Whenever a college football team makes a coaching change, the hope of immediate success will naturally follow.
Now, that phrase is relative. Fans of Florida International and New Mexico State do not have the same expectations as Notre Dame, Oklahoma or USC devotees. All of these supporters, though, are wishing for that first-year coach to outperform what happened last season—or perhaps the last several years.
During the 2022 season, 29 programs in the Football Bowl Subdivision will have a new head coach. There's a time for dreaming about best-case scenarios for each one too.
But on this lovely offseason day, we're laying out (early!) realistic expectations for the 29 fresh FBS coaches in 2022.
Tier 5: Hit the Patience Button
Each program in the opening tier has struggled lately. That doesn't mean a resurgent year is impossible, but it is implausible.
Joe Moorhead inherits an Akron program that has posted a 3-27 combined record since 2019. Jerry Kill enters a similar situation at New Mexico State—which has one of the most difficult jobs in the FBS—after 2-10 seasons in both 2019 and 2021.
Florida International went to bowls in three straight years to begin Butch Davis' tenure from 2017 to 2019, but the Panthers backslid to 1-16 in the last two seasons. Mike MacIntyre takes over in South Florida.
Don Brown has returned to Massachusetts, which he led from 2004 to 2008 and guided to an FCS national runner-up finish in 2006 before the program moved to the FBS in 2012. But the longtime defensive coordinator is facing a rebuild after the Minutemen trudged to two wins in the last 28 games.
And then, there's UConn. The program opted out of the 2020 campaign and has otherwise lumbered to a 4-32 mark in the last three seasons, only beating one FBS opponent (UMass) along the way. Jim Mora has an enormous challenge ahead.