylor inherited one of the worst roster situations in the country, as Stanford had fewer than 70 scholarship players for most of the 2023 season. The Cardinal went 3-9 — the same record they had in David Shaw’s final season — but lost by an average scoring margin of 31 points in Pac-12 play.
They did stun Colorado 46-43 in double-overtime in Boulder, and won at Washington State (10-7), too. Despite Taylor’s prowess as an offensive play-caller, the unit was worse in both yards per play and scoring.
The program’s transition to the ACC next season will certainly be interesting. Taylor did ink a Top 40 recruiting class — one that ranks 8th in the ACC. But his complete reluctance to use the transfer portal — eight departures and zero signees or commits — continues to hurt the program from a numbers/depth standpoint.
Luke Fickell, Wisconsin, C-
The Badgers were the preseason Big Ten West favorites, with a win total right around nine games. But Year 1 was a struggle for Luke Fickell and a new staff. The transition to Phil Longo’s ‘Dairy Raid’ was more than clunky, and special teams were problematic all season.
Despite missing Michigan and Penn State on the schedule, Wisconsin’s inability to score points (23.3 points per game, down from 2022’s issues) saw the Badgers drop four of five games midseason — including ugly losses to Indiana and Northwestern.
Six months of mostly disappointment ended with more misery, too, as the Badgers had a chance to beat LSU in the ReliaQuest Bowl but coughed up a late lead. Then with the chance to win the game in Tigers’ territory, Tanner Mordecai, who had a career day otherwise (383 yards, three touchdowns), was sacked three straight plays to end the game.
Fickell is too good of a coach to be overly concerned about the direction of the program. He’s won too many games elsewhere and he just inked a Top 25 recruiting class. But it’s clear Wisconsin faces a much steeper challenge to truly start competing for championships like the administration hoped.