College football's Week 1 featured a wave of new coaches making debuts with their programs after a tumultuous offseason. The SEC alone flipped six coaches, causing chaos across the Group of Six as programs scrambled to backfill. New coaches headlined the highest-profile games of the weekend, as LSU's Lane Kiffin got out to a quick start and Michigan's Kyle Whittingham faltered.
In other cases, coaches got simple starts to flex their muscles against overmatched FCS opponents. The list includes two coaches promoted from interim status who coached a handful of games last season: Ole Miss's Pete Golding and Kent State's Mark Carney. But still, going through a full offseason and taking over is a new complication.
We also included a handful of coaches who coached multiple games with seasons starting in Week 0. We'll happily take additional data points. Here's how we grade every first-year coach's performance in Week 1.
Kiffin's Tigers were magnificent in his Baton Rouge debut, obliterating Clemson 51-10. LSU won every phase of the game in spades, but the running game -- led by QB Sam Leavitt and RB Dilin Jones -- stood apart. Honestly, the only hesitation about this performance is whether Clemson deserves more blame than LSU deserves credit.
For one week, Kiffin was worth every penny and every bit of headache. Grade: A+ Even putting aside the controversial finish, Michigan was absolutely awful in Whittingham's first game. The Wolverines mustered only 229 yards and six points against Western Michigan before the Hail Mary, and the defense struggled to get off the field.
Frankly, the Wolverines that showed up against WMU would miss a bowl game -- and that's before you consider the four games against AP top 10 opponents ahead. Grade: F Chesney has deservedly gotten plenty of plaudits over the offseason, and the Bruins came out guns blazing in a 45-24 win over rival California. In the game's brightest moments, it was UCLA ready to execute and play clean, situational football.
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