Every school that made a coaching change at the end of the 2017 season swore it would be an upgrade. Let’s see which FBS schools got it right.
21 FBS programs made changes at the head coaching position last year. Some made the changes to replace guys who left for better jobs, but the majority of schools made the change in an effort to revive their struggling programs.
In fairness, hiring a new coach to lead your flagship program is an inexact science. History is littered with hires that were universally panned during the opening press conference that turned out to be great. An even larger number of press conference winners have turned out to be awful head coaches. It takes a really smart athletic director to suss out before the hire is made.
One regular season isn’t enough to draw a final conclusion on how a coaching hire will turn out, but it does give us a solid indication on where things are going. First-year coaches who don’t win in their inaugural season find it difficult to generate significant momentum. Conversely, coaches who are able to show immediate results find it easier to get their programs moving in the right direction.
In this piece, we’ll walk you through how each coach’s first year has gone. It isn’t a complete indictment on whether they can achieve long-term success, but it’s a huge indicator. We’ll start by going through all the changes for the Group of Five programs.
Chad Lunsford – Georgia Southern
- Replaced: Tyson Summers
- Record: 9-3
Georgia Southern wasn’t sure they wanted to hand the full-time job to Summers before last season began, but he earned a four-year contract after getting off to a hot start this season. To his credit, Lunsford did a great job of righting the ship after a really ugly campaign under Tyson Summers the year before.
On the other hand, Georgia Southern is a really good job. They have the budget and resources to be successful in the Sun Belt on an annual basis. The state of Georgia also provides the program with a fertile recruiting base.
Eagles fans should be happy about Lunsford, but let’s not go overboard. The win against Appalachian State was exciting, but the two consecutive losses that followed it cost Georgia Southern a chance to do something special.
Grade: B+