Most Overrated College Football Coaches Heading into 2019 NCAAF Season

David Hayes
Minnesota v Nebraska
Minnesota v Nebraska / Steven Branscombe/Getty Images
facebooktwitterreddit

When it comes to college football, there's no shortage of offseason hype surrounding certain programs, and the same goes for their respective head coaches. Some coaches seemingly come up short of their relative expectations, but somehow continue to ride this hype through the summer and into the fall.

Here's a look at four of the most overrated head coaches leading their teams into the 2019 college football season.

4. Lovie Smith, Illinois

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Lovie Smith's days of leading the Chicago Bears to multiple NFC North titles and even a Super Bowl appearance are long gone. The former Bears' head coach has been nothing short of abysmal at the collegiate football level with Illinois. Since joining the Fighting Illini in 2016, Smith has gone 3-9, 2-10 and 4-8, respectively. Smith has also led Illinois to just a 4-23 Big Ten conference record, which is only one win better than Rutgers' conference-worst 3-24 record over that span.

3. Brian Kelly, Notre Dame

Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images

Brian Kelly has seen his fair share of success with the Irish, most notably his team's undefeated 2018-19 regular season finish that saw Notre Dame make its first College Football Playoff appearance in program history. However, that short-lived achievement went on to be more commonly remembered as a 30-3 beatdown against Clemson in the Cotton Bowl. Kelly's 60-34 record with Notre Dame certainly speaks for itself, but his program's consistently-lacking performances on the biggest stages speak even louder.

2. Scott Frost, Nebraska

Steven Branscombe/Getty Images

College football head coaches' resumes aren't built in a day, nor a single year, which is why the hype surrounding Scott Frost feels unearned. While the success of his 13-0 run with UCF in 2017 is hard to deny, let's not forget Frost finished 6-7 in his first year with the Knights. Frost has assembled two quality recruiting classes in Omaha thus far, but the team hasn't delivered. The Cornhuskers finished 4-8 last season, even including a home loss to Troy.

1. Willie Taggart, Florida State

Mark Brown/Getty Images

When Willie Taggart left his comfortable job as the head coach of Oregon to return home to Florida, expectations were through the roof for him and his new staff. Known as an All-Star recruiter, Taggart hasn't exactly had the same luck he did in Eugene. With countless Florida State fans and alumni hoping he'd bring a quick fix to the declining success of the program, Taggart's first year as the head coach of the the Seminoles was an absolute circus. The Seminoles posted a 5-7 record, finished 3-5 in ACC action and snapped the program's streak of 36 straight bowl games, missing their first postseason game since 1982.


Join FanDuel Sportsbook Today. New users get a risk-free bet up to $500. Join Now.


David Hayes is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, David Hayes also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username DavidWHayes. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.

facebooktwitterreddit