The LSU Tigers lost to the Troy Trojans, marking the first home loss to a non-conference opponent for the Tigers since UAB in 2000. LSU is now 3-2, and with games remaining against Florida, Auburn, and Alabama, questions surround first-year head coach Ed Orgeron and his future in Baton Rouge.
11 discouraging Year 1 losses by college football coaches who went on to big success
Did your new coach just suffer a bad loss? That’s not necessarily reason to give up on him just yet.
Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images
It’s easy to hit the panic button, but Tiger fans, I’m here to try and ease your worry, if only a little bit.
A number of successful head coaches have had bad losses right away, but successfully led those same programs afterward.
Some were in the middle of total rebuilds, while others were just weird upsets, but the point is that it’s hard to judge a coach by a Year 1 loss.
- Nick Saban, 2007: Alabama loses to ULM — Yep, during Saban’s first season in Tuscaloosa, the Tide lost to a Sun Belt team, 21-14.
”The UL-Monroe game, it was definitely eye-opening,” Greg McElroy told SB Nation over the summer of the loss. “In the sense of … just because we’re Alabama, and we have this history and these uniforms, and we have this stadium and we have this coach and these players, doesn’t mean that we were any better than anyone else.”
- Dabo Swinney, 2008: Clemson loses to a bad Maryland — The Terps went 2-10 in 2008, Swinney’s first season after being promoted from interim, the same path Orgeron took at LSU. After the Maryland loss, Swinney was 6-6 as a head coach.
- Mike Gundy, 2005: Oklahoma State loses a bunch, including to a 5-6 Baylor. Nothing about Gundy’s first season in Stillwater went well; his team lost seven Big 12 games, ending a bowl streak under Les Miles. His “I’m a man!” rant was two full years away.
- Gary Patterson, 2001: TCU loses to Northwestern State — The Horned Frogs lost 27-24 in overtime at home to the Demons, a I-AA school. After a 10-2 2000, TCU finished 6-6 in his first full season.
- Frank Beamer, 1987: Virginia Tech loses nine games, including to a Tulane that’d had five straight losing seasons. In Beamer’s first season in Blacksburg, the Hokies finished 2-9, and in late October, the NCAA announced scholarship sanctions, based on violations by the previous coaching staff. Yeah, Beamer’s future didn’t look bright after Year 1!
- Pat Fitzgerald, 2006: Northwestern loses to New Hampshire — The Wildcats lost to an FCS school, albeit one whose OC was Chip Kelly, and finished 4-8 after a 7-5 2005.
- Kyle Whittingham, 2005: Utah loses to San Diego State — The Utes went 7-5 and lost to an eventual 5-7 Aztec team after going 12-0 with a Fiesta Bowl victory under Urban Meyer.
- Bobby Bowden, 1976: Florida State loses at home to a Clemson team that finished 3-6-2 — The Noles improved to 5-6, but with plenty of growing pains.
- Howard Schnellenberger, 1979: Miami loses to Florida A&M — The Rattlers were I-AA national champions the season before, and the Canes would finish 5-6, but this was still viewed as a huge upset.
- Kirk Ferentz, 1999: Iowa loses to Northwestern and Indiana — Both teams finished with losing records that season, and the Hawkeyes went 1-10 after a 3-8 finish to the Hayden Fry era. Who would’ve thought the man would later sign a contract through 2025?
- Bob Stoops, 1999: Oklahoma loses to a bad Notre Dame team — Stoops’ team improved to 7-5 in his first season and lost to the Fighting Irish on the road 34-30. ND finished 5-7, the first losing season for Notre Dame since 1985.
And while it might seem like LSU is a totally different situation from some of the above — it didn’t really look like a rebuild, considering his Tigers won the Citrus Bowl and started 2017 as preseason No. 13 — it’s becoming clear that years of attrition along both lines has left LSU at a major disadvantage. That doesn’t really justify losing to Troy at home, but it does show the Tigers have a little bit more to overcome than we might’ve realized.
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