College football first-year coach grades: Deion Sanders gets ‘C+’ as Colorado steals headlines in 2023 season

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The 2023 college football season is now behind us, which means it’s time to look back at the performance of first-year coaches from around the country. After a whirlwind 2022 cycle with 29 openings, the list fell to 24 in 2023 with only a handful of heavy hitters stepping up to the plate at new gigs. 

Colorado coach Deion Sanders was the headliner of the group after moving to Boulder from HBCU Jackson State. The games in which he led his Buffaloes team were among the most watched in the country throughout the entire season. Nebraska, Auburn and Wisconsin were among the bigger programs to make moves as all three hired well-known coaches with a history of success. The results were still mixed. 

The cycle also defined itself as the year of the retread. Seven coaches took jobs after previously having power-conference head-coaching experience, not counting Luke Fickell, who coached at Cincinnati, which now resides in the Big 12. Eleven coaches were hired without any college head-coaching experience. 

Last year, we gave out four “A+” grades to turnarounds that were completely unbelievable, and both Jon Sumrall and Jerry Kill only improved on their performances in 2023. There are no “A+” marks given out this cycle, but the four “A” coaches still deserve your attention. Here’s how every first-year coach graded in 2023. 

Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/college-football-first-year-coach-grades-deion-sanders-gets-c-as-colorado-steals-headlines-in-2023-season/

Author : Shehan Jeyarajah

Publish date : 2024-01-16 14:23:02

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