When the University of North Carolina hired John Bunting away from the St. Louis Rams to replace Carl Torbush as their head football coach it was just one of many D-I schools that made changes before the start of the 2001 season. With the Tar Heels off to another horrendous start, I thought it might be instructive to look at the other coaching changes made that year and where those schools and coaches are now.
Having done this, what stands out about Bunting is how unique he is when compared to his peers from 2001. In terms of winning percentage, UNC is worse now than it was under Carl Torbush. Of the other 24 new coaches in 2001 only Texas Christian and Virginia have a worse winning percentage over the last five seasons than the three preceding years and like UNC still have the coach hired in 2001. (Both programs have also had considerable more success than UNC in that time span and TCU is off to another great start this year.) In nearly every other case either the coach has succeeded and/or moved on to a better job or, in the alternative, has been fired or forced to resign.
If looking for a peer, the closest is probably Gary Pinkel at Missouri or even Gary Schiano at Rutgers. Pinkel is a couple years younger and, like Bunting, has taken Missouri to two bowl games in his first five years there. However, he was the head coach at Toledo from 1991-2000 where he had only one losing season so his experience and success at D-I football is much more extensive. Schiano has basically had one good season at Rutgers but it certainly seems like the Scarlet Knights are going in the right direction.
Anyway, draw your own conclusions. Let’s start with Coach Bunting and go from there. For each school, we’ll look at the condition of the program before the new coach was hired (call this the Torbush factor), the record the coach accumulated prior to the 2006 record, and where the coach and program is now.
1. North Carolina, John Bunting
3 Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 16-18 (.470)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 24-36 (.400)
Current status: Bunting is in his sixth season as head coach of UNC with a 1-3 record.
2. Alabama, Dennis Franchione
3 Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 20-16 (.555)
Cumulative Record (2 seasons): 17-8 (.680)
Current status: Francione left after the 2002 season to take the head job at Texas A&M where he has had mixed success. Mike Shula replaced him at Alabama and is the Tide’s current coach.
3. Arizona, John Mackovic
3 Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 23-13 (.638)
Cumulative Record, (2+ seasons): 10-18 (.357)
Current status: Mackovic was fired five games into his third season at Arizona after a tumultuous tenure, including a player mutiny. Mike Stoops, former hot coaching prospect, is their current coach and has struggled to turn the program around.
4. Arizona State, Dirk Koetter
3 Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 17-18 (.485)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 33-28 (.540)
Current status: Still the head man at ASU; granted a contract extension through 2009.
5. Boise State, Dan Hawkins
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 26-10 (.722)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 53-11 (.828)
Current status: Now in his first season as head coach at Colorado.
6. Bowling Green, Urban Meyer
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 12-21 (.363)
Cumulative Record (2 seasons): 17-6 (.739)
Current status: Meyer left Bowling Green for Utah, where he had unprecedented success. He is now the head man at Florida. The Falcons went 11-3 and 9-3 after Meyer left but fell to 6-5 in 2005 and after losing 38-3 at home to Kent State are now 2-2.
7. BYU, Gary Crowton
3 Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 23-15 (.605)
Cumulative Record (4 seasons): 26-23 (.530)
Current status: Crowton resigned under pressure after four seasons and is now offensive coordinator at Oregon.
8. Buffalo, Jim Hofher
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 6-27 (.181)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 8-49 (.140)
Current status: Buffalo has never had a winning record in D-I. Honestly, I have no idea where Jim Hofher is today.
9. Georgia, Mark Richt
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 25-11 (.694)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 52-13 (.800)
Current status: Your average Tar Heel football fan is pretty clear at this point on Richt and how his career is going (and what might have been).
10. Kentucky, Guy Morriss
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 15-20 (.428)
Cumulative Record (2 seasons): 9-14 (.391)
Current status: Morriss was the offensive line coach for Hal Mumme before getting the head job when Mumme resigned after getting the program placed on probation by the NCAA. He took the team to a 7-5 record his second year (no bowl allowed, however) and then jumped to Baylor rather than continue with the mess created in Lexington.
11. Maryland, Ralph Friedgen
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 13-20 (.393)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 41-20 (.672)
Current status: “Fridge” is another coach Tar Heel fans are all too familar with as his Maryland teams have frequently pasted the Heels and last season broke their hearts in OT at Kenan, leading to the Heels missing a bowl when they couldn’t beat the Hokies in Blacksburg. There is plenty of evidence, however, that Friedgen is faltering with his own players, going 5-6 each of the past two seasons and enjoying cupcakes this year to get to 3-1. (A 14-10 home win over Florida International this weekend probably hurts more than helps.) Still, many Tar Heel fans agree Friedgen is just too plain fat and untelegenic to ever have gotten the job at UNC.
12. Memphis, Tommy West
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 11-22 (.333)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 32-28 (.533)
Current status: West inherited a program that hadn’t had a winning record since 1994 and continued that trend his first two seasons but now has posted three straight winning records.
13. Miami, Larry Coker
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 29-8 (.783)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 53-9 (.854)
Current status: Coker won a national title his first season at the U and has a staggering winning percentage but at this point any loss or even a bad win could cost him his job. Four relatively easy games coming up (including UNC) before going to Atlanta for Georgia Tech and a home tilt with Virginia Tech.
14. Missouri, Gary Pinkel
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 15-19 (.441)
Cumulative Record: 29-30 (.491)
Current status: Pinkel’s five seasons have fluctuated between 4-7 (2001) and 8-5 (2003). This season may be his best however as the Tigers are 4-0.
15. Ohio, Brian Knorr
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 17-16 (.515)
Cumulative Record (4 seasons): 11-35 (.239)
Current status: Knorr replaced Jim Grobe, current coach at Wake Forest. Fired after four miserable seasons, he was succeeded by Frank Solich.
16. Ohio State, Jim Tressel
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 25-11 (.694)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 50-13 (.793)
Current status: Ranked #1 in the country.
17. Oklahoma State, Les Miles
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 13-20 (.393)
Cumulative Record (4 seasons): 28-21 (.571)
Current status: Miles turned OK State around with three straight winning seasons which he then used to catapult himself into the prestigious head job at LSU.
18. Rutgers, Greg Schiano
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 9-24 (.272)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 19-39 (.327)
Current status: Rutgers was Rutgers for the first four seasons under Schiano, but what has transpired since is well-documented. The Scarlet Knights went to a bowl last season for the first time since 1978 and are off to a 4-0 start this season, including a win in Kenan over Bunting and the Heels. Schiano received an extension last season through 2012.
19. San Jose State, Fitz Hill
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 14-20 (.411)
Cumulative Record (4 seasons): 14-33 (.297)
Current Status: The Spartans had been pretty miserable throughout the 1990s. Hill resigned and took an academic post after being unable to dent the apathy shown by the univeristy and community. The Spartans are now led by Dick Tomey.
20. Southern California, Pete Carroll
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 19-18 (.513)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 54-10 (.843)
Current status: Let’s just move along.
21. Texas Christian, Gary Patterson
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 25-10 (.714)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 43-18 (.704)
Current status: Patterson took over at TCU before the Horned Frogs’ bowl game in 2000 because then coach Dennis Francione left for the Alabama job. TCU is ranked and undefeated thus far in 2006.
22. Toledo, Tom Anstutz
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 23-11 (.676)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 45-18 (.714)
Current status: Never worse than 8-4 since taking over for Gary Pinkel, Anstutz is off to a 2-2 start this season.
23. Virginia, Al Groh
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 22-14 (.611)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 37-26 (.587)
Current status: Another name Tar Heel fans know very well, Groh replaced the (legendary?) George Welsh at UVA and has four straight seasons of 7-5 or better. The Wahoos are struggling in 2006 however and Groh’s support amongst the fanbase is less than enthusiastic.
24. Wake Forest, Jim Grobe
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 12-22 (.352)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 26-32 (.448)
Current status: Outside the ACC, or maybe even just North Carolina, I doubt many people know or care much about Demon Deacon football. Tar Heel fans however look on at amazement at what Grobe has done at WFU, a school where it is impossible to have much sustained success. Grobe is 2-2 against John Bunting and 4-0 to start the 2006 campaign.
25. West Virginia, Rich Rodriguez
3-Year Pre-Hire Cumulative Record: 19-16 (.542)
Cumulative Record (5 seasons): 39-22 (.639)
Current status: No team looks to benefit from the “new Big East” more than the Mountaineers. Without Miami, Virginia Tech, or Boston College in the way WVU looks poised to at least make a run at the national title this season.
Sources:
http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/index.php
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/football/college/stats/2000/news.newcoaches.html
Interesting & timely article. Would like to point out that Bunting was with the New Orleans Saints when hired at UNC, having left St. Louis when Dick Vermiel retired after the Super Bowl.
Gack. After spending hours bouncing back-and-forth compiling the stats for all those other coaches I went with that part on memory. Thanks for the correction.
A major factor in this debate is the strength of schedule. Whether one likes it or not if UNC had played a few more cupcakes, then the record would have been better. Of course, UNC has had the stunning ability to select games w/teams on their way up and helped in the process.
For anyone who follows college football at least somewhat closely these were great stats. It’s always interesting to read about the coaches, and the shape of the program before and after their arrival. Well done on the research. If you want a little more humor concering sports, monsters, and random giant animals that kill, check out my blog, http://underdogs.wordpress.com
Ryan
About West Virginia. Let’s be honest, its really without Miami and West Virginia in the way. BC was always middle of the pack mediocre.
whoops, Miami and Virginia Tech.
West Virginia beat Virginia Tech their last two years in the Big East. 3-4 over their last seven conference matchups. I think Virginia Tech won one Big East title, ever (1999). BC never won it.
but UNC isn’t gonna spend Basketball kind of money on a football coach and I would rather keep Bunting than replace him with someone else who isn’t gonna do shit either. I think Bunting will get better, he hired Cignetti away from Fresno State and he’s got Mike Paulus, one of the top quarterbacks in the class of 2007 coming next year.And while we wait for him to get it on the right track I guess we’ll have to settle for one (or more) basketball final fours or national championships Roy Williams is almost certain to bring home with the players and recruits we’ve got this year
[...] New blog Vandermint Auditorium adds some new talking points to the John Bunting discussion. North Carolina’s hire is compared to the hires of 24 other schools, and the results are enlightening and fun to chew on. In nearly every case the coach has either succeeded and/or moved on to a better job. Otherwise, they’ve been fired or forced to resign. There are a few “jury is still out” cases like Al Groh at Virginia, Greg Schiano at Rutgers, and Ralph Friedgen at Maryland. [...]
Nice analysis. do you know how many of the 2001 hires were a result of the previous coach being A) fired b)retired c) moving to a better job.
Just wondering
I totally disagree with MWilliford. His attitude is a fine example of what needs to change to get football to change in Chapel Hill. Too many people are just grateful we have a good basketball team. That just plain sucks! It’s a pitiful excuse for not getting the job done in football. You can have all the fire, intensity, loyalty to your university but if you aren’t winning football games you just aren’t getting the job done. I would trade a few excellent years of winning with a coach that’s going to move on than being satisfied with loosing and mediocrity. Just my opinion.
Damn, I was thinking about how wrong MWilliford is and then I see this post with my real name! Anyway, that is absolutely right, one part of the problem with UNC’s football program is an acceptance of losing. I don’t think you have to accept a coach that’s going to move on. To build a program you have to have someone who is going to stick around for at least a decade in this era of college sports. Once you can build a successful program, you can attract another good coach to come on board.
This thread isn’t about UNC only, though, so I wont clog it up with preaching about what the program needs. Carolina fans are welcome to come to my blog and rant.
[...] I found a really interesting list of the coaches from the class of 2001. That’s an amazing list of coaches. It’s also quite amazing to see how many things have changed over time. I loved to see Pete Carroll on that list. Lots of good information on this list for all those college football stats whores out there. [...]
[...] N&O: Bunting Failing the Heels N&O: Clock Ticks for Bunting N&O: Stay or Go N&O: Don’t Discount Bunting ACC Now: Bunting Ignoring Job Talk ACC Now: Bunting to UNC Fans: Hang in There N&R: Tar Heel Coach Gets Vote of Confidence WSJ: WOEFUL: Baddour Says Tar Heels Will Rebound Wilmington Star: Carolina’s Futility Tells Ugly Tale David Glenn: Bunting’s Biggest Problem Charlotte Observer: Bunting’s Critics Get Louder ESPN.com: OK to Root Against Your Team? EDSBS: Buys and Sells: Week Four Vandermint Auditorium: John Bunting and the 2001 Coaching Class [...]
How QUICKLY things change! If Amato hadn’t
pulled that one out of the wazoo Saturday
he would be getting equal press time with JB.
Write all you desire, but the paper will be
used to wrap fish the next day.
While I agree w/ the insinuated conclusion that UNC (read: Dick Baddour) made a bad hire in Bunting, let’s take a step back and recall that prior to this last 8 years of morass in the Tar Heel Football program, that UNC was one of the few schools that pretty consistently put out Top 25 football and Top 10 hoops. One sport doesn’t exist at the expense of the other. It can be done, and has been done at UNC. Bill Dooley, Dick Crum, and Mack Brown all had tremendous success at UNC. Seems like forever, but it was only 9 seasons ago that UNC finished #4 NATIONALLY in FOOTBALL in the final polls w/ an 11-1 record and a 42-3 romp over VaTech on New Year’s Day, 1998. IT CAN BE DONE AT UNC! Just takes the right coach & commitment.
Other good years in UNC Football:
96- finished #9 nationally, 10-2 record.
94- Top 25
93- Top 20, 10-3, beat Southern Cal 31-9 in Anaheim, CA
92- Top 25, 9-3
83- Top 25
82- Top 25
81- Top 10, 10-2
80- Top 10, 11-1
79- Top 20, beat Michigan in the Gator Bowl, 8-3-1
That’s 10 good years right there, and that doesn’t even include 3 ACC championship teams under Bill Dooley in the early-mid 70s. UNC has a fine football tradition, but Bunting and Torbush have certainly done their part to make sure that no one remembers it, only their mediocrity.