10 times head coaches will face their former teams in 2018, ranked by ZESTINESS

Considering how frequently college coaches change jobs, they compete against their former schools all the time. But in 2018, there really do seem to be more high-profile reunions than usual.

1. UCLA’s Chip Kelly vs. Oregon: Kelly’s last collegiate job was at Oregon, where he led the Ducks to a BCS Championship appearance before eventually leaving for the NFL.

Against UCLA, Kelly’s teams went 3-0. The Ducks host the Bruins on Nov. 3.

“It will be difficult, to be honest with you because it’s a special place,” Kelly said via Oregon Live. “It’s one of the real hallowed grounds of college football. If you’ve ever played a game in the stadium, whether you were the home team or the visitor, you’ll remember it. It’s a special fan base.

”I know how difficult it is for opposing teams to go in there and win because that fan base is unbelievable. Even though it’s not the biggest stadium in college football, it’s the loudest stadium in college football. It’s going to be a difficult task for us when we head over there.”

2. Florida’s Dan Mullen vs. Mississippi State: He has said how it’d be cool to go into Starkville and get a win:

After four seasons as Florida’s offensive coordinator under Urban Meyer, contributing to the 2006 and 2008 national championship runs, Mullen returned to Gainesville with Mississippi State in 2010 and led the Bulldogs to a 10-7 upset win.

“I hope I get to keep that streak alive when we go back. I’m sure I’m going to get a very kind welcome. They’ll all be standing and ringing their bells in salute,” he said, drawing laughter. “… It is a challenge. The one thing that’s always tough is the relationships, you have such a strong tie and a bond with all of those players. Sometimes I almost feel bad. We pick-6’d Timmy twice in Starkville (in 2009, a 29-19 Florida win), maybe cost him the Heisman. But I kind of knew the weaknesses. And so can use that against him, but I hopefully know some of the weaknesses of all the guys in Mississippi right now to use some of that against them.”

The Gators play in Starkville Sept. 29.

3. Arizona’s Kevin Sumlin vs. Houston: Before Texas A&M, Sumlin led the Cougars to a 35-17 record and two bowl appearances. The Aggies play Houston Sept. 8.

“Coming back there it’ll be interesting,” Sumlin said via the Houston Chronicle. “I’ll put it that way. A new environment, and we’ll see, we’ll see what happens. Last time I left it was a little bit different, a little bit different feeling, right? They say time heals all wounds. We’ll see. I don’t think time has healed this one.”

He was also a graduate assistant at Washington State — the Wildcats get Wazzu on Nov. 17.

4. Tennessee’s Jeremy Pruitt vs. Alabama, Georgia: Pruitt was Alabama’s defensive coordinator from 2016-17 and on staff in Tuscaloosa from 2007-12. He played defensive back for the Tide in the ‘90s too. Fun fact: Nick Saban is 12-0 vs. his former assistants!

The Vols play Alabama on Oct. 20. Bonus fun fact! Former Vol coach Butch Jones is now an intern at Alabama, so he’ll face his former team, too.

Pruitt was also Georgia’s coordinator from 2014-15. At SEC Media Days, there was a back-and-forth between former Dawg QB Aaron Murray and Pruitt:

Murray also criticized “the way [Pruitt] treated” then-head coach Mark Richt during their time in Athens. Murray was gone from the program by then, but he might be relaying second-hand accounts from people he knew who were still there:

“When he was at Georgia, the way he acted, the way he treated Coach Richt I thought was poor. He wasn’t as respectful as I thought a defensive coordinator should be to a head coach.”

Tennessee goes to Georgia Sept. 29.

Tennessee lost each game that Pruitt was on Bama’s staff, and Georgia split games against the Vols when Pruitt was on the Bulldogs’ staff.

5. Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher vs. Auburn, LSU : Fisher was Auburn’s offensive coordinator from 1993-98 under Terry Bowden. The Aggies face Auburn on Nov. 3.

He was also the coordinator at LSU from 2000-06 under Saban and Les Miles. The Tigers travel to College Station on Nov. 24. This should be pretty interesting, considering Jimbo was reported as a possible replacement for Miles in 2016.

6. Oregon State’s Jonathan Smith vs. Washington: Smith was the offensive coordinator at Washington from 2014-17. In three of those games, the Huskies won by a combined 128 points. The Beavers play Washington on Nov. 17.

7. UL-Lafayette’s Billy Napier vs. Alabama: Napier, in his first season as the Ragin Cajuns head coach, was an Alabama offensive analyst in 2011 and coached the wide receivers from 2013-16. His team travels to Tuscaloosa on Sept. 29.

8. Arkansas’ Chad Morris vs. Tulsa: Morris was at Tulsa in 2010, where he was the associate head coach and offensive coordinator. The Razorbacks play Tulsa on Oct. 20.

9. Georgia Southern’s Chad Lunsford vs. Appalachian State : Lunsford coached the tight ends at App State from 2001-2002. The Eagles play App State on Oct. 25.

10. Kent State’s Sean Lewis vs. Akron, Kent State: Lewis was a GA at Akron in 2011, and was on Bowling Green’s staff in 2014-15. The Golden Flashes play Akron on Oct. 20 and Bowling Green on the 30th.

Obviously the majority of these guys don’t have any bad blood for their programs, but there will certainly be some interesting homecomings to watch this season.