Dino Babers, Scott Frost Among College Football Coaches Who Need A Few More Wins This Season

There are coaches, most notably Herm Edwards at Arizona State and Bryan Harsin at Auburn, who have had a bumpy ride since the end of last season due to issues not reflected on the scoreboard.

Neither of the coaches listed below are operating under the cloud of an NCAA investigation (Edwards) or dealt with allegations of improper conduct (Harsin). Rather, in looking strictly at wins and losses, these coaches need to have a heftier number in the win column this season to prevent their seats from getting warm or, in a few cases, pretty darn hot.

Marcus Arroyo, UNLV

With two wins in two seasons and a new athletic director in Erick Harper, who has been at UNLV for a decade and who served as interim AD for a few months before assuming the role on permanent basis at the beginning of the year, Arroyo (2-16) might need to have the Rebels in the bowl conversation – the program last went bowling in 2013 — heading into the season’s last few weeks in order to return for a fourth year.

There were signs last season that the wheel was at least moving in the right direction. Though the Rebels lost their first eight games, they lost four straight by eight points or less. They eventually won two in a row before losing to MWC West Division champ San Diego State in a game that was tied late in the fourth quarter. Alas, Arroyo likely needs three or four of those close defeats to turn into wins.

Dino Babers, Syracuse

Everybody was feeling good in 2018 when the Orange capped off a 10-win season with a win over West Virginia in the Camping World Bowl. Heading into 2022, Babers’ seventh season at SU, they have yet to return to a bowl. In fact, the Orange are 11-24, including 5-21 in ACC play, the last three seasons.

While the defense improved vastly last season under first-year coordinator Tony White, the focus this past off-season was on righting an offense that has a big-time running back in Shawn Tucker. New OC Robert Anae is tasked with getting the most out of quarterback Garrett Shrader and a passing game that was 108^th and 119^th in efficiency the past two years.

With a favorable early schedule that has the Orange at home for five of their first six games, there is a good shot at getting on roll before the meat of the ACC slate.

Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech

Collins is stuck on three wins per season during a three-year tenure in which he is 9-25 in Atlanta. The difficulty in his first season of 2019 was understandable given a new offense was installed after a decade of Paul Johnson’s option-oriented attack. Little has since improved, however.

It appeared as though things might change for the better last season as the Yellow Jackets went 3-3 in a first half that included a convincing win over North Carolina. From there, things got worse. Much worse. The Yellow Jackets lost their last six games, including a combined 100-0 at the hands of Notre Dame and Georgia to close the season. This year’s schedule is rough by any stretch, but can Tech at least show signs of breaking through in Year 4 under Collins?

Willie Fritz, Tulane

Fritz has done a tremendous job at Tulane, including the program’s first bowl win in 16 years and back-to-back bowl games for the first time ever. That’s what made last year’s 2-10 clunker all the more disappointing.

Until the Green Wave routed USF on the next-to-last week of the season, their only win was over FCS opponent Morgan State and they lost five games by at least 18 points. Led by quarterback in Michael Pratt and running back Tyjae Spears, Fritz has a number of key players returning. Though the American Conference portion of the schedule features all the heavyweights, the non-conference slate is such that Tulane can build some early momentum and perhaps go bowling again.

Scott Frost, Nebraska

Scott Frost’s homecoming has been anything but a feel-good affair in Lincoln. In four seasons, the former Nebraska quarterback has not won more than five games and is 15-29, including an unsightly 10-25 in Big Ten play. He gets another shot, though, after athletic director and former Cornhuskers teammate Trev Alberts kept him on board, albeit at a reduced salary.

Frost has four new assistants, including offensive coordinator Mark Whipple, who arrived from Pitt. He also has a new quarterback after four-year starter Adrian Martinez transferred to Kansas State. Former Texas signal caller Casey Thompson will run Whipple’s unit.

The season’s first half offers a chance to get on a roll and perhaps get the Cornhuskers’ headed toward their first bowl appearance since 2017.

Scott Loeffler, Bowling Green

The Falcons shocked Minnesota on the road last season at the end of September, then went 2-6 in MAC play with four of the losses by at least 15 points.

Loeffler, who is 7-22 in three seasons at Bowling Green, took over a program that won 10 games under Dave Clawson in 2013 and 10 games in 2015 under Dino Babers. It was rough sledding (9-27) under Mike Jenks for three years before Loeffler left Boston College, where he was the offensive coordinator, to assume his first head coaching position. More is expected, especially in conference play where the Falcons are all of 4-17 on Loeffler’s watch.

Jeff Scott, USF

A virus-disrupted 2020 season in which South Florida went 1-8 in Scott’s inaugural year as head coach, was followed by a 2021 that at times showed promise. However, while the Bulls lost a couple of heartbreakers, they were largely outplayed in going 2-10.

Scott, who has the confidence and support of AD Michael Kelly, heads into 2022 with only one FBS win on a resume that reveals a 3-18 mark. Though the program overall is showing an upward trajectory with a new indoor practice facility that is close to completion and momentum toward an on-campus stadium getting built in a few years, it is one that is in need of a few wins this season. A very tough first-half schedule will be a test of where Scott’s Bulls are at.

Jake Spavital, Texas State

This season marks the 10^th year that the Bobcats are eligible for postseason play since elevating to the FBS. Since making the move, they have only one winning season (7-5 in 2014) and have yet to play in a bowl.

A four-win 2021 signaled a bit of a breakthrough from the standpoint the Bobcats were stuck in a six-year ditch of nothing but two or three wins. Hence, 2022 is viewed as one in which the upward trajectory needs to be something more than a blip on the screen. Indeed, this is Spavital’s fourth year in San Marcos where he is 9-27.