College football coaching grades: Which school aced the hiring spree?
Maybe the early signing period, which starts Dec. 15, was partly to blame. Maybe it was athletic directors and university presidents who were eager to chart new courses after having to hold firm after the 2020 season because of the pandemic. Maybe it was general unrest created because of the conference realignment spurred by Texas and Oklahoma moving to the Southeastern Conference. Or maybe it was just a beautiful confluence of events across a sport where increasingly it feels as if there are no rules, written or unwritten.
The result of it all will be the most intriguing college football regular season possibly ever in 2022, with the whole country following each week to see who’s a stud or a dud in their new posts.
Here’s my first attempt at grading the 11 hires made so far by Power Five schools:
A Grade hire
Lincoln Riley, USC: At the start of the weekend after Thanksgiving, the USC fan base was clinging to the hope that USC athletic director Mike Bohn could complete a deal for Iowa State coach Matt Campbell. Cincinnati’s Luke Fickell appeared to be staying put, rumors were circulating Baylor and Dave Aranda were working on an extension and, as the days went on without USC announcing Campbell, true trepidation was setting in among the faithful. Then came Sunday afternoon.
The Trojans shook the college football universe by announcing they had hired Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, where he had led the Sooners to three College Football Playoff semifinal appearances and tutored two Heisman Trophy-winning quarterbacks. Given the misery of
