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Jim McElwain was hardly a household name nationally when Florida athletics director Jeremy Foley tapped him to the Gators next head football coach in December 2014.
The former Alabama offensive coordinator had fared well under Nick Saban and had done an impressive job in quickly turning around Colorado State in his first head coaching stint, but there were questions about he’d fare in the SEC.
McElwain put those concerns to rest and then some, winning 10 games in his first year in Gainesville to lead Florida into the SEC Championship Game for the first time since 2009 to earn SEC Coach of the Year accolades.
More impressively, he consistently made lemonade when dealt lemons and made believers out of the flawed Gators team he inherited to be the best coaching hire for the 2015 season.
Here’s a look back at all the coaching hires from a year ago and how they fared.
Jim McElwain (Florida)
2015: 10-4, lost to Michigan in the Citrus Bowl
Skinny: McElwain inherited a team that had major deficiencies at quarterback, along the offensive line and in the kicking game. His offensive problems grew exponentially following the suspension of quarterback Will Grier midway through the season. Nevertheless, McElwain got his team to play hard each week and think they could win every game while playing in the nation’s toughest conference. By season’s end, their many holes were too much to overcome, but the future is bright in Gainesville.
Grade: A
Tom Herman (Houston)
2015: 13-1, won the American Athletic Conference title, beat Florida State in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl.
Skinny: Herman, the former offensive coordinator at Ohio State, brought his energy and enthusiasm to a talented Cougars team and the results were magical. Things are looking good for this program, assuming it can keep Herman for the foreseeable future.
Grade: A
Jim Harbaugh (Michigan)
2015: 10-3, beat Florida in the Citrus Bowl.
Skinny: The return of the prodigal son to Ann Arbor was a long time coming, and Harbaugh didn’t disappoint. He inherited a strong defense from Brady Hoke, but the toughness that marked Harbaugh’s career as a Wolverine quarterback and throughout the NFL was apparent to see again. He needs to beat Michigan State and Ohio State, but expect the Wolverines to again become an annual Big Ten contender.
Grade: A-
Paul Chryst (Wisconsin)
2015: 10-3, beat USC in the Holiday Bowl.
Skinny: The former Badgers offensive coordinator had a solid first year by adding another 10-win season to the school’s ledger. He might be hard-pressed to repeat that in 2016.
Grade: B+
Jon Bonamego (Central Michigan)
2015: 7-6, lost to Minnesota in the Quick Lane Bowl.
Skinny: Kudos to Bonamego for getting the Chippewas into a bowl game after only being hired five days after National Signing Day.
Grade: B
Pat Narduzzi (Pittsburgh)
2015: 8-5, lost to Navy in the Military Bowl.
Skinny: Give Narduzzi credit for adapting and quickly improving following the loss of reigning ACC Player of the Year James Connor to a knee injury. Freshman Qadree Ollison quickly took the mantle, chewing up more than 1,000 yards to earn league Offensive Freshman of the Year accolades. Narduzzi has the Panthers on the right track to contend in the ACC Coastal Division.
Grade: B
Mike Bobo (Colorado State)
2015: 7-6, lost to Nevada in Arizona Bowl.
Skinny: Bobo, the former Georgia offensive coordinator, replaced McElwain and got off to a rough 2-4 start before getting the Rams rolling. Bobo still has a ways to go for Colorado State to become relevant again.
Grade: B-
Philip Montgomery (Tulsa)
2015: 6-7, lost to Virginia Tech in the Independence Bowl.
Skinny: Solid first year, but the former Baylor offensive coordinator might need some reminding that is perfectly acceptable for his team to play defense at some point.
Grade: C+
Mike Riley (Nebraska)
2015: 6-7, beat UCLA in the Foster Farms Bowl.
Skinny: Once-proud Nebraska won its bowl game and still finished with a losing season. Riley also upset Michigan State in Year 1, but the Huskers will have to do better in 2016.
Grade: C
Lance Leipold (Buffalo)
2015: 5-7.
Skinny: The transition to major college football was a rough one for Leipold, whose seven losses in 2015 eclipsed the six total he suffered in the eight years prior while winning six national championships at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater.
Grade: C
Tony Sanchez (UNLV)
2015: 3-9.
Skinny: The Rebels knew there would be growing pains as Sanchez, a former high school coach, became acclimated to the college game.
Grade: C
Neal Brown (Troy)
2015: 4-8.
Skinny: Brown, a former offensive coordinator at Kentucky, showed enough in his first season to have the fan base optimistic for 2016.
Grade: C
Gary Andersen (Oregon State)
2015: 2-10.
Skinny: A disastrous first season means that Andersen might be rethinking his decision to leave Wisconsin.
Grade: C-
Chad Morris (SMU)
2015: 2-10.
Skinny: The Mustangs showed flashes, but not enough to avoid a forgettable season. Morris knows offense, but he has to fix that defense, which ranked 127th in scoring (45.7 points per game). Only one team was worse, which leads us to …
Grade: C-
David Beaty (Kansas)
2015: 0-12.
Skinny: Nobody’s ever going to confuse Kansas for Alabama, but going winless with eight losses by at least 25 points and four by at 48 least qualifies as a horrendous season by any measure. At least the Jayhawks were consistent. They ranked last in scoring defense (46.1 points per game) and sixth from the bottom in scoring (15.3).
Grade: F
John Hollis is a contributing writer for Saturday Down South. He covers Georgia and Florida.
