Twenty-five college football teams will have new coaches when the 2012 season begins, with some having the nearly impossible task of turning around moribund programs.
Although big names have replaced former coaches at many of the programs, perhaps no one has a harder job ahead of him than Bob Davie.
Bob Davie Has The Daunting Task of Turning Around New Mexico's Football Program
The former Notre Dame coach will take over at New Mexico, a school that’s compiled a 3-33 record over the past three seasons.
Some believe the Lobos are college football’s worst program and you’d be hard pressed to argue otherwise.
If Davie can turn things around at New Mexico, he’ll revitalize his coaching career and open doors to other possibilities down the road.
Perhaps the second most difficult coaching job in college football is the University of Memphis. Since former coach Tommy West guided the Tigers to five bowl game appearances from 2002 to 2008, the Tigers have hit the skids.
Over the past three seasons, Memphis has gone 5-31 and things got so bad this past season that only 2,500 fans showed up for the Tigers last home game against Marshall.
TCU co-offensive coordinator Justin Fuente came out of nowhere to be named the Tigers’ new coach. Only 35 years old, Fuente will be one of the nation’s youngest head coaches and he’ll have one of the toughest jobs reviving a program that rests in the heart of SEC country.
Among the more notable coaching changes in 2012, former West Virginia and Michigan coach Rich Rodriguez takes over at Arizona. Charlie Weis, another former Notre Dame coach, is the new leader of the Kansas Jayhawks football program.
Former Seattle Seahawks coach Jim Mora takes over at UCLA, former Texas Tech coach Mike Leach was hired to be Washington State’s new coach and former Florida Gators coach Urban Meyer takes over at Ohio State.
Here’s the complete list of 2012 college football coaching changes.
| 2012 College Football Coaching Changes | ||||||||||||||
| Team | Conference | Former Coach | New Coach | |||||||||||
| Akron Zips | Mid-American | Rob Ianello | Terry Bowden | |||||||||||
| Arizona Wildcats | Pac-12 | Mike Stoops | Rich Rodriguez | |||||||||||
| Arizona State Sun Devils | Pac-12 | Dennis Erickson | Todd Graham | |||||||||||
| Arkansas State Red Hawks | Sunbelt | Hugh Freeze | Gus Malzahn | |||||||||||
| Colorado State Rams | Mountain West | Steve Fairchild | Jim McElwain | |||||||||||
| Florida Atlantic Owls | Sunbelt | Howard Schnellenberger | Carl Pelini | |||||||||||
| Fresno State Bulldogs | WAC | Pat Hill | Tim DeRuyter | |||||||||||
| Hawaii Warriors | WAC | Greg McMackin | Norm Chow | |||||||||||
| Houston Cougars | C-USA | Kevin Sumlin | Tony Levine | |||||||||||
| Illinois Fighting Illini | Big Ten | Ron Zook | Tim Beckman | |||||||||||
| Kansas Jayhawks | Big 12 | Turner Gill | Charlie Weis | |||||||||||
| Memphis Tigers | C-USA | Larry Porter | Justin Fuente | |||||||||||
| Ole Miss Rebels | SEC | Houston Nutt | Hugh Freeze | |||||||||||
| New Mexico Lobos | Mountain West | Mike Locksley | Bob Davie | |||||||||||
| North Carolina Tar Heels | ACC | Everett Withers | Larry Fedora | |||||||||||
| Ohio State Buckeyes | Big Ten | Luke Fickell | Urban Meyer | |||||||||||
| Penn State Nittany Lions | Big Ten | Joe Paterno | Bill O’Brien | |||||||||||
| Pittsburgh Panthers | Big East | Todd Graham | Paul Chryst | |||||||||||
| Southern Miss Golden Eagles | C-USA | Larry Fedora | Ellis Johnson | |||||||||||
| Texas A&M Aggies | SEC | Mike Sherman | Kevin Sumlin | |||||||||||
| Toledo Rockets | Mid-American | Tim Beckman | Matt Campbell | |||||||||||
| Tulane Green Wave | C-USA | Bob Toledo | Curtis Johnson | |||||||||||
| UAB Blazers | C-USA | Neil Callaway | Garrick McGee | |||||||||||
| UCLA Bruins | Pac-12 | Rick Neuheisel | Jim Mora | |||||||||||
| Washington State Cougars | Pac-12 | Paul Wulff | Mike Leach | |||||||||||
