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 West stands heading into the 2015 campaign.
Tom Herman, Houston: Absolute Zero
The Cougars hit a grand slam when it hired the reigning Broyles Award winner to replace Tony Levine, who went 21-17 with the team. Herman has found great success wherever he’s been as an offensive coordinator, most notably helping the Buckeyes win the national title this past season. Hell, he even had a big hand in making Iowa State relevant for a few years. Fans have high hopes for the Tom Herman era, but obviously his level of job security is extremely high in 2015.
Justin Fuente, Memphis: Ice Cold
In his three seasons with the Tigers, Fuente has orchestrated a remarkable a turnaround of the hapless program that he inherited. After going 7-17 in his first two years, Memphis had a breakthrough in 2014, going 10-3, capturing a share of the conference title and finishing the season in the Top 25. It was the Tigers’ first 10-win season since 1938, and helped make Fuente one of the hottest young coaching prospects in the country. He and Memphis will likely part ways at some point in the not-too-distant future, but it’s hard to imagine a scenario where it isn’t on Fuente’s accord.
Ken Niumatalolo, Navy: Freezing
The Midshipmen have found consistent success under Niumatalolo, and have even beaten Notre Dame a couple of times during his tenure. His 57 wins are the most in school history, and he’s gone 7-0 against archrival Navy. However, with Navy making the move to the AAC, 2015 will be Niumatalolo’s biggest test yet. It’ll be interesting to see how the Midshipmen fare in their new conference, but, barring a catastrophic season, Niumatalolo’s job will be in absolutely no kind of jeopardy.
Chad Morris, SMU: Arctic Chill
Thanks to the hiring of Morris, SMU fans have reason to be optimistic for the first time in quite awhile. The task he’ll face on the Hilltop is a daunting one, as the Mustangs were one of the worst teams in all of college football in 2014. However, Morris got off to a solid start with his first recruiting class by bringing in in-state recruits in ways that predecessor June Jones never did. How SMU will fare during his first season at the helm is anyone’s guess, but everyone around the program understands the difficult reclamation project that Morris faces.
Curtis Johnson, Tulane: Heating Up
When Johnson led the Green Wave to their first bowl game since 2002 just two seasons ago, it looked like Tulane had finally found the guy to turn around its struggling football program. However, after a disappointing 3-9 effort in 2014, Johnson’s job status is a bit murkier heading into the upcoming season. While he’s not exactly in dire straits quite yet, if the Green Wave don’t show signs of progress in 2015, Tulane might decide to pull the plug on Johnson.
Philip Montgomery, Tulsa: Subzero
The third and final new hire in the division is Montgomery, who replaces Bill Blankenship after he went 24-27 with the Golden Hurricane. Now, Montgomery, who spent the last three seasons as Baylor’s offensive coordinator, will try and breath new life into a program that went 84-47 and made eight bowl appearances between 2003 and 2012. He’ll obviously need time to turn things around, so there’s no question of what his job security is like going into 2015.
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