Ranking every football coach in the AAC from 1-12 ahead of the 2019 season

3 HOUSTON
Dana Holgorsen: Sometimes it’s difficult with these coach rankings to determine a balance between success at previous stops, impact on a coach’s current program and projection of what’s to come. Holgorsen won 61 games in eight years at West Virginia, missing the postseason only once (2013) and finishing in the top 25 three times. That success at the Big 12 level combined with a decade of experience as an assistant in Texas has set up a potentially fruitful second chapter of Holgorsen’s career. Last year’s AAC ranking: NR

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Is coaching really that bad in the AAC to where Strong is in the top 4? I really don’t understand the fascination. He was below .500 at uta, and runs a very mundane offense at USF. Fickell is better IMO.

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Let’s hope that we have the kind of season that sends him into next year ranked #1!

I think Niumatoloio and Huepel are too high and Fickell and Fritz are too low.

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Strong won a BCS bowl with Louisville, oversaw them successfully transitioning to the ACC, had another 1 loss season (didn’t make a BCS bowl, weird season) and coached Teddy Bridgewater. He never should have left, but his resume at Louisville is impressive and isn’t ancient history.

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Not saying he’s the best coach ever, but he was 2x Big East coach of the year. He has a better win % than Navy’s coach and yes, Bill Yeoman (different eras)

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I must be blind because I just can’t see it. He’s done absolutely nothing since Louisville. He had a run with Flowers, but I’d imagine that having something to do with the competition in the East. I predicted (knew) we were going to win that game in Florida, and I knew we were going to win the game last year in The Cage. All because he’s not a good coach. He reminds me of Applewhite, uninspiring, and unable to make in-game adjustments. That’s not a recipe for sustainable success and we saw it last year from BOTH teams!

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Well said. Losing Sterling Gilbert as OC is going to really hurt them. Plus, for some reason Strong kicked a bunch of players off the team, which is what killed his depth in Austin. Trending downwards…

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I’ll admit Strong is definitely trending downward. He never should have left Louisville. He would have earned a long leash there even if they struggled a few seasons. He had a nice Florida recruiting pipeline at Louisville. And he could have waited for one of the big 3 FL jobs to open up in his territory if he wanted to level up.

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The Siren Song that is the UT-A job has crashed many a career ships upon its rocks.

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Sterling Gilbert’s removal was the thing that excited the fanbase most. They hated him.