This is the third part of our four-part series that grades and explains grades for programs that have hired new head coaches for the 2026 FBS season.
Today, we look at Southern Miss, Connecticut, Sacramento St., Oregon St., Arkansas, Coastal Carolina, Iowa St., and USF.
Southern Miss
New Head Coach: Blake Anderson
New Coaching Staff Rating: 16.0
New Coaching Staff Grade: B-
Blake Anderson takes over at Southern Miss after being offensive coordinator under former head coach Charles Huff. Anderson was previously successful as a head coach at Arkansas State and Utah State.
I wouldn’t make too much of his firing from Utah State since that has resulted in a $15,000,000 lawsuit against the school for wrongful termination. Utah State is also the school that took the classless action of firing its women’s basketball coach on her way to a post-game press conference, because you know, that’s what people do. Are Utah State admins so impulsive and fire-happy that they can’t wait ten minutes out of basic human dignity?
I’m going to send them a copy of the alphabet and point them to the letters “H” and “I” which I will have capitalized. Just when they think I want to be friends, I’ll point them to the next two letters which I have also capitalized.
And please think before you send them any wedding invitations because you’re likely to receive it back with the words, “Maybe next time.”
There. I finally got it off my chest. Sorry for the interruption.
Along with plenty of head coaching experience, coach Anderson is inheriting some good talent at Southern Miss and the program should compete well in 2026.
At the same time, there is work to be done because the rushing attack last year netted just 3.1 yards per carry which ranked 125th nationally among FBS teams.
To fix that, Anderson is bringing Kyle Cefalo in as his offensive coordinator. Initially, that would seem to be a good fit because Cefalo and Anderson were successful together at Arkansas State. But, we can’t ignore that despite a decade of college coaching, Cefalo has never been able to rise above the level of a position coach until now.
His newness as an OC is offset to some extent by his long and successful history as a wide receivers coach, so this rates as a little less than average as an OC hire.
Joe Bolden is the new defensive coordinator and that is likely going to be a problem. Not only does Bolden not have any DC experience, but he has only four seasons as a college coach. That is compounded by the fact that he is now expected to fix the absolute worst rush defense in college football.
The bottom line in Hattiesburg is that Anderson is an outstanding hire as a head coach but he is going to have to carry this program on his own until his staff can get up to speed. That is going to be one tall task because September is filled with teams that made bowl games last year.
Savvy is projecting a 1-3 start to the 2026 season and a 4-4 split thereafter.
Connecticut
New Head Coach: Jason Candle
New Coaching Staff Rating: 16.0
New Coaching Staff Grade: B-
In 11 seasons at Toledo, coach Jason Candle never had a losing team. Altogether, he posted a record of 81 wins and 44 losses.
So, it stymies me that he would leave a perennial winner that he built to take on upstart UConn which has posted losing records in 13 of the past 15 seasons. Indeed, those two winning seasons were in 2024 and 2025 but UConn’s gridiron legacy is cemented more in drudgery than glamour.
It seems to me that Candle trading the Toledo situation for that of UConn might be as myopic as looking both ways before crossing the street, then getting hit by an airplane.
I do wish him well, though because he has proven his proficiency and done it with class.
From UConn’s standpoint, Candle is an excellent replacement for former head coach Jim Mora who was 17-8 the past two seasons before he jumped to Colorado State.
Candle’s choice of coordinators is concerning.
On the offensive side, he has elected to go with Marquel Blackwell who has been a position coach (RB) for 20 years but never an OC. Although two decades of experience is enough to expect good results, it is odd that it has taken that long to be elevated to coordinator.
Defensively, Candle is going with Ryan Manalac. He has three years of defensive coordinator experience at Bucknell of FCS and five additional seasons as a defensive coach in FBS, Manalac is projected by Savvy to be slightly better than average as a DC hire.
It will be interesting to see how September 19th’s battle of new coaching staffs go when UConn travels to aforementioned Southern Miss.
My guess is that UConn will control the game and win by at least two touchdowns.
While that is just an estimate on my part, it should be pretty good because I’m not all that bad at math.
I mean, if I had 50-cents for every math test I’ve passed, I would now have $7.20!
Sacramento State
New Head Coach: Alonzo Carter
New Coaching Staff Rating: 16.2
New Coaching Staff Grade: B
Former coach Brennan Marion did a good job at Sacramento State but he suddenly bolted for Colorado. Marion had good results and he loved SSU.
He also dabbled for a time in playing tennis and because of that I could have warned folks in Sacramento that he might not stick around long because the word “love” means nothing to tennis players.
SSU will be entering its first year an a rather sudden jump to FBS.
There are two factors that will help Sacramento State make that transition:
1] The schedule is easy and suggests bowl eligibility, and . . .
2] New head coach Alonzo Carter
Carter is an upbeat and highly-popular personality that comes to Sacramento with five seasons as an associate head coach at two FBS programs, San Jose State, and Arizona. Both of those programs were successful under former Oregon State assistant coach Brent Brennan.
Carter did well in hiring coordinators but I still think Savvy Index is a bit too optimistic in rating Carter a “much-better-than-average” new head coach.
I could be wrong. There are a lot of things I don’t know. For example: I was just told that the pistol they use to start races was invented by Karl Marx’s sister, Onya.
For offensive coordinator, Carter has brought in Eric Kiesau who has plenty of FBS experience at Colorado, Washington, Fresno State, Boise State, and Auburn. Clearly Kiesau is an excellent hire, perhaps the best OC hire in FBS this cycle.
Carter hired Adam Clark as defensive coordinator, the same position he held at Northern Arizona for two seasons and lower division schools before that. Those are not impressive credentials and Savvy Index has diminished the over all coaching rating at SSU as a result.
Alonzo Carter will do well at SSU. And when he does, keep an eye on the Hornet sideline because no one can touch the celebratory moves he will break into.
How do I know that? Because Carter spent six years as a primary dancer for M.C. Hammer and primary choreographer for Hammer’s biggest hit, “U Can’t Touch This”.
Oregon State
New Head Coach: JaMarcus Shephard
New Coaching Staff Rating: 16.5
New Coaching Staff Grade: B
I admit that when I saw this new coaching staff rated “B” by Savvy, I was perplexed. It seemed too high.
New head coach JaMarcus Shephard has never been a head coach before and his recent two-year stint at Alabama doesn’t qualify as an “elite understudy” because Alabama no longer had Nick Saban.
However, I understand the value Savvy sees in Shephard’s experience which includes 16 seasons as an assistant at various FBS stops and four years as an assistant head coach at Washington and Alabama under Kalen DeBoer. Mind you, DeBoer is no Saban but he has been pretty darned resourceful and successful.
When we drill a little deeper we find that Shephard has attracted coordinators who are pretty good also.
Mitch Dahlen will be the Beavers’ new offensive coordinator and he brings to Corvallis what his predecessor Ryan Gunderson didn’t; proven FBS experience in at least an assistant coordinator level for four seasons.
Dahlen’s experience makes him a better-than-average hire on the offensive side.
The fact that he is an Oregon native [Redmond] gives fans the notion he will be around for awhile unlike the girl I went for a walk with this morning. She took off running as soon as she noticed me.
Shepard found former Colorado and FIU head coach Mike MacIntyre looking for work and put him on the payroll to run OSU’s defense. It almost can’t be stated strongly enough that Shephard scored a sweet bulls-eye with MacIntyre. All that remains to be seen is just how sweet the OSU’s success will be in an M&M defense.
This entire coaching team is a significant “win” for Oregon State.
Coastal Carolina
New Head Coach: Ryan Beard
New Coaching Staff Rating: 17.0
New Coaching Staff Grade: B
Ryan Beard was head coach for Missouri State for three successful seasons and led MSU to a fabulous transition from FCS to FBS.
He has been a college coach since 2014 and spent three seasons as a defensive coordinator before being elevated to head coach at Missouri State. The Bears’ program grew each season under Beard’s leadership.
Nick Petrino has followed Beard from Missouri State and he brings a familiar pedigree. Nick is the son of Bobby Petrino who has decades as an offensive coordinator at many prestigious FBS schools and is currently OC at North Carolina State.
Petrino is a better-than-average hire for Beard.
L. D. Scott has proven to be one of the best defensive coordinators in the land after leading Missouri State to national rankings in several defensive categories the past two seasons.
Coastal Carolina has fallen on some hard times the past two seasons but this group is going to change that. CCU should be good for eight wins and a bowl game in 2026.
Iowa State
New Head Coach: Jimmy Rogers
New Coaching Staff Rating: 17
New Coaching Staff Grade: B
Matt Campbell couldn’t refuse the escalating offers from Penn State so he left Ames, Iowa.
Coming in to take his place as head coach is Jimmy Rogers from Washington State who has one year of coaching experience in FBS. That regular season ended with a 6-6 record.
Why Iowa State thought a one-year head coach with a 50-50 record was the right guy is a mystery. But then, a lot of things are mysteries to me. Like, I wonder why the Spider Lovers Society has a web site.
Okay, let’s move on.
If Rogers is a less-than-average hire on the Savvy Index, then his coordinators must be pretty good for ISU to receive a “B” grade.
Rogers made a clever move for his offensive coordinator.
He retained Tyler Roehl who had gone largely unnoticed by other programs. Roehl has a fabulous history that includes all of the things you want to see in a new coordinator; NFL experience, at least four years as an offensive coordinator at a successful school (North Dakota State), elevation to an assistant head coach at an FBS program, and familiarity with his new school. Roehl was assistant head coach at Iowa State last season.
Because his experience is so varied and somewhat choppy, he flew under the radar until coach Rogers realized Roehl’s outstanding merits.
Jesse Bobbit will be ISU’s defensive coordinator and while he knows the Rogers’ defensive system, he has just one season as an FBS coordinator. Prior to last season, he had two years of successful experience at South Dakota State, a championship contender in FCS.
Four of ISU’s first five FBS opponents this season were nationally ranked at some time in 2025 so it won’t take long for us to see if this coaching staff indeed deserves a “B” grade.
USF
New Head Coach: Brian Hartline
New Coaching Staff Rating: 17.0
New Coaching Staff Grade: B
Alex Golesh was a miracle-worker for USF last year but he has since taken over as head coach for the Florida Gators.
In his place, USF has elected to hire Brian Hartline and he is going to continue what Golesh started.
Hartline comes to the Bulls after four seasons as offensive coordinator at Ohio State, a program noted for preparing coordinators for success as head coaches.
Hartline also has years of experience in the NFL. Add to that his uplifting personality and you have the makings of a coach who will be as likable as he is successful.
Hartline hit a home run with the hire of Tim Beck as his offensive coordinator. Beck has tons of OC experience at such places as North Carolina State, Texas, and Nebraska. He is clearly a top tier OC.
Josh Aldridge is the new defensive coordinator but he lacks the “splash” of either Hartline or Beck. Aldridge has just one season as a defensive coordinator at the FBS level. Before that, he spent six seasons as a position coach.
Harline and Beck are clearly above average hires for USF. If Aldridge matched the other two, the USF situation would deserve an “A” grade.
USF is going to continue to win and has a very good chance of breaking into the Savvy Top 25 this season. Breaking into the Top 20 is likely going to depend on the maturation of Aldridge as defensive coordinator.
Savvy Game Line 