Forde-Yard Dash: Grading Kalen DeBoer and New Coaches’ First Month

Here is your September report card for 10 power-conference coaches in their first seasons at a new school.

Alabama head coach Kalen DeBoer has led the Crimson Tide to a 4–0 start in his first season. / William McLelland-Imagn Images

Forty names, games, teams and minutiae making news in college football, where the East Tennessee State Buccaneers were the easiest team to root for Saturday after an arduous journey through Hurricane Helene and its aftermath to beat The Citadel. First Quarter: Twelve Angry Men. 

Second Quarter: New Hire Report Card

Grading new coaching hires is a popular December trope, when the news is fresh but the data is nonexistent. Better to start the grading process now, after a month of games are in the books. (With later grading to come.) Here is your September report card for 10 power-conference coaches in their first seasons at a new school:

Kalen DeBoer (13), Alabama Crimson Tide

September grade: A+

How do you replace the best there ever was? By starting the season 4–0 and taking over the No. 1 ranking. DeBoer has crushed a very difficult assignment, putting his own stamp on the Tide while maintaining the overall commitment to excellence—and the commitment to routinely beating the Georgia Bulldogs.

Against Georgia, DeBoer carried over one of his signatures from last season’s national runner-up team at Washington: being absolutely ready for a big game and starting fast. In 2023, the Huskies played five games against opponents who finished the season ranked and scored first against four of them: the Arizona Wildcats, Oregon Ducks twice and Texas Longhorns. They scored on their first three drives against Arizona; three of their first four in the first Oregon game; four of their first five in the second meeting; and two of their first three against Texas. Combined first-quarter score of those games: 45–15.

(The national title game against the Michigan Wolverines was another animal entirely.)

What DeBoer and Bama did to Georgia was astounding, roaring to a 21–0 first-quarter lead and 28–0 in less than 18 minutes—against a team that hadn’t surrendered a touchdown in its previous four games. The last time Kirby Smart trailed anyone 21–0 in the first quarter as a head coach: never.

Now here’s the caveat to those fast DeBoer starts in big games: fading finishes and hanging on for dear life. A 28–10 lead on Arizona ended 31–24. Oregon missed a field goal to send the first game into overtime last year, and closed to within three in the second after trailing by 17. Texas was down nine with 2:40 left and ended the game inside the red zone trying to score the winning touchdown. And of course, you know what happened Saturday night in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

But, hey, it’s better to have leads in big games and try to protect them than hoping to mount last-gasp rallies.

Curt Cignetti (14), Indiana Hoosiers

September grade: A+

Talking big at a program that last won the Big Ten Conference in 1967 is a bold strategy, but Cignetti is undaunted by history and uninterested in modesty. He declared on Big Ten Network last December that the Hoosiers would play in the 2024 league title game and … it’s not yet out of the question.

Indiana is 5–0 for the first time since that Rose Bowl team of ’67, and it’s a pretty dominant 5–0. Average winning margin: 35.8 points. That includes a 2–0 Big Ten start, routing UCLA in Pasadena and handling Maryland at home. The Hoosiers are third nationally in scoring and ninth in total offense after Cignetti worked a rapid remake of the roster in the offseason.

Cignetti has made good on his promise to elevate the Hoosiers, getting Indiana off to its best start in more than 50 years. / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Indiana is favored by 14 points, per DraftKings, at Northwestern on Saturday, and likely will be favored at home against Nebraska and Washington thereafter. It’s not out of the question for the Hoosiers to head into November 8–0. Nobody would even know how to react to that.

Manny Diaz (15), Duke Blue Devils

September grade: A+

The Devils are 5–0 for the first time in 30 years. Diaz is making the most of his bounce-back opportunity after being fired at Miami (prematurely) in 2021. He did two years as defensive coordinator at Penn State and then inherited a revived Duke program from Mike Elko—but there was enough player turnover (including quarterback Riley Leonard leaving for Notre Dame) that Duke was picked to finish 11th in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

The Devils might still end up in that range—they’re only 1–0 in league play, and their undefeated season has been a series of close escapes. They needed a field goal with 14 seconds left to force overtime against Northwestern; came back in the fourth quarter to beat Connecticut; and then rallied from a 20–0 deficit to nip North Carolina 21–20. They’ve only scored more than 26 points once, ranking 13th in the ACC in scoring and total offense.

But you never apologize for 5–0, especially at a place like Duke. Diaz has delivered to date.

Mike Elko (16), Texas A&M Aggies

September grade: A

The Aggies are 4–1 despite losing starting quarterback Conner Weigman after two games. After a tough opening loss to Notre Dame, Elko put Billy Napier on the hottest seat in the country with a win at Florida and cranked up the pressure on Sam Pittman at Arkansas with a victory Saturday. Befitting Elko’s personality, it hasn’t been flashy, but it has been effective.

It’s good to be 2–0 in the SEC without having yet played a league game at Kyle Field. The first one is Saturday against No. 9 Missouri, and a victory over the Tigers would really get the Elko lovefest rolling in College Station.

Bill O’Brien (17), Boston College Eagles

September grade: A

This looked like an “A” hire when it happened, and it looks even more like it now. The Eagles are 4–1, with their lone loss by six points at Missouri. They also dominated Florida State on the road and beat Michigan State at home, in addition to surviving Western Kentucky without star quarterback Thomas Castellanos.

O'Brien (right) and Castellanos (left) have delivered as a duo in the Eagles first five games. / Melina Myers-Imagn Images

If Castellanos is able to return quickly, BC could be ticketed for early bowl eligibility and even dark-horse contender status in the ACC race. Neither Clemson nor Miami are on the schedule.

Sherrone Moore (18), Michigan Wolverines

September grade: B-

He was given a Cadillac job, but the Caddy had been stripped of many accessories—most importantly a decent quarterback. Given the personnel turnover on offense, Moore has done a reasonably solid job so far.

Things looked rather bleak after being pounded at home by Texas. Subsequent wins over USC and Minnesota (by a combined six points) at least stopped the panic—even if they didn’t restore full confidence. After five straight home games, it’s time to take the show on the road and see whether the No. 116 offense in America can find another gear.

Jedd Fisch (19), Washington Huskies

September grade: C

Like Moore at Michigan, he took over right after the parade had run through town. With a near-complete rebuild on his hands, nobody was expecting first-year Big Ten glory from the Huskies. But a lot of their fans were expecting to beat rival Washington State and probably Rutgers, too.

But the Scarlet Knights are undefeated, and six of the final seven opponents have one or fewer losses. Just getting to bowl eligibility will be an accomplishment.

DeShaun Foster (20), UCLA Bruins

September grade: D

This was an unconventional hire that is off to a struggling start. Nobody expected much here, and the early schedule has turned out tougher than expected (hello, Indiana). But the Bruins (1–3) haven’t scored more than 17 points yet this season. They’re 127th nationally in scoring at 14.8 points per game, and 133rd out of 134 in rushing offense. The game at Penn State on Saturday could be gruesome.

Willie Fritz (21), Houston Cougars

September grade: D-

As with Foster, this is another example walking into a difficult job and … yeah, it’s worse than originally feared. The Cougars haven’t scored a point in two Big 12 games, have scored 52 points total and are 1–4. (Thank goodness for Rice.) Just about everyone seems capable of jumping into the Big 12 chase, but not Fritz’s team.

Jeff Lebby (22), Mississippi State Bulldogs

September grade: F

They’re winless and largely hopeless against FBS competition, on a four-game losing streak, and have scored a single touchdown in the first quarter of the last four games. The Bulldogs fell behind Arizona State, 30–3; Toledo, 35–3; and Florida, 28–7. They salvaged a little bit of pride by only losing to Texas by 22 points Saturday, but as positives go that isn’t much.

State will probably be favored in only one more game this season (Massachusetts). The Bulldogs’ first winless SEC season since 2002 seems like a distinct possibility.

Game odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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