Ranking the CUSA Football Coaches

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Ranking the coaches - C-USA

Analyzing the coaching situations in each conference
By Richard Cirminiello - College Football News
March 21, 2006

Best Coach – Mike Price, UTEP – Okay, coach, you’ve made your point. You’ve done your penance, and your ready for another high-profile gig. Price followed up his incredible 2004 debut in El Paso with another eight-win, bowl bound season, the first time that’s happened in 53 years. He’s routinely out-coached opponents from the WAC and C-USA the last two years and resucitated a program that was hopeless when Gary Nord was fired. UCF’s George O’Leary is all the way back after overseeing one of the most dramtic one-year turnarounds in recent history. Just a year after going winless and deflecting questions about his future, the coach led the Knights to eight wins and a school-first bowl game. And as young as his kids are, O’Leary won’t be a one-hit wonder in Orlando.

Most Underrated – Jeff Bower, Southern Miss – Southern Miss may no longer be the king of the C-USA hill, but thanks to its steady head coach, the program can count on at least seven wins and a bowl invitation at the end of every year. Bower has delivered 12 consecutive winning seasons, while earning a reputation as a giant killer. His “anyone, anywhere, anytime” approach has become synonomous with the Golden Eagles, and under Bower, has given them signature wins over Georgia, Alabama, Oklahoma State and Nebraska to go along with some hefty road trip paydays. Tommy West has turned Memphis into a perennial winner, capped by a really nice coaching job last year with a Tiger team masquerading as a M*A*S*H unit.

Most Overrated – Skip Holtz, East Carolina – This really isn’t fair because no coach in C-USA is particularly overrated at this juncture. And Holtz actually had a pretty nice debut in Greenville, piloting the Pirates to a three-win improvement versus 2004. He is the closest thing, however, since his surname has undoubtedly afforded him a little more latitude than if his dad wasn’t Lou. Holtz was stripped of his coordinator duties just two years ago at South Carolina after the offense crapped out, and ECU didn’t really get cooking until the final two games of the year.

Coach on the Hot Seat – Chris Scelfo, Tulane – You can add Scelfo’s future to the laundry list of issues consuming the Tulane athletic department these days. Depending on what happens in 2006, the administration could develop a seven-year itch for a coach that’s produced just 33 wins and a single bowl berth over that time period. Because of the unforseen havoc caused by Hurricane Katrina, Scelfo gets a pass for last year’s 2-9 mark, but as the Green Wave inches back towards normalcy this fall, folks won’t be as understanding with another bowl-less campaign.

Bucking for a Promotion – Steve Kragthorpe, Tulsa – Who knew Tulsa could be a career launching pad? It will be for Kragthorpe, who has taken a program that had won seven games in the three years before he arrived to 21 wins, two bowl games and a stunning C-USA title since he left the NFL three years ago. Impersonating a miracle worker is already getting him feelers from the likes of Colorado, which was one of the first schools to gauge his interest, but won’t be the last if he keeps this up. Are the C-USA fences high enough to keep UTEP’s Mike Price and UCF’s George O’Leary from eventually getting over? Doubtful.

Best Offensive Coordinator – Randy Fichtner, Memphis – Minus the recognition reserved for other coordinators, Fichtner has turned Memphis into a steady force since arriving five years ago. His spread offense has rewritten the Tiger record books the last three years, and his handling of Danny Wimprine helped turn the quarterback into the most prolific passers in school history. However, that all paled in comparison to last year, when he somehow willed production out of a unit that lost its top two quarterbacks to broken legs in September. Yeah, it helps when DeAngelo Williams is on your team, but when you generate almost 30 points a game and a bowl win with a converted wide receiver taking snaps, someone waering a headset deserves an attaboy.

Best Defensive Coordinator – Tim Hundley, UTEP – The numbers from last year tell a different story, but in Hundley, UTEP has the league’s top coordinator now that Marshall’s Bill Wilt is the new D-line coach at Southern Miss. A long-time veteran of the Pac-10 wars, he spent many years matching wits with and trying to out fox current boss, Mike Price. Since 1982, Hundley has been with Oregon State for eight years, UCLA for six seasons, Colorado for three and Washington from 1999-2003, where he was the Husky defensive coordinator. In his first year in El Paso, he inherited a Miner defense that was porous in 2003, and quickly whipped them into one of the WAC’s most aggressive and reliable units.