College football satisfaction index: How happy are BYU, Notre Dame fans with their coaches?
The college football fan relationship with their favorite team’s head coach is highly volatile. Characterized by sharp autumnal mood swings and overreactions, it’s a bit like the Brangelina marriage – filled with drama.
With the 2016 season in the books, this seems like an apt time to check in on every fan-coach relationship in FBS. What follows is a Fan Satisfaction Index, appraising where every coach stands with his constituency, based on the following scale:
5 – Build the statue.
4 – Extend the contract.
3 – Stay the course.
2 – Fire the coordinators.
1 – Call the moving trucks.
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INDEPENDENTS
Army: Jeff Monken (14-23 at Army). Satisfaction rating: 4. The Cadets had their finest season in 20 years, winning eight games and ending that intolerable 14-year losing streak to Navy. Army capped it off with just the second bowl bid in two decades and second bowl win in 31 years. The only cloud came courtesy of being implicated in the WakeyLeaks gameplan scandal, in which Army was alleged to have received pirated gameplan information on Wake Forest. Army announced an internal investigation in mid-December, but any results from that have not been made public. For a place that counts “honor” as one of its core principals, this should be a big deal.
Brigham Young: Kalani Sitake (9-4 at BYU). Satisfaction rating: 3. His first season as a head coach sure wasn’t dull, with eight games decided by a touchdown or less – and seven of those by a field goal or less. The Cougars went 3-3 against Power Five opponents, beating Arizona, Michigan State and Mississippi State in the midst of down seasons and losing nailbiters to UCLA, Utah and West Virginia. The 2017 Cougars lose a lot of key contributors but can build around an experienced offensive line.
Massachusetts: Mark Whipple (8-28 in second stint at UMass; 49-26 at the school from 1998-2003). Satisfaction rating: 2. The newest Division I nomads took their lumps where they could get them, going 2-10 against a schedule that had them roaming from Hawaii to Florida. The two victories, at home over Florida International and FCS Wagner, were witnessed by an announced total of about 20,700 fans. Nothing about the move to FBS has worked well yet for the Minutemen, including Whipple 2.0.
Notre Dame: Brian Kelly (59-31 at Notre Dame). Satisfaction rating: 1. In order to overcome the second-worst season at Notre Dame in the last 53 years – his 4-8 was a smidge better than Charlie Weis’ 3-9 in 2007 – Kelly must bounce back in a big way. Coordinators have been changed, with significant input from athletic director Jack Swarbrick. And in addition to the losing there was just the latest off-field issue for the school – NCAA sanctions stripped the team of 21 victories, a ruling the school has appealed. Kelly has been the school’s best football coach since Lou Holtz – but that’s not an invitation to stay forever, and anything short of 8-4 (at least) might not be enough to stay past 2017.
