With Dana Holgorson to Houston becoming official today, here's my take on the league's coaches:
EAST
Josh Heupel (UCF)
--He did a terrific job inheriting an undefeated team and steering it to another perfect regular season, but the real test will come next year, presumably without McKenzie Milton
Charlie Strong (USF)
--I was one of the few who was not particularly impressed by him during his two stints as an assistant at Florida when I covered the team. Great guy, and he did a stand-up job at Louisville, but he is a mediocre head coach.
Luke Fickell (Cincinnati)
--He inherited the mess that Tommy Tuberville left and went 11-2 in his second year. Cincinnati looked well coached all year, winning despite having an offense that appeared limited at times. Recruiting has been very good, too.
Mike Houston (East Carolina)
--The last James Madison hot shot coach, Everett Withers, failed fast at Texas State, but Houston is seen as the real deal. That remains to be seen, but he is a huge upgrade on Scottie Montgomery regardless. ECU has the resources to be a perennial contender, and Houston should get them there.
Randy Edsall (UConn)
--Edsall led UConn to an Orange Bowl bid in his first stint in Storrs but has struggled mightily since then, getting fired at Maryland before the abject disaster of his first two seasons back at UConn. In fairness to him, Bob Diaco might have been one of the worst head coaches in college football history, but that still does not explain how historically putrid the Huskies' defense was this year.
Temple (TBA)
--It's hard to hire a coach and have him leave two weeks later like Manny Diaz did when the Miami job opened, but Temple has won consistently in recently years with coaches who varied in quality.
WEST
Willie Fritz (Tulane)
--I've thought he was a winner from the first spring practice I covered. The improvement has taken longer than I (and probably he) expected, but Tulane, despite some inconsistency this year, should become a perennial contender starting next season. The hiring of Will Hall should expedite the process.
Ken Niamutalolo (Navy)
--I still like him despite Navy's dive this year. Some questionable decisions at quarterback bit the Middies in the butt, and their defense has been suspect for years, but the track record is too long and too strong to discount a return to prominence.
Dana Holgorson (Houston)
--I've never loved him as a coach, but he is a huge upgrade on Major Applewhite, who never, ever should have been promoted to succeed Tom Herman. Houston has better resources and more money than its fellow West contenders and should be a factor every year with Holgorson. His defenses, though, were subpar at West Virginia. I'm not sure he's a well-rounded coach.
Philip Montgomery (Tulsa)
--I was flat out wrong about him. Because of his Baylor background, I thought he was an offensive genius who would have Tulsa contending every year. Instead. the defense has been pitiful and the offense has been really bad in the passing game the past two years. Recruiting has been even worse. He could be gone at the end of 2019 without a significant turnaround.
Mike Norvell (Memphis)
--Those in the know are high on him, and I'm not discounting them totally. but I have not liked his in-game decisions and Memphis' up-and-down nature the past two years. A team good enough to almost beat UCF the last three times they have played (though coming up empty) should not lose to Navy and get clobbered by this year's Tulane team while giving the ball to one of the nation's best running backs fewer than 10 times. There's just something shaky about the whole operation there despite the Tigers reaching back-to-back title games.
Sonny Dykes (SMU)
--I was not impressed with Dykes at California (and I watch a lot of Pac-12 games). He had SMU in contention for the AAC title game before a slide at the end of the year and a killer loss to Tulsa left the Mustangs with a losing record. I expect him to be a downgrade from Chad Morris, leaving SMU in the bottom half of the West more often than not.
EAST
Josh Heupel (UCF)
--He did a terrific job inheriting an undefeated team and steering it to another perfect regular season, but the real test will come next year, presumably without McKenzie Milton
Charlie Strong (USF)
--I was one of the few who was not particularly impressed by him during his two stints as an assistant at Florida when I covered the team. Great guy, and he did a stand-up job at Louisville, but he is a mediocre head coach.
Luke Fickell (Cincinnati)
--He inherited the mess that Tommy Tuberville left and went 11-2 in his second year. Cincinnati looked well coached all year, winning despite having an offense that appeared limited at times. Recruiting has been very good, too.
Mike Houston (East Carolina)
--The last James Madison hot shot coach, Everett Withers, failed fast at Texas State, but Houston is seen as the real deal. That remains to be seen, but he is a huge upgrade on Scottie Montgomery regardless. ECU has the resources to be a perennial contender, and Houston should get them there.
Randy Edsall (UConn)
--Edsall led UConn to an Orange Bowl bid in his first stint in Storrs but has struggled mightily since then, getting fired at Maryland before the abject disaster of his first two seasons back at UConn. In fairness to him, Bob Diaco might have been one of the worst head coaches in college football history, but that still does not explain how historically putrid the Huskies' defense was this year.
Temple (TBA)
--It's hard to hire a coach and have him leave two weeks later like Manny Diaz did when the Miami job opened, but Temple has won consistently in recently years with coaches who varied in quality.
WEST
Willie Fritz (Tulane)
--I've thought he was a winner from the first spring practice I covered. The improvement has taken longer than I (and probably he) expected, but Tulane, despite some inconsistency this year, should become a perennial contender starting next season. The hiring of Will Hall should expedite the process.
Ken Niamutalolo (Navy)
--I still like him despite Navy's dive this year. Some questionable decisions at quarterback bit the Middies in the butt, and their defense has been suspect for years, but the track record is too long and too strong to discount a return to prominence.
Dana Holgorson (Houston)
--I've never loved him as a coach, but he is a huge upgrade on Major Applewhite, who never, ever should have been promoted to succeed Tom Herman. Houston has better resources and more money than its fellow West contenders and should be a factor every year with Holgorson. His defenses, though, were subpar at West Virginia. I'm not sure he's a well-rounded coach.
Philip Montgomery (Tulsa)
--I was flat out wrong about him. Because of his Baylor background, I thought he was an offensive genius who would have Tulsa contending every year. Instead. the defense has been pitiful and the offense has been really bad in the passing game the past two years. Recruiting has been even worse. He could be gone at the end of 2019 without a significant turnaround.
Mike Norvell (Memphis)
--Those in the know are high on him, and I'm not discounting them totally. but I have not liked his in-game decisions and Memphis' up-and-down nature the past two years. A team good enough to almost beat UCF the last three times they have played (though coming up empty) should not lose to Navy and get clobbered by this year's Tulane team while giving the ball to one of the nation's best running backs fewer than 10 times. There's just something shaky about the whole operation there despite the Tigers reaching back-to-back title games.
Sonny Dykes (SMU)
--I was not impressed with Dykes at California (and I watch a lot of Pac-12 games). He had SMU in contention for the AAC title game before a slide at the end of the year and a killer loss to Tulsa left the Mustangs with a losing record. I expect him to be a downgrade from Chad Morris, leaving SMU in the bottom half of the West more often than not.