Ranking 1st Year Coaches

21. Randy Edsall Maryland- The Terps fired Friedgen for this? Last year the Terps won 9 games and while most didn't expect Edsall to match the 2010 team's win total, it was expected that this team would go bowling. Instead the only thing uglier in the ACC this year other than Maryland's play on the field was their uniforms. Edsall not only did a poor job coaching a team that allowed 34 poings per game, but he also alienated players and fans from the program.

20. Kevin Wilson Indiana- The Hoosiers are typically near the bottom of the Big 10, but they at least usually win a game or two. This year Indiana went 1-11 with their only win over South Carolina State. Indiana allowed a humiliating 37 points per game and only scored 23 points per game. The biggest loss to Wilson was the commitment he lost from Indiana 5 star QB Gunner Kiel

19. Paul Pasqualoni UConn- Pasqualoni inherited a BCS team from a season ago and failed to make a bowl game in 2010. The Huskies only posted a 4-7 record against FCS teams this year and only beat 2 teams with a winning record. The schedule certainly wasn't difficult as the toughest out of conference games were against lower tier SEC and Big XII schools

18. Jerry Kill Minnesota- I liked the hire of Kill when it was made, but the 2011 season saw some horrible losses. The Gophers lost by double digits to FCS North Dakota State and to a bad New Mexico State program. Kill had some health issues and the team did pull off some decent wins over Illinois and Iowa, but a 3-9 record has Kill towards the bottom of this list.

17. Jon Embree Colorado- Embree probably wouldn't have been hired by any other FCS program other than his alma mater. He inherited a brutal schedule with 10 PAC 12 games, Ohio State, Colorado State, and a trip to Hawaii. The Buffs did win 2 of their final 3 games to build a little momentum heading into next year, but it could be awhile before we see Colorado in a bowl.

16. Todd Graham Pitt- Pitt has always been the type program(along with WVU) that should always be on top in the Big East. This year's team went 6-6, but did have 4 losses by 4 points or less. We also saw the Panthers struggle against Maine. Graham's teams at Tulsa were known for their offensive production under coordinators Gus Malzahn and Chad Morris, but this Pitt team ranked 70th nationally in scoring.

15. Will Muschamp Florida- Muschamp has coached Florida to their worst regular season since 1979. The season did see the Gators face some key injuries, but in their last 8 games the Gators went 2-6 with wins over Furman(who led 22-7 at one point) and Vandy(only won 26-21. Muschamp has already lost his OC Charlie Weiss to Kansas and while it's a long time until 2012, it looks like we are a long ways aways from seeing Florida in the National Championship picture.

14. Al Golden Miami- Golden had to put up with the NCAA mess to start the season which could have been a distraction, but this team didn't look improved under Golden. Miami is still losing to teams less talented than they are. The running game and the defense gives Hurricane fans some hope, but the effort has to remain consistent.

13. Darrell Hazell Kent State- Winning at Kent State is never easy, but Hazell has give hope to Kent fans with the way he closed out 2011. Kent ended the year winning 4 of their final 5 games to finish a respectable 3rd in the MAC East

12. Steve Addazio Temple- Addazio inherited an improved Temple program that Al Golden had done wonders with. This year's Owl team is bowling and once again won 8 games, matching last year's win total. Temple nearly knocked off Penn State, a win that would've been one of the biggest in school history.

11. Dan McCarney North Texas- This year's team only went 5-7, but the improvement was obvious. I loved this hire when it was made and North Texas is certainly a program on the rise with its new stadium. All 7 of North Texas' losses were to teams with winning records and McCarney's team ended the year 5-4. Look for this team to be one of the best in the SBC in 2011.

10. Pete Lembo Ball State- Lembo's Cardinals won more games in 2011 than they had in the previous two years. A win over Indiana was big for this program and gave the Cardinals some confidence going into MAC play. Ball State nearly knocked off conference champ Northern Illinois and if they had you could see a team bowling in 2011.

9. Rocky Long San Diego State- Why did New Mexico fire Long? Once again Rocky Long showed he can win big in the Mountain West Conference by leading the Aztecs to an 8-4 record. The 4 losses were to teams that combined for a 38-8 record.

8. James Franklin Vanderbilt- Franklin started to get attention during the summer of 2011 when he started landing some impressive recruits that typically would not look at Vandy. He then led Vanderbilt to a 6-6 season. It should be noted the Dores conference wins were over awful teams like Ole Miss and Kentucky and Vandy did return more starters than anyone in the SEC. Still, Franklin's teams didn't back down from anyone in 2011 giving 10 win teams Arkansas and Georgia scares. The team will be bowling for only the 2nd time in 30 years.

7. Bill Blankenship Tulsa- Considering how brutal the out of conference schedule was(losses to Houston, OU, Oklahoma State, and Boise State), an 8 win season was very good for Tulsa. 7 of Tulsa's 8 wins in 2011 were blowout wins. A 7-1 conference finish was only topped by Houston in CUSA's regular season.

6. Dan Doeren Northern Illinois- Mr. Tuesday Night(3 Tuesday wins this year) gave us some exciting offenses to watch in November this season. Doeren and the Huskies finished the season 10-3 and won the MAC Championship. If Doeren were to win the bowl game, it would be NIU's 2nd 11 win season in school history.

5. Dana Holgorsen West Virginia- Going to a BCS Bowl in year 1 is always impressive. Holgorsen didn't become the head coach until June and had to impliment a new offensive system at WVU. The Mountaineers offense ranked 19th nationally in scoring with 35 ppg and Geno Smith put up record breaking numbers for WVU. WVU is one of the few teams in 2011 that moved the ball on #1 LSU

4. Brady Hoke Michigan- Hoke has won everywhere he has been and did so at Michigan in 2011. Michigan had been one of the nation's worse defenses in the last 3 years in college football, but in 2011 they ranked #7 in scoring defense. The only losses were tough road games against Iowa and Michigan State. The way Michigan humiliated Nebraska in game #11 showed the huge progress made by this program in 1 season.

3. Mark Hudspeth Louisiana- The Ragin Cajuns will go bowling for the first time since moving up to the FCS(1-A). This is their first 8 win season since 1993. Hudspeth not only won big in year 1, but he also brought excitement to the program. The Ragin Cajuns averaged a Sun Belt best 29,000 fans a game in 2011.

2. David Shaw Stanford- Shaw inherited the best situation among any first year coach. I'm still uncertain of Shaw's long term future, but its hard to say anything negative about a guy that is 11-1 and has his team in a BCS Bowl. Stanford dominated most every team they played this year with the exception of Oregon and Southern Cal, two teams with more overall talent than the Cardinal.

1. Hugh Freeze Arkansas State- In 2011 Freeze became the second ever Sun Belt coach to go undefeated in league play and to win 10 games in one season. This was the first Arkansas State team to win 10 games in a season since the Red Wolves moved up to the FCS(1-A) and this is only the 2nd bowl game as a FCS school. Arkansas State not only beat SBC teams,
but they dominated them. ASU outscored its opposition in 2011 by an impressive 33-19 on average.
 Matt Barber
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