For the first time in 15 years, every football coach at Florida's seven FBS schools is returning.
The turnover may sound unusual but it's pretty much standard in this volatile industry, which gets more pressure packed by the year.
Back in 2009, staples such as Bobby Bowden (FSU), Urban Meyer (Florida), Howard Schnellenberger (FAU), George O'Leary (UCF) and Jim Leavitt (USF) were roaming the college football sidelines. Randy Shannon was trying to hold on at Miami and Mario Cristobal was in his third season at FIU.
This year's group includes two coaches headed into Year 2 at their current school, three into Year 3, one into Year 4 and the dean of state college coaches, Mike Norvell, entering his fifth year at Florida State.
Norvell's ACC title and undefeated regular season was far and away the biggest state success story in 2023. Other than Alex Golesh improving USF by six wins, the other five programs were stagnant or took a step back.
Expectations in 2024 range from FSU being part of the 12-team playoff — a spot the Seminoles deserved in the final year of the four-team playoff but were snubbed — to Florida trying to save Billy Napier's job.
Here are the seven FBS coaches in the state and how we rank them:
1. Mike Norvell, FSU
After leading FSU to an undefeated regular season and ACC championship in 2023, Norvell was a finalist for every coach of the year award and was named Paul “Bear” Bryant Coach of the Year. The Seminoles ended 13-1 after being left out of the playoff. Norvell has taken the program from eight wins his first two seasons and 23 the last two, including its first ACC title in nine years. FSU is back to being the standard bearer in the state and has restored its brand nationally. But has it reached the point where it just reloads and stays at the top? With high expectations for 2024, we will soon find out.
2. Gus Malzahn, UCF
UCF stumbled to 6-7 last season, 3-6 in its Big 12 debut, including losses by two points at No. 6 Oklahoma and one point at Texas Tech. Still, Malzahn led the Knights to a bowl for the third time in his three years in Orlando, despite the much more difficult schedule after leaving the AAC. UCF won nine games in each of Malzahn's first two years and with the program now settled in the Big 12, and 15 returning starters, look for the Knights to get back to that standard.
3. Tom Herman, FAU
Within the state, only Malzahn has built a coaching resume better than Herman's. The latter was 58-30, 5-0 in bowls, finished in the top 25 four times (twice in the top 10) and had four consecutive winning seasons at Texas. And among active coaches in the country, Herman is the last one to beat Georgia, in the 2018 Sugar Bowl. Herman inherited an extremely flawed roster last season, his first at FAU and the school's first in the AAC, and finished 4-8, with four one-score losses including 23-17 at Illinois. The roster will have about a 50 percent turnover and the Owls could have nine or 10 new starters on offense.
4. Alex Golesh, USF
Golesh's ranking is not only based on his one year at USF, but his impressive resume before arriving in Tampa. He was a Broyles Award finalist in 2022 for the nation's top assistant after his offense at Tennessee led the nation in scoring and total offense. Golesh led the Bulls to the second-best turnaround in the FBS last year with a six-win improvement over 2022. USF went from 1-11 to 7-6. The Bulls won eight total games the previous four years combined. Golesh was named one of the top 15 coaches of 2023 by College Football News.
5. Mike MacIntyre, FIU
The Panthers are entering a critical stage in MacIntyre's tenure. This is MacIntyre's 12th season as a head coach, third at the Miami school, and his previous two teams - San Jose State, Colorado - made dramatic improvement in Year 3. MacIntyre took over an FIU program that was 1-16 the previous two years and twice has gone 4-8. This is the year FIU must take that next step, especially with a veteran team (14 returning starters) and not to mention the momentum of its partnership with Pitbull.
6. Mario Cristobal, Miami
This was a tough call for No. 6 and 7, but Cristobal gets the slight edge over Napier because of his ability to recruit. Cristobal's issues, though, are developing that talent and his in-game coaching, especially the latter, something that has haunted him throughout his career. The Hurricanes are 12-13 in Cristobal's two years, 6-10 in the ACC. He has yet to win a home ACC game in regulation, going 2-6, both wins in overtime. And Cristobal forever will be remembered for the inexcusable decision to not take a knee that could have ended Miami's home game last season against Georgia Tech, instead of it turning into a loss.
7. Billy Napier, Florida
If you believe all the noise, Napier has about as much a chance of retaining his job beyond this year as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has at becoming the next president of the United States. Not much has gone right in his two years in Gainesville with an 11-14 overall record, 6-10 in the SEC. With arguably the most difficult schedule in the country this year - the Gators play eight teams in the preseason top 25 - Napier tops the list of coaches on the hot seat. Napier, though, has a chance to make a statement right from the start with Florida hosting Miami Aug. 31.
Tom D'Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
