After a flurry of news on a wild national signing day, many might have missed the announcement from Temple shortly before 7 p.m. ET Wednesday: Stan Drayton had been hired as the Owls' new coach.
While expected for several weeks, Temple's hiring of Drayton's marked a milestone in the coaching carousel, as he filled the final remaining FBS vacancy. Beginning with UConn and USC in early September and ending with Oregon, Temple and a group of ACC programs, the cycle has included 28 coaching changes. Every league but the Big Ten featured at least one coaching change, as did four FBS independents, including Notre Dame.
History has shown that the coaching carousel likely isn't over. There's always a surprise or two in the coming weeks, and the NFL could be a factor as well, with names such as Iowa State's Matt Campbell and Ohio State's Ryan Day likely entering the rumor mill. Assistant coaching moves are also ramping up, especially as new bosses continue to hire staff.
But with the main part of the carousel complete, this is a good time to reflect on what has happened, what it means for the sport and individual schools and leagues, and what could still come next. Here are six takeaways from the coaching carousel.
Defensive coaches rise up
For years, college coaching hires skewed heavily toward candidates with offensive backgrounds. Athletic directors mindful of selling excitement to fans would prioritize younger playcallers with dynamic offenses over their defensive counterparts, who instead would dominate the list of highest-paid assistants.
The system seemed to suggest two things: If you want to lead a program, coach offense. If you want to get paid, be a defensive coordinator.
I never really understood it. The best NFL coach of the era, New England's Bill Belichick, has a defensive background. So did the best college coach of all time, Alabama's Nick Saban. Three of the four coaches in this year's CFP -- Saban, Georgia's Kirby Smart and Cincinnati's Luke Fickell -- rose up as defensive assistants. Yet college teams kept looking for offense first.
This year brought a shift and put more defensive assistants in the spotlight. Although the carousel will be most remembered for three sitting Power 5 head coaches with offensive backgrounds who made moves -- Lincoln Riley (Oklahoma-USC), Brian Kelly (Notre Dame-LSU) and Mario Cristobal (Oregon-Miami) -- it's also significant for the defensive hires that were made.
Two 35-year-old defensive coordinators, Marcus Freeman and Dan Lanning, secured two of the top vacancies at Notre Dame and Oregon, respectively. Both men got hired as much because of their charismatic personalities -- a common knock against defensive coaches -- and their ability to lead and recruit, as their schematic prowess.
The carousel featured eight other defensive assistants earning head-coaching jobs, including five at Power 5 programs: Duke's Mike Elko (previously Texas A&M defensive coordinator), Oklahoma's Brent Venables (previously Clemson defensive coordinator), Texas Tech's Joey McGuire (previously Baylor outside linebackers coach), Virginia Tech's Brent Pry (previously Penn State defensive coordinator) and Washington State's Jake Dickert, who had been the team's defensive coordinator before taking over as interim head coach until his permanent promotion.
Time will tell if the surge of defensive hires is a momentary spike or part of a trend. But schools seemingly are broadening their range of candidates, which is a good thing.
Diversity numbers still not great
Last year's coaching hiring cycle was a major step backward for diversity, despite ramped-up efforts on the topic. No Black coaches were hired in the Power 5, while three lost their jobs, and only three of the 17 coaches hired were men of color (Boise State's Andy Avalos, Marshall's Charles Huff and Buffalo's Maurice Linguist).
This year's count is similar, though perhaps a slight improvement: Five of the 28 hires so far are coaches of color, including three at the Power 5 level in Freeman, Cristobal and Virginia's Tony Elliott, who had long been viewed as the top Black assistant in college football, but had turned down several opportunities to leave Clemson until this year. That puts both rates at just a hair under 18% each of the past two years.
Of the coaches who lost jobs this year, Washington's Jimmy Lake is Black and Miami's Manny Diaz and Virginia Tech's Justin Fuente are Hispanic. Only Diaz has found a new job so far, as Penn State's defensive coordinator.
Still, the overall number isn't great, and two of the diversity hires -- Cristobal and Colorado State's Jay Norvell -- already were FBS head coaches. Freeman likely would have been considered for some Power 5 jobs this season, but Notre Dame almost certainly isn't hiring him if he wasn't on staff already and hadn't made such a strong impression. Norvell, seemingly ready for a Power 5 job but unable to land one, instead moved within the Mountain West.
The total number of diversity hires could have been greater if not for some notable re-signings, such as Mel Tucker remaining at Michigan State and James Franklin staying with Penn State. Tucker, a potential target for LSU, received a historic 10-year, $95 million contract from MSU. Franklin, mentioned early on for USC's coaching vacancy, also received a lucrative new 10-year agreement from PSU. Baylor's Dave Aranda, who is Hispanic, was one of the most coveted coaches in the cycle, but is set to re-sign with the Bears.
Overall, the hiring patterns are not reflecting the emphasis being placed on diversifying the coaching ranks. Several notable Black assistants did not land head-coaching jobs, including Michigan offensive coordinator Josh Gattis, who won the Broyles Award as the nation's top assistant. Penn State co-defensive coordinator Anthony Poindexter was a top candidate to land the Virginia job before a potential agreement fell through.
There are some encouraging signs. The last two hiring cycles each have featured a Black position coach landing a head-coaching job in Marshall's Huff and Temple's Drayton. That both previously were running backs coaches is also significant. Morgan State coach Tyrone Wheatley last year described the running backs job as "a graveyard position" for Black assistants. Several notable coordinator hires are Black, including Virginia Tech defensive coordinator Chris Marve and Florida State offensive coordinator Alex Atkins.
ACC strengthens its coaching ranks
The ACC became one of the hot spots in this year's carousel, as four programs ended up hiring new coaches. Those choices could strengthen the league for years to come.
There's plenty to like with all four moves, starting with Miami. Yes, the school could have handled things much better with Diaz, who did positive things at the U as both a head coach and an assistant. But hiring Cristobal, while also making an unprecedented financial commitment to the program, gives Miami a chance to finally rise in the ACC.
Although Miami's recruiting wasn't a major drawback under Diaz, Cristobal likely will take things to a new level. Few FBS head coaches approach recruiting -- and demand the same effort from their assistants -- with the same drive as Cristobal, who signed top-10 classes at Oregon in 2021 and 2019. On Friday, he flipped Jaleel Skinner, ESPN's No. 148 overall player in the 2020 class and an Alabama commit, to Miami. He should keep more of south Florida's elite prospects at home and put together a staff with strong ties to the area. Miami's overall profile will increase, and the Hurricanes should expect to be a more consistent ACC contender.
Elliott has been ready to lead his own program for years. His reluctance to leave Clemson frustrated many in the industry, but he was in a great situation at his alma mater under coach Dabo Swinney. Virginia is an excellent fit for Elliott, who holds an engineering degree and will connect well with academically oriented players and their families. Like Miami, Virginia seems ready to make overdue investments in its program, which will supplement the Elliott hire.
Elko is another highly regarded assistant who had been pegged to move up for several years. He had opportunities at Group of 5 programs but ultimately held out for the Power 5 and will get his chance at Duke. Elko already has ACC experience from his time as Wake Forest's defensive coordinator.
Pry hadn't been on the radar for Power 5 jobs as much as Elliott and Elko, but he improved his profile this season and for much of his Penn State tenure. His roots at Virginia Tech -- he was a graduate assistant there under Frank Beamer from 1995 to 1997 -- and experience in the region made him an attractive option after Fuente. While there's a little more uncertainty here, Pry should be able to establish the traits of Virginia Tech's heyday and reconnect some recruiting ties that had begun to fray.
More names rise to top
Georgia Southern's hire of Clay Helton turned out to be a harbinger for the coaching carousel. Helton, the first FBS coach to be fired this year (Randy Edsall stepped down at UConn), also became the first to be hired.
In addition to Helton, the new group of hires includes six coaches who have led FBS programs before but didn't during the 2021 season.
The group features some interesting names with different profiles. Akron, for example, made an absolute steal by hiring Joe Moorhead from Oregon. Moorhead, who went 14-12 during a strange and shortened tenure at Mississippi State, could have gotten another Power 5 job in the near future but also wanted to be closer to family in western Pennsylvania.
Few pegged Jim Mora to be back in college football, much less at UConn, which hired the former UCLA and NFL coach to lead its program. Mora has been driven to coach again, and he seems excited to embrace the inherent challenges at UConn, which has fallen off sharply as an independent.
The other Northeast independent, UMass, also hired a former head coach -- of its own program, in fact -- with Arizona defensive coordinator Don Brown, who led the Minutemen from 2004 to 2008. Brown's hiring makes a lot of sense, as he knows college football in Massachusetts better than anyone and will look at this as a final coaching stop.
Florida International's hiring of Memphis defensive coordinator Mike MacIntyre -- the former head coach at Colorado and San Jose State -- came as a bit of a surprise, only because the school had selected a similar candidate profile (Butch Davis) with its previous hire. Perhaps the biggest surprise in this subset of hires is Jerry Kill returning to the sideline as a head coach at New Mexico State. Kill is an excellent coach when healthy, and he loves the game more than just about everyone. Here's hoping his health holds up.
What Dabo's double down means for Clemson's future
Swinney couldn't hold onto his coordinators forever, even though Elliott and Venables had stayed by his side longer than almost any tandem with their credentials. That they both took head-coaching jobs in the same week is jarring, but not surprising.
Swinney's replacement choices are also not surprising, nor is the process he followed. He said he spent "30 seconds" before deciding to promote Wes Goodwin and Brandon Streeter to the primary defensive and offensive playcalling roles. Safeties coach Mickey Conn added the co-defensive coordinator title alongside Goodwin, who had been a senior defensive assistant for Clemson. Swinney shuffled several other positions, but went internal with his staff revamp, even though Clemson recorded its first three-loss season since 2014.
Dabo's double down could shape whether Clemson returns to CFP contention or remains a rung or two below the sport's elite teams. He has built Clemson this way, relying mostly on assistants with deep roots at the program to elevate and then maintain its championship level. Venables was the notable exception, coming from Oklahoma to transform Clemson's defense. But Elliott and former co-offensive coordinator Jeff Scott both were promoted after Chad Morris left for SMU.
The team's struggles this season, especially on offense, suggest a fresh perspective could help, but Swinney has relied on the things that make Clemson distinct -- and those who best understand them -- to build his program. He has done so again.
When I heard about Swinney's staffing decisions, one thought came to mind: This is why he will probably never leave Clemson. The environment around the program is such where Swinney can make internal promotions to replace two record-setting coordinators and receive limited to no blowback. Imagine if he tried that at Alabama or LSU or Texas or Ohio State. The media and fan environments are just different there. Swinney is essentially telling Clemson fans, "Trust me. I've got this."
Time will tell if he's right.
How the NFL carousel will impact the college ranks
The college coaching carousel likely will subside until January, when NFL teams start making changes. The NFL carousel could have no impact on the college ranks, although several college coaches will be mentioned as candidates to move to the pros.
When Urban Meyer's disastrous tenure with the Jacksonville Jaguars ended last week, many cited it as the latest example of why NFL teams should be hesitant of hiring career college coaches.
"They should be hesitant of hiring [jerks]," a Power 5 coach told me.
While Meyer didn't work out at all, Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired by Texas Tech after a 35-40 tenure, continues to thrive in the NFL. There's a shortage of top NFL candidates, and college coaches with the schematic pedigree and right personality could be coveted. Then again, Kingsbury increasingly looks like the exception, as Carolina Panthers coach Matt Rhule -- a celebrated hire at the time after success at Baylor -- is 10-20.
Day's name undoubtedly will surface during the NFL carousel. He has pro experience with the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers, and has proved to be one of college football's top quarterback developers. The Chicago Bears are expected to be in the coaching market, and Day's connection to Bears quarterback Justin Fields makes him a potential option there. One factor could be what type of enhanced contract Ohio State offers Day, who seemingly loves his job and hasn't reached the top goal of a national title in Columbus.
Campbell is remaining in Ames for now, seemingly a huge win for Cyclones fans. But his name has surfaced for recent NFL vacancies (Detroit Lions, New York Jets), and likely will come up again in January. The college cycle saw several high-profile jobs filled, including Notre Dame, believed to be on Campbell's short list of desirable jobs. He could now be more interested in the NFL than he was in the past.
What other college coaches could the NFL target? Dan Mullen, whose NFL interest was hardly a secret while he coached Florida, is available. Purdue's Jeff Brohm could be an intriguing under-the-radar option, given his quarterback background. Cincinnati's Fickell would be the top candidate at Ohio State if Day left for the NFL, but he also could generate some NFL interest on his own. Fickell told me before the season he doesn't follow the NFL much, but he's very close with Tennessee Titans coach Mike Vrabel.