New head coach Bill O'Brien has some things working against him in Happy Valley as he takes over for Joe Paterno.

In texas, where I live, the joke is that there are two kinds of athletics – football and spring football. That’s nearly as true in college football. And as programs around the country gear up for workouts, we tackled the spring practice questions that mean the most.

Spring practice question No. 1: Can Bill O’Brien get off on the right foot at Penn State?

Replacing any head coach is hard enough. Replacing a legend is nearly folly. Replacing a beloved, revered, figure like Joe Paterno is a job few would want to tackle. Replacing Joe Paterno amid his death and the Jerry Sandusky scandal – which led to Paterno’s firing and put a black eye on the entire athletic program – just seems like an opportunity doomed to fail.

These are the conditions under which Bill O’Brien will be starting his tenure at Penn State. When you’re a new coach, spring workouts is usually a time to get acquainted with your new players and install your new system. For O’Brien it’s that much and more. He’ll have to start courting the Penn State faithful from the first day. He’ll have to get his message out there without insulting those who are still loyal to Paterno, and there are plenty of them. The PR element of O’Brien’s early tenure shouldn’t be underestimated.

On the field, O’Brien must install the attack he ran at New England with a group of athletes who don’t seem suited to it. How much will O’Brien give on his philosophy to put his players in the best position to win?

No coach faces more questions entering spring workouts than O’Brien. Whether he gets off on the right foot with the Nittany Lions is going to come down to his people skills. And that’s almost as important as the on-field product right now.

What other Spring practice questions are out there? Find out after the jump

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I took the time after the final hiring of the offseason to put together these FBS head coach hiring rankings, from No. 27 to No. 1 (yes, there were 27 job changes after the 2011 season, which eclipses the totals in both 2011 and 2010. It’s been an insane offseason, to say the least). Today, we dip into the Top 10.

First, let’s be clear – this is my opinion, and I base it on a number of factors, including the experience and reputation of the coach, the current state of the program, the perceived ability for the program to be competitive early and how the coach’s hire relates to the overall reputation of the program. In other words, did the school get it right?

Second, this is not a best to worst list of coaching hires. I would not say that hires that I have ranked toward the bottom of these rankings means they’re bad coaches. I feel like you have to show you’re a good coach to be a head coach somewhere. Rather, the coaches ranked near the bottom of this survey all have something working against them, such as taking over a bad program, their own lack of experience, issues they have no control of off the field, etc…

And, finally, this is not scientific. Much of it is how I feel about the hire in my gut. I don’t have a formula for determining if a head coach is the right head coach for that school, and neither does anyone else. At the end of the day, it comes down to your gut. And 27 athletic directors went with their guts this winter.

So who occupies the second tier in our FBS head coach hiring rankings? Find out below.

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New head coach Bill O'Brien has some things working against him in Happy Valley as he takes over for Joe Paterno.

It took nearly two months to finish off the college football hiring season, which leads me directly to the PigskinU.com 2012 FBS head coach hiring rankings.

I took the time after the final hiring of the offseason to rank all of the new head coaching hirings in FBS, from No. 27 to No. 1 (yes, there were 27 job changes after the 2011 season, which eclipses the totals in both 2011 and 2010. It’s been an insane offseason, to say the least. After publishing Nos. 21-27 and Nos. 16-20, we’re starting to get into the more recognizable names among the hiring roster.

First, let’s be clear – this is my opinion, and I base it on a number of factors, including the experience and reputation of the coach, the current state of the program, the perceived ability for the program to be competitive early and how the coach’s hire relates to the overall reputation of the program. In other words, did the school get it right?

Second, this is not a best to worst list of coaching hires. I would not say that hires that I have ranked toward the bottom of these rankings means they’re bad coaches. I feel like you have to show you’re a good coach to be a head coach somewhere. Rather, the coaches ranked near the bottom of this survey all have something working against them, such as taking over a bad program, their own lack of experience, issues they have no control of off the field, etc…

And, finally, this is not scientific. Much of it is how I feel about the hire in my gut. I don’t have a formula for determining if a head coach is the right head coach for that school, and neither does anyone else. At the end of the day, it comes down to your gut. And 27 athletic directors went with their guts this winter.

But some did better than others. We’ll start with the what I’ll call the third tier, Nos. 11-15.

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UCLA jettisoned its second straight alumnus as head coach, this time sending Rick Neuheisel packing. His replacement? A career NFL assistant and head coach in Jim Mora Jr. He really had just one good year as a head coach in Atlanta and has an under-.500 record.

Then the Pirate, Mike Leach, signed on to take over at Washington State, a curious choice to be sure. But, when you think about it, where else could Leach do things the way he wants them done? Pullman is about as far away from relevant in college football as you can get right now. Leach must energize the program and recruit well to compete. The former will be easy. The latter will be more difficult.

Then there’s Chip Kelly. You might have heard that he took the Tampa Bay Buccaneers job one day. It was such a done deal that the Ducks actually elevated one of their assistants to head coach. But, the next morning, Kelly had a change of heart and decided to stay in Eugene. Tampa Bay was not happy. Kelly’s reputation took a hit.

Finally, both Arizona schools changed head coaches. Arizona hired Rich Rodriguez. Arizona State hired Todd Graham, the latter of which created as many waves as Kelly’s near-move. Graham wanted to talk about the ASU job, but Pitt wouldn’t let him unless he quit, or at least that’s what he said afterward. Graham never said goodbye to his kids at Pitt and took a lot of grief for it.

And all of this happened before National Signing Day. So who were the winners and losers in the Pac-12? Click on the jump to find out.

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Well, National Signing Day has come and gone. So it’s time to consider the 2012 recruiting winners and losers.

Know that this isn’t a complete list. I’ll have something witty to stay about both BCS and non-BCS conferences over the next couple of days. These are just my impressions of who I think won and lost on signing day.

Recruiting is a huge deal. In fact, in the next couple of months you’re going to start hearing members of the Class of 2013 commit after taking spring visits to some of the nation’s best schools. Heck, the University of texas – which always seems to win this time of year – will have most of its 2013 class locked up by May. Or as locked up as it can be when you consider “locked up” means that a 17-year-old boy has told a local reporter that he’s verbally committed to texas, but can’t sign for eight months. But that’s for another story.

That said, I don’t follow recruiting that closely until we get to a week or so before signing day because, well, again we’re dealing with kids. They change their minds. A lot. Especially if Gunner Kiel is any indication.

Part of me thinks that Stefon Diggs of Olney, MD, has the right idea. Diggs didn’t sign on Wednesday. He decided to wait. He didn’t participate in the pomp and circumstance or rush his decision. He’ll keep no less than 13 schools on the hook until he does. That’s how many schools Scout.com says he’s interested in. He’s also a Top 10 recruit, so something tells me these 13 schools are willing to wait a bit.

So after pouring over the final rankings, as compiled by Rivals.com, Scout.com, Sports Illustrated (which used Rivals.com’s rankings but wrote its own stories), ESPN.com and CBSSports.com (which uses Maxpreps.com’s rankings), here’s who I think won and lost on signing day.

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Well, a few weeks ago I thought we had all of the head coaching changes in FBS locked down. Then Greg Schiano accepts the Bucs job and we’re on the coaching search train again.

Schiano accepted the Tampa Bay Buccaneers job on Thursday, which smells like he was the third of fourth choice. The Bucs interviewed coaches like Marty Schottenheimer, Mike Sherman and Wade Phillips. They also interviewed Oregon coach Chip Kelly and Kelly pretty much took the job, but then reversed course and stayed in Eugene. A couple of days later, Schiano had the job.

Schiano did coach for three years in the NFL as an assistant. But the majority of his career was spent in the college ranks. He spent more than a decade in Piscataway building Rutgers into a Big East contender. He’s had interviews for top college jobs but never got them. Now he’ll tackle the NFL.

His odds of success are long. Most college coaches that make the move to the pros don’t fare that well. Schiano heads to a young Bucs team that may actually buy into his college ways, but can he overcome what became the Bucs’ comical coaching search to achieve success? We’ll see.

PigskinU.com has the list of all of the old and new coaches in FBS for the upcoming season after the jump. We’ll release our head coaching hiring rankings soon, so stay tuned.

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With the hiring of Bill O’Brien, the FBS coaching changes for the 2012 season are complete. With 26 openings filled, FBS coaching changes are happening like never before. In fact, 70 of the 120 FBS coaching changes have been made in the past three offseasons. Absolutely staggering instability.

PigskinU.com has the list of all of the old and new coaches in FBS for the upcoming season after the jump. We’ll release our head coaching hiring rankings soon, so stay tuned.

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If you’re into planning your college football games way in advance, then you’re in luck. The SEC, Pac-12 and Big Ten are getting a head start on schedules.

First, the SEC schedule for 2012 came out earlier this week. Check out my post analyzing the schedules, including the teams who won and lost in this brave, new 14-team world. I think Missouri has a much better chance of making some noise in its first SEC year than texas A&M.

Next, the Pac-12 and Big Ten have agreed to the football version of the Big Ten-ACC Basketball challenge. Starting in 2017, every Pac-12 team will play a Big Ten team in a non-conference game. I love this idea. It juices everyone’s schedule, brings attention to both conferences and requires these teams to test themselves against someone other than Akron or San Jose State in non-conference. Bravo. I just wish we didn’t have to wait so long.

Finally, there’s news filtering out of the Lone Star State that texas will replace texas A&M on Thanksgiving weekend with another Lone Star rival, TCU. The Horned Frogs join the Big 12 in 2012 and should give the longhorns a run for their money. This isn’t set in stone yet and hasn’t been formally announced.

I can’t wait to find out how the Big 12 intends to handle the addition of West Virginia, which is certainly still in flux (at least as far as the Big East is concerned). We may not see their conference schedule for a while, or they may just soldier ahead and include the Mountaineers.

Other things on my mind as I mull why college football teams are struggling with extra points (I’m talking to you Air Force) …

The itinerant life of QB Daxx Garman continues. Garman will transfer to Oklahoma State and sit out a year before being eligible as a sophomore in 2013. Garman went to Arizona, less than a year after moving from Oklahoma to texas and setting up shop at powerful Carroll High School in Southlake. He never played at Carroll, as the governing body in texas, the University Interscholastic League, deemed that Garman’s transfer was football related only and broke the state’s transfer rules. So, in essence, this guy will not have taken a live snap since the 2009 football season when it comes time to lead the Cowboys. Scary. Could be scary good or scary bad, but scary nonetheless.

News flash – Mike Munchak isn’t interested in the Penn State job. I’m thisclose to sending my resume to Penn State AD Dave Joyner. I have no coaching experience, but I have a pulse and am willing to say yes. That may be all I need the way this search is going.

The top QB in the country, Gunner Kiel, is going to LSU. Or at least this is what he says. He can’t sign until February. The Hoosier State native originally committed to Indiana. Then, he realized he was the nation’s No. 1 QB recruit and thought to himself, “Hey, wait a minute …” That’s what I assume. I mean, he committed to Indiana for crying out loud. Was that just a reflex? Or did he think he was committing to the basketball team?

The most ludicrous Facebook sports post of the year? Here it is, shortly after texas beat Cal in the Holiday Bowl:

“Game announcers were too mushy and gushy about UT. This was not a good UT team, and program is only halfway where it could be. Under (Art) Briles or (Kevin) Sumlin or (Larry) Fedora or (Todd) Graham or (Mike) Leach or RC (Slocum) or June Jones, same team wins National title. If TCU coach (Gary Patterson) had been in Austin, UT wins 10 straight championships. All of those teams do more with less.”

Those eight coaches have a combined zero national titles. Mack Brown has one and has played in another national title game and regularly recruits the nation’s No. 1 crop of incoming freshmen. End of discussion. Seriously. End. Of. Discussion.

And if you’re a UT fan rethinking Brown’s employment, think about the guy before him – John Mackovic. Done soiling yourself? Now go change your pants and buckle up, Buttercup, because Jonathan Gray is coming to Austin. He and Malcolm Brown are about to create one of college football’s scariest backfields. All Gray did was set the national record for touchdowns at Aledo (texas) High School, win three straight state championships and earn National Player of the Year honors in 2011. That’s all.

The Whiparaound is Matthew Postins’ dose of college football news, wit and opinion. Check for it regularly at PigskinU.com. 

Well, the 2012 FBS coaching openings are down to Penn State’s coaching search. We think.

Penn State is the only FBS opening that remains, and the candidates are myriad – Mike Munchak, Bo Pelini (a rumor he’s denied), Tom Clements and Tom Bradley. But none of them get you excited, do they?

The other 25 open positions are filled, with the most relevant hire coming in Akron, of all places. The Zips managed to wrestle Terry Bowden away from the Division II program Bowden has helmed the past three years at North Alabama.

The Zips get immediate name recognition. Bowden gets a chance to redeem himself at the FBS level, more than a decade after his forced removal at Clemson.

PigskinU.com’s chart of FBS coaching changes for 2012 is after the jump. We will update it as needed and we’ll rank the hires once the carousel stops spinning.

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I’m not talking about gutless college football coaches in the sense of play-calling and player development. No, I’m talking about gutless college football coaches in how they leave one program for the next without doing it the right way. And we have three in major college football.

Arkansas’s Bobby Petrino, Maryland’s Randy Edsall and Arizona State’s Todd Graham have all raised the bar thanks to their inability to be able to tell a group of young men that they have taken a job with another team. I mean we’re all taught in life that we’re to give two weeks’ notice. Coaches don’t typically give that type of notice, but at least they tell their kids in person. Usually.

These three gutless college football coaches didn’t, and I think that sets a bad precedent for the assistant coaches that consider them mentors and the players that consider them role models. Hopefully they don’t take their cue from these three guys down the road when dealing with their future employers.

The funny thing is, each has raised the bar on being gutless in his own way. Consider:

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