Forde-Yard Dash: Rating First-Year Coaches’ Debuts From Dream Starts to Total Disaster

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where the Western Michigan administration is more accepting of the outcome in the Big House than, say, the school’s public safety office. First Quarter: All the Problems With the Bail Mary in the Big House.

Second Quarter: Debut Reviews

You’re one (or in a few cases two) games into life with your new coach. How’s it going so far? The Dash offers some appraisals on a scale of unconditional love to unapologetic hate:

Build the statue now (11): The start could not be any better.

Lane Kiffin, LSU

After stirring up the Kiffin Missile Crisis for weeks leading into Saturday night in Tiger Stadium, what he did to Dabo Swinney was unsuitable for younger viewers. Kiffin welcomed all the smoke as the bad guy of the sport, then breathed fire upon Clemson. The score was 51–10 but the stats were worse: The Bayou Tigers outgained the Upstate Tigers by an astonishing 499 yards, with a 38 to eight edge in first downs. And if the purported audio of Kiffin talking to his team at halftime is credible—and it certainly sounds like him—we know exactly the message he’s sending to his team about their place in the sport: “The whole f---ing world hates you! You get a chance to tell the whole world, ‘Go f--- yourself!’ ” https://x.com/kentsports24/status/2097100006096289906?s=20

Against that bellicose backdrop, the SEC fired a jarring shot across LSU’s bow Tuesday morning. In a move to legally maintain the power to expel LSU from the league, it filed a requested temporary restraining order Tuesday, “to protect the right of the conference and its member institutions to govern themselves.” A previously scheduled meeting of the conference presidents and chancellors on Thursday afternoon has been amended to address the nuclear option, as laid out in the SEC filing:

“Based on the significant concerns expressed by the CEOs, the conference’s president has directed the commissioner to give formal notice that a previously scheduled meeting of the CEOs on Sept. 10, 2026, will be a special meeting of the conference for the purpose of considering termination of LSU’s membership in the SEC pursuant to Section 3.1.5 of the constitution.”

It would be a shock to see it come to that. But this is the battle Kiffin and LSU have chosen to fight by trying to add NFL players to the roster. “A lot of the presidents are really pissed,” an SEC source tells Sports Illustrated.

Bob Chesney, UCLA

In a tie game in the fourth quarter against an old rival, previous editions of the Bruins would have found a way to lose against California. Chesney’s Bruins responded with two takeaways and three touchdowns in the final nine minutes, turning a tight game into a blowout by the end. Winning by 21 points while committing 110 yards in penalties is another sign that things are changing in Westwood.

Charles Huff, Memphis

Memphis has shown a talent for finding successful coaches (who often make mistakes by leaving), and Huff is the next one. He’s now 2–0 as coach of the Tigers, outscoring UNLV and Arkansas State by a combined 41–14 in the second half. The game at Boise State on Saturday could loom large in the Group of 6 College Football Playoff jockeying.

Took care of business (12): Played an overmatched opponent and beat them with commensurate severity.

Jon Sumrall, Florida

After ranking 129th in FBS last year in scrimmage plays of 30 yards or longer with 14 in 12 games, uncorking five plays of that length in a 66–21 mauling of Florida Atlantic was a welcome return to traditional program explosiveness. The Gators gave up plenty of yards (396) but also recorded three takeaways.

James Franklin, Virginia Tech

There isn’t much to be learned from beating VMI into ectoplasm, but doing it 73–3 does catch the eye. It was 45–0 at halftime, with the Hokies dominating in all three phases. They racked up more than 600 yards of offense, produced 18 tackles for loss and blocked two kicks, one for a touchdown.

Virginia Tech coach James Franklin runs onto the field. — Virginia Tech coach James Franklin led his team to a 45–0 halftime lead in their opener against VMI. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Matt Campbell, Penn State

Franklin’s successor in State College, Pa., did not mess around in his debut, jumping to a 17–0 lead on Marshall in the first 10-plus minutes and rolling to a 45–0 victory. The quarterback Campbell brought with him from Iowa State, Rocco Becht, threw four touchdown passes in just 18 attempts, with a 272 efficiency rating that is second in the nation at this early juncture. The Penn State defense also bottled up dangerous Marshall QB Carlos Del Rio-Wilson. But these games were never the problem for Franklin; Campbell’s challenge will be winning the big ones.

Morgan Scalley, Utah

If anyone won a complicated divorce Saturday, it was the Utes. The legend-in-residence they nudged out the door, Kyle Whittingham, appears way down this list. The guy who replaced him, Scalley, opened with a 52-point detonation of Idaho that included 364 rushing yards and further proof that Utah might have the rarest of commodities: an excellent backup quarterback. Byrd Ficklin, who flashed some serious dual-threat talent last year as a freshman, had 163 yards total offense on 16 plays in relief of starter Devon Dampier.

Will Stein, Kentucky

Mark Stoops beat the bad teams on his schedule but had a penchant for muddling past many of them. Stein showed no interest in that in his debut, routing Youngstown State, 45–13. Notre Dame transfer QB Kenny Minchey was as advertised, throwing for 301 yards and four touchdowns. After three years of dismal QB play, that was a welcome sight for Wildcats fans.

Jimmy Rogers, Iowa State

With expectations flattened after Campbell took the guts of the team with him to Penn State, beating anybody (in this case, Southeast Missouri State) by 28 points was a satisfactory result. A running game that produced just 3.5 yards per carry is cause for concern, especially with rival Iowa and its customary brick-wall defense up next.

Beat a power-conference opponent, don’t knock it (13): Don’t worry about the aesthetics, just take the W.

Alex Golesh, Auburn

Look at it this way—the only power-conference opponent the Tigers had beaten in the last calendar year was Arkansas, which barely counts. So wheezing past Baylor, 17–16, certainly beats the alternative. But Golesh’s touted QB he brought with him from South Florida, Byrum Brown, threw three interceptions and was sacked five times.

Auburn coach Alex Golesh wears the old leather helmet after a victory over Baylor. — Auburn coach Alex Golesh got the win, but has some issues to address moving forward. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Got by (14): Avoided something bad, while not doing much good.

Pat Fitzgerald, Michigan State

Say this much for the Spartans: Down 20–19 in the fourth quarter to Toledo, they responded. State scored the last 11 points of the game, grinding out a couple of long drives to avert disaster. But the Spartans also gave up touchdowns of 60 and 71 yards while producing no plays of their own longer than 26 yards. They kicked a lot of field goals.

Ryan Silverfield, Arkansas

Expectations are muted for Silverfield’s first season, but they did include handling FCS opponent North Alabama in the opener. The Razorbacks did that, 31–14, but labored offensively—their 4.94 yards per play was lowest in the SEC in Week 1.

Brian Hartline, South Florida

The Bulls beat Florida International, 19–9, but Hartline’s offense was pitiful. USF had no plays from scrimmage longer than 14 yards and was outgained by 173. The Bulls kicked four field goals, with no scoring drive of longer than 35 yards.

Lost as expected, but showed something (15): There is reason for hope, even at 0–1.

Mike Jacobs, Toledo

He won at the Division II and FCS levels, and had his team ready to play in Spartan Stadium. Toledo’s run of quality coaching hires (Matt Campbell and Jason Candle are the last two) looks like it will continue with Jacobs.

Neal Brown, North Texas

The only 2025 opponent that dented Indiana for more yards than the Mean Green’s 367 was Oregon in the CFP semifinals with 378, and a lot of that was well after the game was decided. Brown has the makings of a quality offense this season; the secondary needs some work.

More was expected (16): Fans probably have more questions coming out of the game than they had going in.

Tosh Lupoi, California

Outside of those clever Calgorithm denizens, it’s not easy ginning up excitement in Golden Bears football. There was some coming into this season, with a few outlets even touting Cal as an ACC dark-horse contender. Opening with a three-touchdown loss to UCLA could throw some cold water on that hype, especially with touted quarterback Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele committing three turnovers.

Tavita Pritchard, Stanford

The Cardinal rallied to avoid a Week Zero debacle against Hawai’i, blowing a lead but then pulling it out in the end. Then, depleted by injuries from that game, Stanford was blitzed by Miami on Friday night. Pritchard might end up being a fine head coach, but the chronic talent deficit at Stanford will take a while to be overcome.

Stanford coach Tavita Pritchard celebrates after a safety against Hawaii. — Stanford coach Tavita Pritchard has had an up-and-down start to his Cardinal career. | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Will Hall, Tulane

Underwhelming hire didn’t do a lot to inspire confidence in his first outing, a 17–3 loss to Duke. The Green Wave were outrushed 250–54 and didn’t have a run longer than seven yards.

Won without valor (17): Straight embarrassing.

Kyle Whittingham, Michigan

The Dash covered the infamous Bail Mary in the First Quarter, but the preceding 60 minutes were full of causes for alarm. Thirteen points and 276 total yards—six points and 47 yards of which came after the game had seemingly ended—against a Mid-American Conference team is pitiful.

It went badly enough that Whittingham did not even extend full backing to the Wolverines’ multimillion-dollar quarterback, Bryce Underwood (18). “He’s our QB right now, and it’s not something that’s infinite,” Whittingham said Monday. “At some point, we’ve got to turn a corner, and we’ve got to see improvement.”

The opponent Saturday: Oklahoma.

Total disaster (19): There was no Hail Mary to stave off ignominious defeat.

Eric Morris, Oklahoma State

After importing much of his high-octane offense from North Texas and whipping up hopes for a Cignetti-to-Indiana instant program elevation, the Cowboys cratered. They lost 24–10 to Tulsa, with four possessions ending in turnovers and three on failed fourth-down conversions.

So Morris is 1–0 against armadillos in his yard and 0–1 against everyone else. Mike Gundy (20) is available if Oklahoma State would like a do-over.

Oklahoma State head coach Eric Morris walks up the sideline. — Better luck in Week 2, Eric Morris. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

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