Spring football is upon us, which means the coaching carousel has stopped spinning and each team is focusing on the 2015 season. The situations of coaches across the country varies wildly, with some entering their first season with a program, while others will be coaching for their jobs in 2015.
That range certainly exists in the American Athletic Conference, where young coaches like Tom Herman and Chad Morris are new arrivals and guys like Willie Taggart sit firmly on the hot seat. Here’s a look at where each coach in the AAC East stands heading into the 2015 campaign.
Tommy Tuberville, Cincinnati: Room Temperature
When the Bearcats stumbled out of the gate to a 2-3 start to the 2014 season, some fans started to begin to wonder if Tuberville had the program heading in the right direction. However, a seven-game winning streak to end the regular season tempered most of those concerns, at least for now. With Gunner Kiel back for another year, where he’ll hopefully (for Cincinnati’s sake) be healthy, expectations are very high for the Bearcats in 2015 and they are one of the early favorites to win the AAC East. While it would take a total catastrophe for Tuberville to lose his job, a disappointing campaign could cause a little discontent from the fanbase.
Bob Diaco, Connecticut: Heating Up
Diaco’s first season with the Huskies was…not good. UConn went just 2-10 in 2014, the program’s worst mark since going 1-10 back in 1977, including dropping its regular-season finale to previously winless SMU. In fairness to Diaco, he didn’t exactly inherit a program on the upswing, but the Huskies’ performance in his first year was still extremely underwhelming. Diaco isn’t really coaching for his job next season, but if the team doesn’t show clear signs of improvement and has another disastrous campaign, he might find himself without a job at the end of 2015.
Ruffin McNeill, East Carolina: Lukewarm
McNeill, an ECU alum, has unquestionably had a fair amount of success with his alma mater, including a terrific 10-3 campaign in 2013 that was capped off by the program’s first bowl win since 2007. That being said, 2014 was an incredible disappointment for the Pirates. After a 6-1 start, which included wins over Virginia Tech and North Carolina, ECU ascended to No. 18 in the rankings. But after that, things went south for the Pirates, as they went 2-4 the rest of the way. Failing to capture at least a share of the AAC title with Shane Carden and Justin Hardy is discouraging, though not really enough to put McNeill on the hot seat. That being said, the Pirates overachieving in 2015 would certainly help to get him back into the good graces of some fans.
Willie Taggart, South Florida: Hot As the Ninth Circle of Hell
There’s no way to sugarcoat it: Willie Taggart is coaching for his job in 2015. The former Jim Harbaugh assistant and Western Kentucky head coach has not lived up to expectations in his first two years with the Bulls. USF has gone just 6-18 under Taggart, and he now finds himself squarely on the hot seat. While it certainly should be noted that he was left quite a mess by Skip Holtz, the Bulls have been dismal the past two years and showed incremental progress at best during his tenure. South Florida will clearly need to show signs of improvement in 2015 for Taggart to keep his job. A bowl appearance would likely be the bare minimum for him to avoid getting a pink slip at the end of the year.
Matt Rhule, Temple: Cooling Off
Rhule’s tenure at Temple got off to a rocky start, but it now looks like he has the program back on the right track. The Owls endured a disastrous 2-10 campaign in their first season under Rhule, which obviously led to at least a few fans questioning his hire. However, the team rebounded with a 6-6 record in 2014, so any calls that there may have been for school officials to send him packing have disappeared. Now, fans have reason for optimism heading into 2015, as the Owls have been tabbed by many as a team to watch in the AAC. That could obviously all change with a disappointing season, but for now, Rhule’s riding high.
George O’Leary, Central Florida: Antarctic Freeze
Barring a major scandal of some kind, it’s hard to imagine O’Leary not leaving UCF on his own terms. In his 11 seasons with the school, O’Leary has built the Knights into a powerhouse program, guiding the team to at least nine wins in four out of the last five years. UCF has also won at least a share of the AAC title in each of the last two seasons, and the Knights shocked the college football world by taking down Baylor in the 2014 Fiesta Bowl. Considering that the team went 0-11 in his first year at the helm, what O’Leary has accomplished at UCF is utterly sensational. Retirement may be on the horizon for him, but he’ll be going out on his own terms.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
