JerryBeeds
08-31-2005, 09:58 PM
History says SEC not always kind to new guys
By BEN COOK
Scripps Howard News Service
31-AUG-05
Three are new and one is recycled, but any way you look at it there are four head football coaches taking over new jobs for the 2005 Southeastern Conference football season.
This will be only the sixth time in SEC history that as many as four new coaches debuted in the same season. That's 72 seasons of football, although the first one doesn't really count since every coach was new in 1933, at least to the league.
Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss, Urban Meyer at Florida, Les Miles at LSU and Steve Spurrier at South Carolina will be walking new sidelines this fall. Of course Spurrier is no stranger to the SEC after 11 seasons as the head coach at Florida, but still this will be his first at South Carolina and first since the saw the light and returned to college coaching from the National Football League.
The new coaches, who make up a third of the league, bring up how tough it can be to step into a new league. Spurrier did it with ease when he came to Florida in 1990. He went 9-2 his first year and won the SEC with a 10-1 mark his second. He went on to win the SEC five of his first seven seasons with the Gators.
It is usually not that easy, but there is usually at least one coach who has that opportunity. Since the league was formed in 1933, there have only been ten seasons in which every football coach who opened the season was the same who closed it the year before.
Since the beginning of the SEC, there have been 119 new coaches start seasons, not counting 1933. Of those 119, two won conference championships their first time out.
Here's a look at how some first year coaches did in years when there were multiple coaching changes:
In 1946, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt got new coaches although two of them were in for return engagements at their schools. General Neyland took over at Tennessee for the third time in his illustrious career. Red Sanders was named the Vanderbilt coach for the season time. Harold "Red" Drew was named the head coach at Ole Miss, which would be his only season in Oxford. He would take over the Alabama job the next season.
The final two new head coaches were a couple of "Bears" _ Ray "Bear" Wolf took over as head coach of the Florida Gators while Paul "Bear" Bryant was named the head coach at Kentucky.
In 1935, the new coaches who joined the young league were: LSU's Bernie Moore, who later became the commissioner of the SEC; Ralph Sasse at Mississippi State; Bill Britton at Tennessee; and Ray Morrison at Vanderbilt.
The 1938 newcomers were: Joel Hunt at Georgia; A.D. Kirwan at Kentucky; Harry Mehre at Ole Miss and Spike Nelson at Mississippi State. Of the newcomers, Mehre took the Rebels to a 9-2 season. Hunt led Georgia to a 5-4-1 record in what would be his only season. He was replaced by Wally Butts the next season. Nelson was 4-6 with Mississippi State and Kirwan was 2-7 with Kentucky.
In 1973, Fran Curci was named head coach at Kentucky; Johnny Vaught re-took the job at Ole Miss; Bob Tyler was the new coach at Mississippi State and former Alabama All-American quarterback and future Alabama athletic director Steve Sloan was named coach at Vanderbilt. Of that group only Vaught had a winning record posting a 6-5 mark. Curci's Wildcats and Sloan's Commodores were 5-6 while Tyler's Bulldogs came up with a 4-5-2 record.
In 1995, Gerry DiNardo took over at LSU (moving over from Vanderbilt); Tommy Tuberville was the head man at Ole Miss; Brad Scott took over at South Carolina; and Rod Dowhower became the coach at Vanderbilt. Only DiNardo and Tuberville had winning records their first years. DiNardo was 6-4-1 with LSU and took the Tigers to a victory over Michigan State in the Independence Bowl while Tuberville was 6-5 with the Rebels.
This season, Meyer, Miles, Orgeron and Spurrier will be trying to win a league championship, but history tells us the odds are against them.
By BEN COOK
Scripps Howard News Service
31-AUG-05
Three are new and one is recycled, but any way you look at it there are four head football coaches taking over new jobs for the 2005 Southeastern Conference football season.
This will be only the sixth time in SEC history that as many as four new coaches debuted in the same season. That's 72 seasons of football, although the first one doesn't really count since every coach was new in 1933, at least to the league.
Ed Orgeron at Ole Miss, Urban Meyer at Florida, Les Miles at LSU and Steve Spurrier at South Carolina will be walking new sidelines this fall. Of course Spurrier is no stranger to the SEC after 11 seasons as the head coach at Florida, but still this will be his first at South Carolina and first since the saw the light and returned to college coaching from the National Football League.
The new coaches, who make up a third of the league, bring up how tough it can be to step into a new league. Spurrier did it with ease when he came to Florida in 1990. He went 9-2 his first year and won the SEC with a 10-1 mark his second. He went on to win the SEC five of his first seven seasons with the Gators.
It is usually not that easy, but there is usually at least one coach who has that opportunity. Since the league was formed in 1933, there have only been ten seasons in which every football coach who opened the season was the same who closed it the year before.
Since the beginning of the SEC, there have been 119 new coaches start seasons, not counting 1933. Of those 119, two won conference championships their first time out.
Here's a look at how some first year coaches did in years when there were multiple coaching changes:
In 1946, Florida, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt got new coaches although two of them were in for return engagements at their schools. General Neyland took over at Tennessee for the third time in his illustrious career. Red Sanders was named the Vanderbilt coach for the season time. Harold "Red" Drew was named the head coach at Ole Miss, which would be his only season in Oxford. He would take over the Alabama job the next season.
The final two new head coaches were a couple of "Bears" _ Ray "Bear" Wolf took over as head coach of the Florida Gators while Paul "Bear" Bryant was named the head coach at Kentucky.
In 1935, the new coaches who joined the young league were: LSU's Bernie Moore, who later became the commissioner of the SEC; Ralph Sasse at Mississippi State; Bill Britton at Tennessee; and Ray Morrison at Vanderbilt.
The 1938 newcomers were: Joel Hunt at Georgia; A.D. Kirwan at Kentucky; Harry Mehre at Ole Miss and Spike Nelson at Mississippi State. Of the newcomers, Mehre took the Rebels to a 9-2 season. Hunt led Georgia to a 5-4-1 record in what would be his only season. He was replaced by Wally Butts the next season. Nelson was 4-6 with Mississippi State and Kirwan was 2-7 with Kentucky.
In 1973, Fran Curci was named head coach at Kentucky; Johnny Vaught re-took the job at Ole Miss; Bob Tyler was the new coach at Mississippi State and former Alabama All-American quarterback and future Alabama athletic director Steve Sloan was named coach at Vanderbilt. Of that group only Vaught had a winning record posting a 6-5 mark. Curci's Wildcats and Sloan's Commodores were 5-6 while Tyler's Bulldogs came up with a 4-5-2 record.
In 1995, Gerry DiNardo took over at LSU (moving over from Vanderbilt); Tommy Tuberville was the head man at Ole Miss; Brad Scott took over at South Carolina; and Rod Dowhower became the coach at Vanderbilt. Only DiNardo and Tuberville had winning records their first years. DiNardo was 6-4-1 with LSU and took the Tigers to a victory over Michigan State in the Independence Bowl while Tuberville was 6-5 with the Rebels.
This season, Meyer, Miles, Orgeron and Spurrier will be trying to win a league championship, but history tells us the odds are against them.