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First-year college football coaches letter grades include D for Bill Belichick
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- First-year college football coaches letter grades include D for Bill Belichick
Most coaching tenures in the Bowl Subdivision can't be fully assessed until two or three seasons down the road, when a coach has been able to fully install his system with his roster.
But first impressions matter, too, and a hot start — or a bad one — can come to define a coach's tenure.
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Bill Belichick hopes that's not the case at North Carolina, which flopped to four wins in his debut after making six bowl appearances in a row. After one year, Belichick has twice as many Super Bowl rings, six, than wins against FBS competition.
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On the other hand, coaches such as New Mexico's Jason Eck, Kennesaw State's Jerry Mack and Wake Forest's Jake Dickert hit the ground at full speed and look to carry these tremendous debuts into 2026 and beyond.
Let's evaluate our first impressions of the 2025 new coaching class, handing out grades ranging from A+ to Belichick:
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Jason Eck, New Mexico (9-3): A+
New Mexico won nine games in the regular season for the first time since 1997 and tied for first in the Mountain West after being picked ahead of only Nevada in the preseason media poll. The Lobos went unbeaten at home and ended the regular season on a six-game winning streak.
Jerry Mack, Kennesaw State (9-3): A+
Mack is a winner, pure and simple, and proved that in adding seven wins to Kennesaw's 2024 total and leading the Owls to an unexpected appearance in the Conference USA championship game.
Mark Carney , Kent State (5-7): A
We'll count Carney, who was named the interim coach last April before being handed the full-time job in October. After winning just once in the previous two years, Kent State nearly landed the sixth bowl berth in program history .
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Dan Mullen, UNLV (10-2): A
Mullen maintained the Rebels' recent surge and will lead his first team into the Mountain West championship game against Boise State . UNLV hasn't won a conference championship since 1994.
UNLV football coach Dan Mullen watches from the sideline during his team's game against Boise State at Albertsons Stadium on Oct. 18, 2025 in Boise, Idaho.
Willie Simmons, Florida International (7-5): A
An early-season loss to Delaware raised concerns, but FIU ended the year on a four-game winning streak and beat Western Kentucky and Jacksonville State. Simmons posted the first winning season by a new coach and the fifth winning season overall in program history.
Jake Dickert, Wake Forest (8-4): A-
This was a smashing success in nearly every way minus losses to North Carolina State and Duke. After a strong run at Washington State, Dickert clearly has the coaching chops to make Wake Forest an ACC threat.
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Blake Harrell, East Carolina (8-4): A-
Harrell was technically handed the full-time job late last year, though this was his first complete season on the job. With little fanfare, ECU hung around the crowded American race all the way through the final weekend of November.
Charles Kelly, Jacksonville State (8-4): A-
Kelly took over a great spot from West Virginia-bound Rich Rodriguez and will lead the Gamecocks into a matchup with Kennesaw State for the Conference USA championship after beating Western Kentucky in the season finale.
Matt Drinkall, Central Michigan (7-5): B+
The former Army assistant led the Chippewas to a winning season for the first time since 2021. It could have been a better season, too. Central Michigan lost by a possession to Akron and Western Michigan.
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Matt Entz, Fresno State (8-4): B+
A two-time national champion at North Dakota State, Entz won eight games highlighted by victories against Hawaii and Boise State. Fresno State's 49-21 loss at Colorado State was one of the most puzzling results of the entire year, though.
Charles Huff, Southern Mississippi (7-5): B+
It's hard to nitpick too much given that Southern Mississippi had gone 4-20 in the previous two years. But Huff had the Golden Eagles sitting pretty atop the Sun Belt West before losing three in a row, including a crucial finale against Troy, to finish second in the division.
Bronco Mendenhall, Utah State (6-6): B+
Mendenhall continues to show why he's one of the top coaches in the FBS. The losses by the Aggies came to six bowl teams - Texas A&M, Vanderbilt, Hawaii, New Mexico, UNLV and Boise State, the last two by a combined four points.
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Brian Smith, Ohio (8-4): B+
Ohio should've beat Rutgers in the season opener and should not have lost to Ball State , with the latter costing the Bobcats a spot in the MAC championship. This was still a strong start for Smith, highlighted by a win against Miami (Ohio).
K.C. Keeler, Temple (5-7): B
Temple seemed destined for six wins before dropping four in a row to end the year, including a heartbreaking 14-13 loss to Army. The Owls also lost by a point to Navy. But this was still a great improvement for a program that won three games in each of the last four seasons.
Jimmy Rogers, Washington State (6-6): B
Rogers was able to land six wins despite some major offseason attrition. That included solid wins against San Diego State and Toledo along with very competitive losses to Mississippi, Virginia and James Madison. The Cougars did split two games against woeful Oregon State, though.
Scott Abell, Rice (5-7): B-
A bad loss to Florida Atlantic cost Rice a bowl berth in Abell's debut. But the Owls notched a strong win against Connecticut and seemed to be turning a corner before getting blasted by North Texas and South Florida to end the year.
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Eddie George, Bowling Green (4-8): B-
This was a solid team that looked the part in a win against Toledo but was undone by single-digit losses to Kent State, Eastern Michigan and Buffalo. George may be learning on the job, but the Falcons showed some promise in 2025.
Tony Gibson, Marshall (5-7): B-
Marshall had to deal with player attrition amid the offseason coaching change and was picked sixth in the Sun Belt East in the preseason poll. Still, Gibson nearly led the Thundering Herd to the postseason but came up short in games against Appalachian State and Georgia Southern to end the year.
Scott Frost, Central Florida (5-7): C+
In some ways, Frost's first year back at UCF was similar to his six-win debut in 2016, though the Knights were unable to secure bowl eligibility. This will be a crucial offseason as he looks to add speed and talent at the skill positions.
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Zach Kittley, Florida Atlantic (4-8): C+
The eight losses by the Owls came to Maryland and seven Group of Five bowl teams. FAU also made unsurprising gains on offense and led the FBS in passing yards per game, though on a very high volume of attempts.
Tre Lamb, Tulsa (4-8): C
Tulsa had a few competitive losses to New Mexico State, Temple and Alabama-Birmingham in addition to wins against Army and Oklahoma State. Topping the Cowboys gives Lamb's grade a boost.
Mike Uremovich, Ball State (4-8): C
Ball State added a win in MAC play by beating Ohio, Kent State and Akron. But the Cardinals were also outplayed in key games against Northern Illinois and Eastern Michigan. This was still a steady start for Uremovich, who previously did very strong work during three seasons at Butler.
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Barry Odom, Purdue (2-10): C-
Yeah, getting a single Big Ten win would've been nice. The Boilermakers did hang around with Minnesota, Rutgers and Michigan, though. But the messy situation Odom inherited always meant this would be a multiple-year rebuilding project.
Rich Rodriguez, West Virginia (4-8): C-
Rodriguez didn't inherit a strong roster and expectations were that WVU would at best barely squeeze into a bowl game. But his return to Morgantown was a sloppy one, ending with an embarrassing blowout at home to Texas Tech.
Tim Albin, Charlotte (1-11): D+
Maybe not what Charlotte was expecting from Albin's debut after he did such great work as Frank Solich's replacement at Ohio. But the bar was not high for the 49ers, and Albin's tenure will be determined more by the next two seasons.
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Dowell Loggains, Appalachian State (5-7): D+
Appalachian State lost to every opponent with a pulse and dropped three games by a combined six points. The preseason expectation was to win at least six games and maybe even eight during the regular season.
Bill Belichick, North Carolina (4-8): D
Belichick inherited a program fresh off six bowl appearances in a row but showed an inept grasp of player management in building one of the weakest rosters in the ACC. The Tar Heels won just two league games and ended the year with three losses in a row to their biggest rivals.
Phil Longo, Sam Houston State (2-10): D
Expectations were low after a breakout 2024 season but few could've expected the Bearkats to completely bottom out and finish last in Conference USA. Longo needs a huge influx of skill talent to make his offensive scheme work.
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Joe Harasymiak, Massachusetts (0-12): D
Winning just three games might've earned Harasymiak a parade through downtown Amherst. But the Minutemen lost just two games by single digits, gave up at least 38 points nine times and ended the year as the only winless team in the FBS.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: College football first-year coaches grades: Good, Dan Mullen; Bad, Bill Belichick
