We’ve got the grades and early impressions on each hire. The grades are in part relative to the stature and pay of the job.
| TEAM | CONF | NEW COACH | ||
| Butler | BE | Thad Matta | A+ | Coming home, outstanding hire if he can stay healthy |
| Mississippi St. | SEC | Chris Jans | A | Grabass probably kept him out of P5 longer than it should have.Won over multiple jobs/levels |
| Xavier | BE | Sean Miller | A | We?ve seen this story before. He will win here big. |
| San Diego | WCC | Steve Lavin | B+ | The record is great, the 7 years out of the game isn?t off to a good start |
| LSU | SEC | Matt McMahon | B+ | Won big without Ja too. Bringing the Murray St core helps big time |
| La Salle | A10 | Fran Dunphy | B+ | A winner is a winner. Knows Philly, been there since Ben Franklin times |
| Missouri | SEC | Dennis Gates | B | I wasn?t as high 2 months ago but he?s off to a great start |
| Milwaukee | Horz | Bart Lundy | B | Pretty dominate in D2, should be better this time around in D1. I like it for them. |
| New Mexico St. | WAC | Greg Heiar | B | High level JUCO success, I think it translates. |
| Florida | SEC | Todd Golden | B | Helped turn San Fran around, former assistant in SEC helps a little. |
| Rhode Island | A10 | Archie Miller | B | They broke the bank, needs to work and it should, won big in A10 |
| South Carolina | SEC | Lamont Paris | B- | Bring Malichi Smith with you and you?ve done something |
| Tulsa | Amer | Eric Konkol | B- | Won at a tough place, worry about his lack of portalling |
| Fairleigh Dickinson | NEC | Tobin Anderson | C+ | 209-62 in D2, big hire for them relative their stature |
| Massachusetts | A10 | Frank Martin | C+ | He did go to the Final Fluke 4 that one time |
| Maryland | B10 | Kevin Willard | C+ | Maryland fans seem underwhelmed but it?s a solid hire. Little upside but I don’t think they go backwards. |
| Seton Hall | BE | Shaheen Holloway | C+ | Lightning in a bottle? Probably but you have to make this hire as an alum coming off that Elite 8 |
| Sacramento St. | BSky | David Patrick | C+ | Turned around UC-Riverside, off to a good start |
| Chattanooga | SC | Dan Earl | C+ | I guess going .500 at VMI is like going to the Sweet 16 at most schools, off to a good start |
| Saint Peter?s | MAAC | Bashir Mason | C | Solid rebound for St Pete. |
| Miami OH | MAC | Travis Steele | C | Getting fired with a #37 NET team. Tough |
| San Francisco | WCC | Chris Gerlufsen | C | Promoted with in, helped turn them around off to a solid start |
| Alabama A&M | SWAC | Otis Hughley Jr. | C- | Olympics coach at any level is a nice get for the SWAC |
| Georgia | SEC | Mike White | C- | He?s a single not a homerun,but when you are Georgia that?s not bad IMO. |
| UMKC | Sum | Marvin Menzies | C- | Looks good but everyone wins at NMSU, but good solid hire for UMKC |
| Georgia St. | SB | Jonas Hayes | C- | Xavier fired their coach right? This is one of the assistants |
| Murray St. | MVC | Steve Prohm | C- | Welcome back! You have no team |
| Villanova | BE | Kyle Neptune | C- | At least he kicked the training wheels off, nice turnaround at Fordham |
| The Citadel | SC | Ed Conroy | C- | Welcome back! The job is just as hard as when you left |
| Duke | ACC | Jon Scheyer | C- | Probably will work, but completely underwhelming for what they could hire. A rock could win beside Coach K |
| Kansas St. | B12 | Jerome Tang | D+ | Cool name, but only ever sat next to Scott Drew. |
| Florida Gulf Coast | ASun | Pat Chambers | D+ | Fine for this level |
| Louisville | ACC | Kenny Payne | D+ | I?d rather have Chris Mack…. |
| Elon | CAA | Billy Taylor | D | Won some, lost some. 23-8 in D2 the last Head Coaching look so trending up. |
| George Washington | A10 | Chris Caputo | D | Meh |
| East Carolina | Amer | Mike Schwartz | D | Resume?s fine, the start isn’t impressive |
| Louisiana Tech | CUSA | Talvin Hester | D | Fine |
| Western Michigan | MAC | Dwayne Stephens | D | Another Meh Fine |
| Alabama St. | SWAC | Tony Madlock | D | Not sure why he?s on the move, very lateral type move. |
| Cleveland St. | Horz | Daniyal Robinson | D- | About what you?d expect. |
| SMU | Amer | Rob Lanier | F+ | You fired Jank, lost Davis to pay this guy 2 million? |
| Northwestern St. | Slnd | Corey Gipson | F+ | Going to Missouri St assistant bench to get your coach, yeah not sexy. |
| Lafayette | Pat | Mike Jordan | F+ | Not that Mike Jordan |
| Jackson St. | SWAC | Mo Williams | F+ | He?s a “name” I guess? Just not a good one. |
| Cal St. Northridge | BW | Trent Johnson | F- | Why wouldn?t you want to remove the interim tag after a 7-23 season for a 66 year old, sub .500 career coach. |
| High Point | BSth | G.G. Smith | F- | Dad got me another job…… .364% win percentage at my last. |
| Mississippi Valley St. | SWAC | George Ivory | F- | WTF 140-269 (34.2%) Haven?t we seen he can?t win. Why? |
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