Forde-Yard Dash: 10 Coaches With Renewed Popularity

This group has gone from celebrated to doubted to—for now—renewed optimism and a chance to stay in their fan bases’ good graces.

Wisconsin coach Luke Fickell and the Badgers face Penn State and Oregon in the next month to insert themselves into the Big Ten race. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football (fascinating faux leather helmets sold separately in Champaign). First Quarter: Twelve Angry Fan Bases. Second Quarter: The Thrill Is Gone?

Third Quarter: The Thrill Is Back? 

The Second Quarter looked at successful coaches whose approval is waning. This quarter, let’s look at 10 schools where the coach has gone from celebrated to doubted to—for now—renewed popularity:

Luke Fickell (23), Wisconsin Badgers. The good times: When Fickell was hired away from the Cincinnati Bearcats, it was widely considered the biggest coup of the 2022–23 coaching carousel. The bad times: His 7–6 debut season was a disappointment, as was the 2–2 start to this season. The rebound: Wisconsin has won three straight, all by 20 points or more. Last time that happened was ’21.

The competition hasn’t been great the past three games—Purdue, Rutgers and Northwestern—but easy wins have been hard to come by until now under Fickell. The Badgers appear to have a new offensive centerpiece in running back Tawee Walker, an Oklahoma Sooners transfer who got his shot after Chez Mellusi stepped away from the team. Walker has 324 yards rushing in the last two games.

What’s next: Wisconsin hosts the Penn State Nittany Lions on Saturday and Oregon Ducks on Nov. 16, so it will have a chance to impact the Big Ten race. And perhaps insert itself in said race.

James Franklin (24), Penn State Nittany Lions. The good times: He’s had four different 11-win seasons at Penn State, most recently in 2022. The bad times: Almost any time he’s played the Ohio State Buckeyes or Michigan Wolverines. The rebound: The Nittany Lions are 6–0 and ranked No. 3 in the nation, with perhaps their best balance between offense and defense under Franklin. 

Penn State is averaging 7.21 yards per play, on pace to be the second-highest in school history behind the undefeated 1994 team’s 7.64. New offensive coordinator Andy Kotelnicki has improved explosiveness and efficiency while unlocking a multifaceted weapon in tight end Tyler Warren. The Nittany Lions have had just 17 negative-yardage plays offensively, while recording 41 defensively.

What’s next: The next two weeks are huge: at Wisconsin, then home against nemesis Ohio State. Franklin’s record against the Buckeyes and Wolverines is 4–16, so hold all hosannas until after Nov. 2. If Penn State wins then, fans hoping Franklin might be the next coach of the Florida Gators will have to reassess their feelings.

Bret Bielema (25), Illinois Fighting Illini. The good times: A surprise 8–5 season in 2022, powered by an elite defense. The bad times: A disappointing 5–7 follow-up in ’23, as the defense fell apart and the turnover margin went from plus-15 to minus-8. The rebound: Illinois is 6–1, ranked No. 20 and in the College Football Playoff chase.

Bielema is too good of a coach for his program to be down long, so the bounce back from last season isn’t unforeseeable. Illinois is back to performing well defensively and taking the ball away (plus-7 margin through seven games). And a deft play call led to Illinois’s biggest gainer of the day in beating Michigan on Saturday: a fake punt run of 36 yards by tight end Tanner Arkin that sustained the clinching touchdown drive.

What’s next: A suddenly nationally relevant game at Oregon on Saturday. That’s followed by four winnable games.

Shane Beamer (26), South Carolina Gamecocks. The good times: An 8–5 record in Beamer’s second season, 2022, highlighted by back-to-back upsets of the Tennessee Volunteers and Clemson Tigers. The bad times: A slump to 5–7 last year. The rebound: South Carolina is 4–3 with beatdowns of the Kentucky Wildcats and Oklahoma Sooners, and near misses against the Alabama Crimson Tide and LSU Tigers.

The record would look and feel a lot better if South Carolina had been able to finish one or both of those two close losses, but this is an improved team over last year. The defense is producing mayhem, ranking second nationally in sacks with 28. 

What’s next: The full arc of this season will be revealed in the final five games, four of which are against ranked opponents. If South Carolina can exit this season with a winning record against a brutal schedule, that’s an accomplishment.

Billy Napier (27), Florida Gators. The good times: There have been none prior to the last month, really. The bad times: Pretty much all the time. The rebound: Florida has won three of its last four, after it appeared Napier could be fired as early as mid-September.

He still might be a dead man coaching, but Napier has at least taken advantage of the university’s pause in declaring his fate. If he’d been a bit more bold at the end of regulation against Tennessee, Florida might be riding a four-game winning streak with victories over the Volunteers and recent nemesis Kentucky. Freshmen DJ Lagway and Jadan Baugh have put some pop into the offense.

What’s next: Florida figures to be a heavy underdog in its next four games, which could seal Napier’s fate. But at least the Gators still have something to play for.

Dabo Swinney (28), Clemson Tigers. The good times: The two national titles, the eight ACC titles, the 12 straight seasons of double-digit wins. The bad times: Last year’s 9–4 thud, followed by a season-opening mauling from Georgia. The rebound: Clemson has won six straight, all by 16 or more points.

Whenever there has been a temptation to bury Swinney, it’s usually best avoided. He closed last season with five straight wins, and the Tigers have been legitimately overpowering since the Georgia debacle in August. Clemson has the best touchdown pass-to-interception ratio in the ACC at 21 to 3.

What’s next: November will offer some challenges, most notably a game at the undefeated Pittsburgh Panthers on Nov. 16. That game could decide at least one participant in the ACC title game.

Pat Narduzzi (29), Pittsburgh Panthers. The good times: Pitt went 11–3 and won the ACC in 2021. The bad times: Pitt plummeted to 3–9 last season, with Narduzzi lamenting the talent on his roster. The rebound: Pitt is a quite surprising 6–0, with three victories coming by a total of seven points.

Narduzzi did good work in the offseason, importing quarterback Eli Holstein from Alabama and running back Desmond Reid (and his coach) from Western Carolina. Holstein has been especially good in crunch-time scenarios, with a 196.8 pass efficiency rating in the fourth quarter this season.

What’s next: Pitt has played only twice in the last month, slipping off the radar a bit, but the Panthers return with two big games in Syracuse on Thursday night and at SMU on Nov. 2. Then there is the home game against Clemson on Nov. 16. Everything is still in front of Pitt.

Kalani Sitake (30), BYU Cougars. The good times: Twenty-one wins in 2020 and ’21, with accompanying national rankings. The bad times: A 5–7 struggle last season in BYU’s Big 12 debut, finishing on a five-game losing streak. The rebound: BYU is one of 10 remaining undefeated teams at 7–0.

This is a special season that has just built upon itself, from a road upset of SMU on Sept. 6 to a home ambush of Kansas State on Sept. 21 to a great escape against Oklahoma State on Friday. The Cougars have become a find-a-way team, returning the luster to Sitake’s tenure.

What’s next: Three of the final five games are on the road, but every game looks winnable. The league record of the remaining opponents is 6–14. At this point, BYU has the easiest road to the Big 12 title game.

Matt Campbell (31), Iowa State Cyclones. The good times: The 9–3 season in 2020, which included an appearance in the Big 12 title game, was the best of a sustained run of success. The bad times: Over the next three seasons, the Cyclones went 18–20. The rebound: Iowa State (7–0) is also one of 10 undefeated teams.

Iowa State had to rally from double-digit deficits to beat Iowa on Sept. 7 and Central Florida on Saturday, showing some strong survival instinct in both games. The Clones lead the Big 12 in turnover margin, one of just four schools nationally that has not lost a fumble all season.

What’s next: This is the Big 12, anything can happen. The biggest challenge looms last in the form of the Kansas State Wildcats.

Scott Satterfield (32), Cincinnati Bearcats. The good times: Cincinnati beat Pittsburgh in Satterfield’s second game last season, starting 2–0. The bad times: Everything thereafter in a 3–9 season. The rebound: The Bearcats are 5–2, with the losses coming by a combined four points, and 3–1 in the Big 12.

After appearing it would be overwhelmed in the Big 12 last season, Cincinnati has gotten its footing in Year 2. It has turned in two straight good defensive performances, allowing a total of 10 first-half points to the UCF Knights and Arizona State Sun Devils, and has held four of the last five opponents to 16 or fewer points.

What’s next: Colorado’s passing game presents an elevated challenge Saturday in Boulder, in what amounts to a Big 12 elimination game. Consecutive road trips to Iowa State and Kansas State loom in November.