In college football, bringing in an Interim Head Coach offers a sense of rejuvenation, a freshness after the dismissal of the guy who wasn’t getting it done. These coaches can only change so much on the field of course, since they’re typically taking over in mid or late season. If nothing else, they sell hope…and tickets…something that’s certainly not lost on athletic directors.
Colorado became the latest Power Five school to debut an interim head coach when Mike Sanford took the reins for the 0-5 Buffs home game against Cal. With the spirits a mile low in Buff Country, the dismissal of Karl Dorrell brought that ray of hope. After a bye week filled with rallying cries, the CU faithful responded by almost selling out Folsom Field.
The painfully young Buffaloes – 90 players on the 114-man roster are freshmen or sophomores – responded with a spirited effort, pulling off an ugly but effective 20-13 OT win over the Golden Bears. After losing each of their first five games by more than three touchdowns, thrilled (relieved?) Buff fans stormed the field.
These kinds of feel-good moments lead a lot of followers to believe they have found their guy. A few AD’s fall into the trap.
You can understand it at some level. Collectively, Interim coaches at Georgia Tech, Arizona State, Nebraska, and Wisconsin also got off to decent starts (6-5 after Saturday.) Of that foursome, the Badgers Jim Leonard appears to be a lock to have his Interim tag pulled off, sooner rather than later. The other three most certainly have a shot, but aren’t sure things.
Some CU faithful are hoping that Sanford “makes it hard on (CU AD) Rick George” when it comes time to decide who will be running the program in 2023.
But is that what’s best for a scuffling program like Colorado?
Even after some initial success, Interim coaches – more often than not – don’t work out in long term. Collectively, Interim Head Coaches have a winning percentage south of 35% and far less than that actually end up with the head job.
Some of the more well-known Interim Head Coaches who’ve gotten the full time gig include Clay Helton at USC (didn’t work), Dabo Swinney at Clemson (a home run hire) and more recently, Marcus Freeman at Notre Dame. The popular Freeman took over when Brian Kelly bolted the Irish for LSU after the 2021 regular season ended. It was the ultimate feel good story, even after the Fighting Irish lost the Fiesta Bowl. But Freeman’s tenure has been bumpy thus far. Notre Dame lost to lowly Stanford on Saturday to fall to 3-3 this season.
Swinney has proven to be the exception that proves the rule. He’s been phenomenal. Helton’s up and down tenure at Southern Cal is far more indicative of what happens when an AD gives into emotion and keeps the interim guy. Helton did go 46-24, win the Pac 12 south twice and take the Trojans to four bowls, but after going 1-1 out of the gate last summer, he got the axe.
His first win aside, Sanford isn’t the guy Colorado should hire full time. He as very limited experience as a Head Coach, going 9-16 in just two seasons at Western Kentucky before he was let go.
The right guy to take over in Boulder was in Colorado the same day Sanford got his first win as the interim guy, but he was coaching Utah State as they rolled into Fort Collins and beat Colorado State 17-13. Blake Anderson’s team won the Mountain West championship in 2021 and arrived in the Fort coming off an upset win over pre-season MW favorite Air Force. Anderson’s resume includes 29 years of coaching experience. He’s coached in 12 bowl games. Before Anderson’s arrival during the abbreviated and clumsy 2020 season, Utah State was winless. Last season, Anderson’s first at USU, the Aggies won 11 games and the conference title.
By season’s end, Colorado will likely be looking for a similar kind of turnaround.
Anderson is the kind of guy that can do a lot with a less, and considering Colorado’s plight, he’d be the right fit.
And not on an interim basis.
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