2007 I-A coaching changes
Originally Published: December 24, 2007
ESPN.com
| 2007 I-A COACHING CHANGES | ||
| TEAM | OLD COACH | NEW COACH |
![]() Arkansas |
Houston Nutt -- Story Nutt resigned after compiling a 10-year record of 75-48 (.610) and three SEC West championships with the Razorbacks, including two trips to the conference championship game. |
Bobby Petrino -- Story Petrino went 41-9 in his four seasons as head coach at Louisville from 2003-06. He brings to Fayetteville a reputation of having one of football's best offensive minds. |
![]() Baylor |
Guy Morriss -- Story Morriss was unable to produce a winning record in his five seasons, going 18-40 overall and 7-33 in Big 12 games. |
Art Briles -- Story Briles will take on the task of pulling Baylor out of the Big 12 basement. Baylor's 12 consecutive losing seasons have come under the four coaches since Grant Teaff left in 1992. |
![]() Colorado State |
Sonny Lubick -- Story Lubick was relieved of his coaching duties after the Rams finished the season 3-9. They haven't had a winning record since 2003, although Lubick is 108-74 in 15 seasons at Colorado State. |
Steve Fairchild -- Story The Buffalo Bills' offensive coordinator returns to coach his alma mater, where he played quarterback and was an assistant coach. |
![]() Duke |
Ted Roof -- Story Duke has lost at least 10 games in three straight seasons, including a winless 2006. Roof finished his Duke tenure with a 6-45 record. |
David Cutcliffe -- Story Tennessee's offensive coordinator and former Ole Miss coach takes over a Duke team that has suffered through 13 consecutive losing seasons. |
![]() Georgia Tech |
Chan Gailey -- Story Gailey was 44-32 in six seasons at Georgia Tech but 0-6 against rival Georgia. The Yellow Jackets are 7-5 in 2007. |
Paul Johnson -- Story Johnson won 45 games in six seasons at Navy and led the Midshipmen to an 11-1 record against Army and Air Force. At Georgia Tech, he now gets to coach on a national stage. |
![]() Hawaii |
June Jones -- Story Jones was moved by Hawaii fans, including Gov. Linda Lingle, who pushed for him to stay. But, ultimately, facilities and a bigger budget at SMU won out. |
Greg McMackin -- Story McMackin, who just completed his second run as Hawaii's defensive coordinator, replaces June Jones as head coach. |
![]() Houston |
Art Briles -- Story Briles was 34-28 in five seasons at Houston with only one losing season. Before his arrival, the Cougars had only two winning seasons in the previous 12 years. |
Kevin Sumlin -- Story Sumlin, 43, was an assistant under Bob Stoops the last five seasons. As OU's co-offensive coordinator, the Sooners ranked third nationally this season with 44 points a game. |
![]() Michigan |
Lloyd Carr -- Story The Carr era was marked by highs of winning a national title and five Big Ten crowns and lows of losing (a lot) to Ohio State. Carr's .752 winning percentage (121-40) ranks seventh among active coaches. |
Rich Rodriguez -- Story Rodriguez, who had a 60-26 record at West Virginia, takes over for Carr. He led the Mountaineers to BCS bowls in two of the last three seasons. |
![]() Mississippi |
Ed Orgeron -- Story Orgeron was fired a day after the Rebels blew a game against their big rival to finish the season 3-9 and go winless in the conference for the first time since 1982. |
Houston Nutt -- Story Nutt takes over a program that hasn't had a 10-win season since 2003. Since then Ole Miss has had four or fewer wins in four seasons. |
![]() Navy |
Paul Johnson -- Story Johnson, who installed his potent triple-option spread offense at Navy and turned the Midshipmen into the class of military academy football, left to take the Georgia Tech job. |
Ken Niumatalolo -- Story Niumatalolo was Navy's assistant head coach and offensive line coach the last six seasons. He will coach the team in the Poinsettia Bowl on Dec. 20. |
![]() Nebraska |
Bill Callahan -- Story Callahan's four-year stay was marked by the most embarrassing losses at a football program once among the mightiest. Interim AD Tom Osborne announced the dismissal one day after the Cornhuskers ended the season at 5-7. |
Bo Pelini -- Story It's the first head coaching job for the 39-year-old Pelini, who spent three years at LSU orchestrating one of the nation's top defenses. |
![]() Northern Illinois |
Joe Novak -- Story Novak, who won more games than any Northern Illinois coach in modern history, announced his retirement after 12 seasons. |
Jerry Kill -- Story Kill was hired away from Southern Illinois, less than a week after guiding the team to the Football Championship Subdivision semifinals. |
![]() SMU |
Phil Bennett -- Story Bennett, who is 18-48 in six seasons, will finish out the season. Expectations were high entering this season, with Bennett predicting the school's first bowl game since it received the NCAA-mandated death penalty in 1987. |
June Jones -- Story Jones, who turns 55 in February, had gone 75-41 with Hawaii, including 4-2 in bowls. He led the Warriors to the 2008 Sugar Bowl. |
![]() Southern Miss |
Jeff Bower -- Story Bower resigned after capping his 14th consecutive winning season, ending a 29-year relationship as player and coach with the Golden Eagles despite accepting his 10th bowl invitation in the last 11 seasons. |
Larry Fedora -- Story After 16 years as an assistant, including stints as offensive coordinator at Florida and Oklahoma State, Fedora will be counted on to spark the Southern Miss. offense in his first head coaching job. |
![]() Texas A&M |
Dennis Franchione -- Story Franchione came to Texas A&M to restore the glory to the Aggies. He left with a mediocre record and an embarrassing scandal on his resume. Franchione resigned, ending a rocky five-year tenure. |
Mike Sherman -- Story The former Green Bay Packers head coach and current Houston Texans assistant was hired to succeed Franchione. He was 57-39 in six seasons with Green Bay. |
![]() UCLA |
Karl Dorrell -- Story Dorrell was let go despite leading the Bruins to a postseason game in each of his five seasons at UCLA, which had an outside chance to reach the Rose Bowl before its loss to USC. The 43-year-old Dorrell had a 35-27 record. |
Rick Neuheisel -- Story Neuheisel, who quarterbacked the Bruins to victory in the 1984 Rose Bowl and later served as an assistant under Terry Donahue, was hired as his alma mater's 16th coach. |
![]() West Virginia |
Rich Rodriguez -- Story The Mountaineers kept Rodriguez from leaving for Alabama last year but couldn't keep him from taking the Michigan job in 2007. |
Bill Stewart -- Story WVU stayed at home, promoting Stewart less than 12 hours after he led his Mountaineers to a rout of Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. |
![]() Washington State |
Bill Doba -- Story Doba and the Cougars agreed to part ways after after a 5-7 season in which the team missed going to a bowl game for a fourth consecutive year. |
Paul Wulff -- Story Paul Wulff left Eastern Washington for his alma mater Washington State, becoming the first Cougars alumnus to hold the head job since Phil Sarboe, who coached from 1945-49. |
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