Some of the most impressive coaching performances from the first half of the college football season came from first-year leaders. Curt Cignetti guided Indiana to a stunning 6-0 start, Fran Brown tore up the recruiting trail and logged a 5-1 record at Syracuse and Mike Elko bounced back from a season-opening loss to spark a five-game winning streak for Texas A&M. That trio headlines the most successful first-year coaches entering Week 8.
Immediate results are far from guaranteed for coaches in their debut campaigns, though. For every Cignetti, there is a Jeff Lebby, who oversaw a one-win first half of the year at Mississippi State. That is not to say that slow starts indicate lost causes, but rather it is a sign that there exists heaps of work to be done in rebuilding a program.
The best leaders often have their teams playing their best football late in the year, so second-half turnarounds could be in store for some of the more underwhelming first-year coaches.
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Below is a status check for each of the first-year coaches in Power Four college football.
