My attempt

by Domer99, John Wesley Powell's Expedition Island, Monday, December 13, 2010, 06:52 (5618 days ago) @ Jay
edited by Domer99, Monday, December 13, 2010, 10:00

Alabama hires Nick Saban - 5 Coaching success at numerous college stops. Had an MNC in his cap. Lucky situation for Bama, though, because Saban realized his limitations as an NFL coach.

Florida hires Urban Meyer - 4.5 To me this isn't revisionist history. He was the hottest coach on the market. Notre Dame and Florida were courting him. I was tempted to put Kelly in this same category but to me Utah and Bowling Green > Cincy and Central Michigan, especially with the turnaround job he had to do at both places.

Georgia Tech hires Paul Johnson - 4.5 Great, great hire. Wasn't sure that option football would fly in BCS football but he's done a nice job.

Arkansas hires Bobby Petrino - 4.5 I wanted to have this higher, except his only college HC gig was Louisville before taking over. I knew it would be a good hire.

ND hires Brian Kelly - 4 Again, I wanted to have this higher and can't really articulate why I think he might fall below a Johnson or Petrino. Really a good hire, and probably the best available.

Michigan hires Rich Rodriguez - 4 This only looks terible in hindsight. He had taken a program Don Nehlen built up and made it even more relevant. Yes, I know that WVU played in the 88 national championship, but the Mountaineers were always near the top of the Big East and nearly got to another title game. I also reward him for a 6 year tenure at WVU, versus shorter ones of other candidates.

Miami hires Al Golden - 3.5 I like this hire. Maybe this is based on potential more than track record. Miami could have done worse, and just about did (Trestman?)

Nebraska hires Bo Pelini - 3 Good solid hire. Guys who weren't previously head coaches automatically get downgraded in my ranking system. He was familiar with Nebraska and vice-versa.

Ole Miss hires Houston Nutt - 3 Really good hire and would have been a 4 if he didn't come with so much baggage. I am simply waiting for an Oxford reporter to have her cell phone subpeonead under the Freedom of Information Act.

Ohio State hires Jim Tressel - 3 I like the hire. But this was a high calculated risk. Could have done worse but got the lowest hanging fruit available.

Oregon hires Chip Kelly - 3 The only part about this hire I love is that Belotti hired him knowing he was going to be his successor. So the coach in waiting mentality worked here. Outside of Oregon and Maine circles, I don't think anybody knew who Chip Kelly was.

Colorado hires Dan Hawkins - 3 Maybe the flavor of the month, and perhaps we learned a lesson from him and Dirk Koetter. When Koetter got hired away, Hawkins was the brains. When Hawkins got hired away, it was Peteresen. I hate to stigmatize Petersen but I'd be leary of his ability to replicate Boise St.'s success elsewhere. They have a strong foundation but none of it seems transferable.

Florida State hires Jimbo Fisher - 2.5 I don't like the coach in waiting situations, but FSU was in need of a turnover. This was done as delicately as it could have been given Bowden's legendary stature. He has a good pedigree but no head coaching experience.

Stanford hires Jim Harbaugh - 2.5 San Diego was a doing alright before Harbaugh "turned the program around." I thought this was a mediocre hire that came with a lot of personal baggage risk.

Michigan State hires Mark Dantonio - 2.5 Probably not being totally fair to Mark. Good, but unspectacular run at Cincy. Nice OSU bloodlines. But not sure it warranted a Big 10 gig.

Florida hires Will Muschamp - 2.5 Falls in line with my philosphy of no head coaching experience. We've all heard how coveted this guy is. Coach in waiting, blah, blah, blah. But I'd have thought more of this hire if it was Texas than Florida. I think it's hard for any new coach to take over any program, let alone one of the nation's top programs and add no HC experience. At least at Austin, he'd have some familiarity with the culture, program, and school.

ND hires Charlie Weis - 2.5 Not a good hire but one I was warming up to in the beginning. Honestly, I still think Weis will turn up as a good coach down the road, maybe call it the Belichick-Cleveland experiment. I wanted Meyer bad, but this was more acceptable to a Tom Clements hire. If his organizational/leadership skills improve and he figures out how to identify a good defensive coach, then he won't forever be a lost cause.

Miami hires Randy Shannon - 2 OK, hire. He was familiar with the program. That's about all I can say. Oh, he had support of the old alums.

Washington hires Steve Sarkisian - 2 High risk, average reward. But honestly, anything was a step up from UW's previous hire.

USC hires Lane Kiffin - 2 High risk, high risk. But I don't know that many coaches were lining up to take this job. Lane has proven he can recruit and assemble a staff but none of his employers have ever demanded he be able to coach.

Auburn hires Gene Chizik - 1.5 Mind blowing. Whose fan base shows up to a small airport simply to deride a coach and tell him how bad he is? When I think about his hire, it still makes me laugh. But he's laughing Lowder.

USC hires Pete Carroll - 1.5 6th choice in a 4 selection search. I was certain he'd be a failure.

Tennessee hires Lane Kiffin - 1.5 When Al Davis calls you a liar, red flags should go up. In Tennessee's case, that was the qualifying criterion for competing in the SEC.

Washington hires Ty Willingham - 1 Words cannot describe how idiotic this hire was. Tyrone Willingham is incapable of getting another football related job again, ever. Not even through the minimum quota minority NFL mentoring program as a special teams coach.