Al Groh (Virginia)-  Coach Groh has been the head coach at Virginia since the 2001 season.  He was named the ACC coach of the year in 2002 and 2007.  He finished last season 5-7 and lost his opener this season to William and Mary.  Groh has 38 years experience as a football coach, 13 seasons in the NFL, and a super bowl championship on his resume.  The question is…will he be able to lead his team to victories this season?

Dan Hawkins (Colorado)- Coach Hawkins began his first season at Colorado in 2006.  His record during his three seasons there have been 2-10 (2006), 6-7 (2007) and 5-7 (2008).  He came to Colorado from Boise State where he was very successful as a head coach.  He was the WAC coach of the year for three years and holds a 31 game winning streak, the longest in the WAC history.  His season opener at Colorado this year, the Buffaloes lost a close game to Colorado State 23-17.  Can Coach Hawkins and the Buffaloes make a run in the Big 12 this year?

Paul Wulff (Washington State)- Coach  Wulff came to Washington State after 7 years as the head coach at Eastern Washington.  In his first season, the Cougars finished 2-11 and 9^th in the Pac-10 conference.  The Pac-10 conference is tough and one year might not be enough to recruit and to completely rebuild a program.  The question here is did coach Wulff do enough recruiting in the off season to turn this thing around?  Still he is only in his second season, so to be fair, he really deserves at least one more year to see if the program is trending upward. Can he get it done?

Mike Sherman (Texas A&M)-  Coach Sherman brought a wealth of coaching experience to Texas A&M in 2008.  The Aggies finished 4-8 that season and 5^th in the Big 12 conference.  The 2009 season kicked off with a 41-6 pouncing of New Mexico.  He has signed a 7 year contract with Texas A&M, and it appears he may have this headed in the right direction.  Regardless, his job wouldn’t appear to be in danger with a 5 year buyout looming.  Give him time and the Aggies might have found the right guy for the job.

Steve Kragthorpe (Louisville)-  Kragthorpe’s first season coaching the Louisville Cardinals was in 2007 when the Cards were fresh off the 2006 Orange Bowl.  The 2007 team was pre-season top 10 and finished 5^th in the conference with a 6-6 record.  In 2008, Louisville finished 5-7 and 8^th in the Big East Conference.  Kragthorpe came to Louisville with 4 years of head coaching experience at Tulsa where he was somewhat successful.  Louisville did win their opening game this season against Indiana State 30-10.  Keep in mind ISU had only won 1 game in the last three seasons.  Of the five coaches here Coach Kragthorpe’s seat appears the hottest.  We will have to wait and see how the season plays out.

I truly hope that all of these teams have successful seasons and I wish each and every coach on this list the best of luck.  For those who are not getting the jobs done…best of luck in your new endeavors, and to those who win and quiet the naysayers, congratulations!  Regardless of the outcomes, there is still almost 3 months left of college football season 2009 and this list can change quite a bit between now and then.