How did the first-year coaches grade out after their debut campaigns in 2024?
• 4 min read
The first-year hits came from unexpected places on the 2024 coaching carousel after college football grappled with a series of seismic openings late in the calendar. Nick Saban’s January retirement set off dominoes that led to coaching changes at Washington, Arizona, San Jose State, South Alabama and Buffalo.
Jim Harbaugh also jolted the sport’s coaching ecosystem by departing Michigan for the Los Angeles Chargers after leading the Wolverines to the national championship. That left both teams that participated in the national championship game (Michigan and Washington) with coaching changes entering the 2025 season. Then, in February, Chip Kelly left his post as UCLA coach for the offensive coordinator position at Ohio State in a surprising move that left the Bruins little choice but to promote from within.
But as we reflect back on the 2024 coaching carousel, the biggest immediate winners didn’t come from the most high-profile openings. Instead, the two ‘A+’ grades from the Power Four changes come from Indiana (Curt Cignetti) and Syracuse (Fran Brown). The pair of basketball schools got immediate results from their coaching changes that not many could have reasonably expected.
Indiana doubles down on Curt Cignetti with eight-year, $64 million contract in midst of record 10-0 start
Dennis Dodd
Here is the full list of grades on the Year 1 performance of each first-year coach Power Four coach.
