College football third-year coach grades: Dan Lanning, Marcus Freeman earn 'A'; Brent Venables gets a 'C'

The 2021-22 college football coaching carousel was a blockbuster event headlined by landscape-shifting moves by some of the biggest brands in the sport. It wasn't just that programs like Florida, LSU and USC were looking for replacements for fired head coaches. Those openings created a domino effect that led to openings at several other blue bloods. 

Then-Oklahoma coach Lincoln Riley emphatically denied reporters' suggestions that he was going to LSU in a postgame press conference and he stuck to his word -- sort of. The next day, news broke that he was headed west to USC. Brian Kelly was just one year removed from a second CFP appearance at Notre Dame when he decided to take the aforementioned LSU job. 

Miami did its best to inspire the memories of champions past by bringing home Mario Cristobal, and then Oregon tapped into Kirby Smart's Georgia tree to offer a young Dan Lanning his first shot as a head coach. Notre Dame promoted defensive coordinator Marcus Freeman instead of making an outside hire, and Florida finally landed on a rising star out of the Sun Belt named Billy Napier. 

The twists and turns were dizzying, and when we finally got the 2022 seasons started with all the pieces in new places it was obvious we had reached a new chapter for the coaching landscape. Three years later, we return to grade each coach's tenure -- at least of the ones who completed three years on the job. 

Coaches like Mike Elko, Kalen DeBoer, Jake Dickert and Jon Sumrall were so good that they've already been hired away to other programs. Others have been fired or opted for retirement from the head coaching ranks, leaving us with just 19 coaches who have completed Year 3 and are preparing for Year 4 in 2025. 

Power Four

Team	Coach	Record	Analysis	Grade
Florida	Billy Napier	19-19	The 2024 season started with a lot of pressure and hot seat talk for Napier. That chatter only ramped up after early season home losses to Miami and Texas A&M. But the Gators calmed the waters with some key late season wins against LSU and Ole Miss (both at home) and the obvious star potential shown by quarterback DJ Lagway. In totality the tenure is not overwhelming, with just two bowl appearances and a 10-14 record in SEC play across three seasons, but there have been enough bright spots for a passing grade heading into 2025.	C
LSU	Brian Kelly	29-11	Kelly has led a high-floor operation that grades out as one of the winningest three-year stretches in this class. The Tigers won the SEC West in his first season, had a Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback in Year 2 and then entered late October 2024 ranked in the top 10 with an inside track to make the SEC Championship Game again. But a few hiccups have prevented this high-floor program from hitting an even higher ceiling. He's 0-3 in season openers (two losses to Florida State, one to USC), the 2024 campaign was derailed by a three-game losing streak and the portal activity has seen mixed results. Kelly's been on schedule, but hasn't exceeded expectations through three years on the job.	B+
Miami (Fla.)	Mario Cristobal	22-16	Prior to 2024, Cristobal had mostly delivered similar to results to each of the previous two Hurricanes head coaches. But the talent acquisition work paid off in a breakthrough season that saw Miami win 10 games and contend for both an ACC title and College Football Playoff appearance deep into the year. With a 12-12 record in ACC play, the three-year snapshot still leaves a lot to be desired but Miami is poised to be an annual factor in the ACC title race with Cristobal at the helm.	B
Notre Dame	Marcus Freeman	33-10	One of the best things a young coach can do to inspire confidence in his fan base is show the growth and improvement on a year-to-year basis. Freeman has increased his win total each year, starting with nine victories in 2022 and peaking this past season with a 14-2 campaign that ended in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game. Every single Freeman-coached season has included a top-20 finish and a postseason win, and his work on the recruiting trail was on full display when the team's depth helped it overcome multiple key injuries in 2024.	A
Oklahoma	Brent Venables	22-17	While Oklahoma has been to three straight bowl games with Venables, they are not the games that the Sooners are used to playing in and the results have produced a pair of 6-7 finishes in his three years. He's navigated the move to the SEC and significant turnover on the coaching staff, but enters 2025 under immense pressure because a 12-14 record against conference opponents is not the standard in Norman.	C
Oregon	Dan Lanning	35-6	No coach on this list has more wins through three years than Lanning, who not only guided Oregon through a move to the Big Ten but ran the table in the Ducks' first season of conference membership. Lanning has recorded two top-10 finishes and almost all of his (very few) losses have come to teams that either won or played for the national championship. This season's one-and-done showing in the College Football Playoff left a bad taste in the Ducks' mouth, but a three-year review of his time in Eugene puts Lanning among the best in this class.	A
SMU	Rhett Lashlee	29-12	A former SMU offensive coordinator who returned to Dallas after Sonny Dykes' departure for TCU, Lashlee has taken full ownership of this surging Mustangs program that is starting to recapture levels of success it has not seen in decades. Lashlee guided the Mustangs to an AAC title in their final year of conference membership and then nearly won the the ACC the following season. With a conference championsihp, a Power Four runner-up finish and a CFP appearance already under his belt, Lashlee's stock is soaring heading into 2025.	A-
TCU	Sonny Dykes	27-13	This is an extremely difficult grade to assign. Credit has to be given for leading TCU all the way to the national championship game in Year 1. The program's talent level had been backsliding under the previous regime and Dykes got them all on the same page for one of the best seasons in program history (even if it ended with a lopsided title game loss). But the Horned Frogs are just 14-11 in the last two seasons and have not cracked the top 25 since the 2023 preseason poll.	B
Texas Tech	Joey McGuire	23-16	It's been a really solid start for McGuire's tenure at Texas Tech. His Red Raider teams have gone to three bowl games and compiled a 16-11 record against Big 12 opponents. We have yet to see him hit a program peak or experience a breakthrough season or moment, with no top-3 finishes in the Big 12 standings and not even a single appearances in the AP Top 25, but he's got a great reputation on the recruiting trail. His ouststanding recent portal haul has created a buzz around the program heading into 2025.	B-
USC	Lincoln Riley	26-14	Coaches are going to be graded on a curve based on what program they're at and the expectations involved, but we're also going to be grading to their own expectations based on previous results. Lincoln Riley went 55-10 at Oklahoma with four conference championships, four top-10 finishes and two College Football Playoff appearances. He's already lost more games at USC (14) in three years than he did at Oklahoma in five, and after finishing as the Pac-12 runner-up in 2022 has gone a combined 15-11 over the last two seasons. If Caleb Williams doesn't injure his hamstring in the Pac-12 title game then the Trojans probably have at least one CFP appearance, but as it is Riley's tenure gets the kind of grade that keeps you eligible but remains far from the Dean's List.	C+
Virginia	Tony Elliott	11-23	Coming out of a successful tenure with Clemson that included a handful of conference championships and two national titles, Elliott was crowned as a coach on the rise that could help Virginia continue some of the momentum established under Bronco Mendenhall. But through three years the results are a decided step back, with a 6-17 record against ACC competition, no bowl appearances and just one win against a ranked team.	D
Virginia Tech	Brent Pry	16-21	Pry received deserved credit for pulling Virginia Tech out of a roster disaster, utilizing the transfer portal and improved high school recruiting to make a four-win improvement from Year 1 to Year 2. That success poised the Hokies for a perceived breakthrough season in 2024, but inconsistencies left a talented roster with a 6-7 record that was not enough to change the big picture for Pry's tenure. He's got a sub-.500 record overall and in ACC play (10-13), and has yet to win a game against an AP Top 25 opponent.	C

Group of Five

Team	Coach	Record	Analysis	Grade
Akron	Joe Moorhead	8-28	Moorhead has impacted multiple schools at multiple levels. His ability to teach the game is unquestioned, and if we were grading that, his mark would be much higher. But here we are asked to consider a three-year snapshot, and the Zips have been among the lowest-rated football teams in all of FBS the last couple of years. He did see a bump up in success with four wins in 2024 after just two in the his two years at the helm, but right now the hill is winning in the uphill battle when it comes to getting Akron to bowl eligibility.	D
Colorado St.	Jay Norvell	16-21	Long viewed as a program with resources and potential, Colorado State was in a bad place when Norvell took over. That earns him some grace for the Rams' struggles in the first years of his tenure. That leeway is more easily awarded after what can be seen as a breakthrough season (8-5) in 2024. There's still a cap on how high the grade can be for a sub.-500 coach with a 12-12 record against conference competition, but Colorado State is moving in the right direction.	C
Ga. Southern	Clay Helton	20-19	The former USC coach has guided the Eagles to three bowl appearances, but it was the step forward in 2024 that got Helton out of the "C" range. Georgia Southern finished with a winning record for the first time in Helton's three seasons (8-5) and placed in the Sun Belt East Division with a 6-2 conference record. Though he spent a decade as an assistant and head coach in Los Angeles, Helton seems to have settled into his role in Statesboro, Georgia.	B-
Hawaii	Timmy Chang	13-25	Again, we're grading on a curve, so one must consider the state of Hawaii football when Chang took over and the challenges he's been presented. Hawaii has been competitive with the program's former star quarterback leading the way, nearly pulling off upsets of UCLA (2024) and Vanderbilt (2023). But it's a results-based business and the Rainbow Warriors have just nine wins over FBS opponents in three seasons.	D
Louisiana	Michael Desormeaux	23-18	When Billy Napier left for Florida, the program promoted Desormeaux with hope he would contine the standard of regularly competing for Sun Belt championships. Though it took a couple of seasons to put all the pieces together, the Ragin Cajuns did finish as the Sun Belt runner-up in 2024. They have also made a bowl game in all three of Desormeaux's seasons. As a former Ragin' Cajuns quarterback himself, Desormeaux has taken great pride in the three-year build back to conference title contention. That upward trajectory is expected to continue going forward.	B
Louisiana Tech	Sonny Cumbie	11-26	A respected offensive coach with plenty of successful stops as an assistant, Cumbie has yet to see a real breakthrough at Louisiana Tech. He has no winning seasons through three years. His only bowl appearances (2024) came as a replacement for Marshall after the Thundering Heard pulled out of a game due to a massive transfer portal exodus. It's even worse when you consider the Bulldogs have gone just 8-16 in Conference USA, which is chock full of schools transitioning from FCS.	D
UConn	Jim Mora	18-20	Though his overall record is sub-.500, it's tough not to offer a slight bump up for Mora in the wake of a nine-win campaign in 2024 -- the program's most since 2007. In guiding the team to two bowl games in a three-year span Mora has delivered the most successful run of Huskies football since the late Big East era. Not only did UConn finish the year with a win against North Carolina in the bowl game, but its three losses to Duke, Wake Forest and Syracuse were all decided by seven points or less.	B-