This Week in Coaching: Coach debuts, Jim Harbaugh gets Biblical, coordinator of the week, more
Last week was the appetizer. Now it’s time to fill up the plate. It’s GAME WEEK, so let’s all eat greedily. Welcome back to This Week in Coaching, a meaty roundup column on all things coaching in the college football universe.
After a historical offseason carousel where 29 coaches are now at new programs, 25 coaches will make their official debuts at new schools this weekend. Among four new head coach coaches in their introductions last week, only Ken Wilson at Nevada avoided a Week 0 L.
Over the next few days, nine coaches will make their FBS head coaching debuts:
Dan Lanning (Oregon)
Brent Venables (Oklahoma)
Mike Elko (Duke)
Joey McGuire (Texas Tech)
Tony Elliott (Virginia)
Brent Pry (Virginia Tech)
Stan Drayton (Temple)
Rhett Lashlee (SMU)
Jon Sumrall (Troy)
Elko and Drayton are actually squaring off against one another Friday night, and Lanning faces the biggest Week 1 test of all the first-time head coaches.
Absent from the list is Michael Desormeaux (Louisiana-Lafayette) and Marcus Freeman (Notre Dame), who were both promoted before coaching in their program’s bowl games last year. Also, Sonny Cumbie took over his alma mater on an interim basis in 2021 when Texas Tech unceremoniously fired Matt Wells midseason, but Cumbie will make his official debut as the HC at Louisiana Tech.
SPLIT THE BABY?
Coaches across the country are cagey this time of year discussing depth charts, particularly surrounding undecided quarterback battles.
Auburn, Texas A&M, Washington and many others have all announced their QB1s to open the season, while Oregon, LSU, Ole Miss and TCU have all declined to name a starter for Week 1.
Then there’s Michigan’s Jim Harbaugh, who released a statement that the Wolverines had decided on not deciding (yet) who would be their starting quarterback for 2022.
Most believed Harbaugh’s choice to play senior Cade McNamara in the opener against Colorado State and then start former 5-star JJ McCarthy in Week 2 vs. Hawaii was a unique approach that would land the Wolverines their full-time starter without losing the other to transfer.
It was very “alternate starters in NFL preseason games and then pick a guy.” Michigan’s cupcake schedule affords them this luxury, too.
But not so! Per Harbaugh.
“Did it factor in that one would transfer? No,” Harbaugh said. “My thoughts are that they are both the kind of guys that don’t flinch, fold or quit at the slightest whiff of adverse circumstances or something that doesn’t go their way.”
He also added, “It’s a process. It is a process. No person — that’s Biblical — no person knows what the future holds. It’s a process that’s going to be based on performance. Both have been tremendous quarterbacks. We think that both are capable of leading our team to a championship.
“Some people have asked, ‘How’d you come to that decision? Was it based on some kind of NFL model?’ No. It’s really Biblical. (King) Solomon was known to be a pretty wise person.”
Aside from the fact that Jim Harbaugh needs to dust up on his Old Testament history — King Solomon threatened to split a baby in half so I’m not sure what Ole Jim is talking about here — Michigan’s approach to its QB conundrum makes sense in today’s era of the transfer portal.
McCarthy is the more talented quarterback. He has upside and skills that McNamara does not. But the senior is a proven winner who just took the Wolverines to the College Football Playoff.
So give them both a chance without splitting reps or series (not the baby) in a single game. And if McCarthy separates himself in Week 2, then the decision is likely made.
WHAT SUNSHINE STATE HOT SEATS?
With upset wins this weekend, USF’s Jeff Scott and Florida State’s Mike Norvell are two coaches who could eliminate any chatter of a change later this season.
It’s unclear if either’s job is truly in danger in 2022, as Scott is signed through 2026 and Norvell received a one-year contract extension this offseason, but both are certainly under pressure to show real progress from their programs.
Well, nothing does that more than a nice Week 1 upset.
The Seminoles have a marquee matchup against LSU in New Orleans, and while it’s essentially a road game, the Tigers have so many questions it’s a winnable game for Norvell and FSU.
The Bulls host BYU as nearly two-touchdown underdogs, but with former Baylor quarterback Gerry Bohanon now South Florida’s starter, they have a puncher’s chance to pull-off the upset.
COORDINATOR OF THE WEEK TO WATCH
Who better to kickoff this weekly feature than Oklahoma offensive coordinator and QB coach Jeff Lebby?
The former Sooners backup returns to his alma mater as the man in charge of Brent Venables’ offense. Lebby has worked under Josh Heupel at UCF and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, but now he’s the primary playcaller at Oklahoma.
He recruited former Knights quarterback Dillon Gabriel to Norman, reuniting the two from their prolific days down in Orlando.
The Sooners open with UTEP, so look for Lebby to flex his version of the Air Raid offense.
If Oklahoma’s offense doesn’t miss a beat without Lincoln Riley and Caleb Williams, Lebby won’t be long for Norman. His ties to Art Briles, whom Lebby worked for at Baylor and is also his father-in-law, will cross him off some ADs lists, but with a big 2022, he easily could be on the Mike Leach OU coordinator path — spending just one season working for the Sooners (Leach under Bob Stoops in 2000) before becoming a head coach himself.
Speaking of the Pirate…
DID YOU KNOW?
That Mike Leach has 150 career wins as a FBS head coach — the same as Clemson’s Dabo Swinney.
Mississippi State’s eccentric coach is tied for fifth among all active Power 5 coaches, ranking No. 3 in the SEC behind only Nick Saban and Brian Kelly.
The Bulldogs open the 2022 season looking for a little revenge against Memphis, who upset State last year. I expect it will be the first of more Ws for Leach this fall, as his teams typically make a leap in Year 3, and returns with a squad with 16 starters and more production than any SEC team.
The Bulldogs have a brutal schedule (SEC West + Georgia, Kentucky) but they’re going to catch a couple Top 25 teams this fall and just might surprise some and finish ranked themselves.
QUOTABLE
“I think the first couple series are going to be really important to figure out what they’re bringing to the party. Some guys bring iced tea and some guys bring liquor. You’ve just got to figure out what they’re bringing.”
— Arkansas head coach Sam Pittman
There’s a reason why the Razorbacks’ third-year head coach has a universal approval rating.
Everybody loves Sam Pittman. There’s a genuine sincerity and matter-of-factness to everything he says.
Arkansas hosts one of the tougher openers Saturday, welcoming a Cincinnati Bearcats squad coming off a College Football Playoff appearance to Fayetteville.
What should the Razorbacks expect from a Luke Fickell squad that is still a preseason Top 25 team but is replacing quarterback Desmond Ridder, offensive coordinator Mike Denbrock (now at LSU) and seven defensive starters?
Pittman admitted he’s not quite sure, but that it’s up to him and his staff to bring the right goods to the party — depending on what sort of party Cincy makes it.
“They’ve got two separate quarterbacks, who knows who’s going to play. I’m not positive who the running back’s going to be, and they’ve got a new (offensive) coordinator. You don’t know exactly what they’re going to do. I think we’ve got enough defense in that we can attack whatever we see,” Pittman said.
“The first two series on both sides of the ball will be a big, big thing in how fast our coaches make adjustments and how fast their’s does.”