It has been a busy two weeks in college football. Several head coaching vacancies have been filled. Here are my thoughts on the hires. We are going to put them into two categories. Good hires and bad hires.  

Good Hires

Tom Herman, Texas: Herman is a great hire for Texas because he is an offensive coach and he has strong recruiting ties in Texas. He and his staff will get the most out of the talent left behind by Charlie Strong. 

Ed Orgeron, LSU: I know a lot of people don’t like this hire because Orgeron had a losing record at Ole Miss and was the “other guy” when Tom Herman turned the job down.

I get that, but Orgeron went 5-2 as the interim coach, he has strong recruiting ties in Louisiana and he is from the state. I think Oregeron will do a good job in Baton Rouge. Don’t sell him short. LSU will contend in the SEC West. 

Lane Kiffin, FAU: Kiffin gives the program name cache. He’s not going to stick around very long but while he’s there, he’ll hit up donors, help improve the facilities, build a competitive program and move on.

Luke Fickell, Cincinnati: Fickell is an Ohio guy. He has strong recruiting ties in the state from his time as a player and coach at Ohio State. 

Fickell will bring a physical brand of football and some much toughness to the program. There is a lot of good talent in the Cincinnati area. Fickell needs to keep it home.

Jeff Brohm, Purdue: I like this hire. I know his teams didn’t play great defense at Western Kentucky but he’ll recruit better talent on that side of the ball at Purdue.

Brohm is a terrific spread coach so he’ll get skill kids to commit. If given time, Brohm could do what Joe Tiller did for the program when Purdue hired him away from Wyoming.

Butch Davis, Florida International: Davis will give the Panthers a spark because he brings name cache and credibility to the job. He’ll be able to recruit in talent rich Florida and get the program on track.

Davis will have to fund raise a lot of money because the school doesn’t seem to want to make a financial commitment long term to football.

Charlie Strong, South Florida: I don’t think Strong could have landed in a better spot. He is getting $9.8 million dollars to help the program take the next step but he won’t  face the pressure he did at Texas while doing it. 

Strong inherited a talented roster. Former coach Willie Taggert did a good job in recruiting. Let’s see if the former Texas coach can take the Bulls to the next level.

Major Applewhite, Houston: I like this hire. I know some people point to Houston’s issues offensively at times this season but Applewhite is a good offensive coach who played at Texas and has a lot of connections in the state. 

Applewhite can maintain or build on what Tom Herman established the last two years. 

Bad Hires

Willie Taggert, Oregon: I think Taggert is a good coach but I don’t think he’s a good fit at Oregon. Taggert transitioned to a spread offense at South Florida but he is not a true spread coach. 

Taggert is a Jim Harbaugh disciple and in his heart of hearts, his would rather run the multiple offense and run the football. It’ll be interesting to see what he does. Taggert does have some recruiting ties from his time at Stanford.

Matt Rhule, Baylor: Same as Taggert. Good coach but I don’t think his offensive scheme will fit the personnel at Baylor. Rhule will have to recruit to his run first, play good defense philosophy. 

If Rhule can develop some recruiting in roads in Texas, he’ll get the program back on track. That’s a big IF however.

Jeff Tedford, Fresno State: Tedford is a terrific offensive coach and he played at Fresno. He knows the schools and he has plenty of ties to the talent rich high school programs in Northern California.

The problem is, he allowed the program to go rogue at Cal and he has had health issues recently. Tedford is a short term fix for the Bulldogs.  

Tom Allen, Indiana: Sorry Coach Allen, but Indiana could have done better. Allen is a different coach than his former boss Kevin Wilson in that he is more positive but that’s about it.

You don’t hire a coach just because they are a good coordinator or positive. That’s about all Allen has going for him. Indiana is a better program than that. 

Jay Norvell, Nevada: Norvell is a good offensive coach but I’m not sure he can win with a wide open offense at Nevada.

The Wolfpack just doesn’t have enough talent on hand to play that way. Norvell will have to make a splash in recruiting early.

Geoff Collins, Temple: Collins is a good defensive coach and he’ll assemble a good staff but the lack of recruiting ties in the northeast could be a problem.

Mike Sanford Jr. Western Kentucky: Sanford is a spread guy so his philosophy will fit the offensive personnel at WKU.

 The problem is, he has never been a head coach and the Western Kentucky football program isn’t exactly a stepping stone job anymore. The expectations is that the program will contend every year. I’m not sure Sanford is the guy that can keep the program at a high level.

Brent Brennan, San Jose State: Brennan is a good young coach with Northern California roots. The problem is the school. I’m not sure anyone can win at San Jose State anymore.