Online betting players know that changing coaches in the college ranks may be more crucial than doing it in the NFL, as these kids have built a certain bond with their coaches, who have probably been recruiting the kid since early in his high-school days. These five coaches are going to have a tough first year in the new digs, and while they probably won’t be fired, it won’t be pretty for them.
Tommy Tuberville, Texas Tech
Tuberville took 2009 off after leaving his 10-year tenure at Auburn, where he had an 85-40 record and led the 2004 Tigers to an unbeaten record. Tuberville is more of a defensive coach than an offensive one, and the Red Raiders are well known for their aerial attacks which have been among the best in the country while Mike Leach was in town. Leach left last year under tumultuous circumstances (reports of player abuse, legal issues, etc.), so that could bog down the problems, while Tuberville may have to change his coaching approach to handle the Red Raiders and the rest of the Big 12.
Lane Kiffin, USC
There’s really no possible way for Kiffin to succeed, and it’s probably karma for his abrupt exit out of Tennessee, where he committed a few violations that the program has to answer for. Kiffin walked into a bigger firestorm as the Trojans are now banned from the postseason for the next two years, they’ve lost a ton of scholarships, and a number of high-profile recruits decided not to go to Southern California. Some juniors and seniors also left, and Kiffin is going to have to prove his recruiting abilities without the promise of a bowl game.
Butch Jones, Cincinnati
It’s not so much that Jones is going to fail at Cincinnati, where he replaces the departed Brian Kelly (more on him later), but he’s going to have an effect on the Bearcats’ NCAA football betting odds only because he’s a different coach than Kelly, who led the Bearcats to the BCS over the last two seasons. Jones may have the best chance of anyone on this list, though, as he coached under Kelly at Central Michigan, and he was promoted when Kelly went to Cincinnati; he’s also an offensive mind, like Kelly, but it’ll take a bit to get used to the personnel.
Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina
McNeill probably should have been offered the job at Texas Tech, where he was the defensive coordinator and led the Red Raiders to a bowl win, as the kids at Texas Tech were familiar with him and he had vastly improved the porous Tech defense. But instead the Red Raiders went for Tuberville, and McNeill went to East Carolina, which is his alma mater, so that should be buy him some time to get his rebuilding process going. The Pirates won two straight C-USA titles under Skip Holtz, so expectations will be high, and that hurts McNeill.
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
You would think that the Fighting Irish have won a national title lately, but that’s just the annual pressure at arguably the most storied program in the history of college football. The Charlie Weis era ended with little fanfare (and probably a year too late), and the Irish recruited Kelly, who put Cincinnati on the map with his exciting aerial attack. This is no knock on Kelly, who is a great coach and will do a much better job that what Rich Rodriguez is doing over at Notre Dame’s rival, Michigan, but he has to be able to recruit his own players (all of these coaches do) and get them used to the way he plays. If nothing else this year, sports betting players should consider the totals in Notre Dame games, because Kelly isn’t shy about running it up.