Several ACC football coaches are entering their 3rd season at their respective schools. Year 3 is usually when we get a feel the direction a program is going. It’s enough time to start getting your own players in. How you build your team now really starts to belong to you.
The ACC has 4 coaches UNC’s Mack Brown, Louisville’s Scott Satterfield, Miami’s Manny Diaz and Georgia Tech’s Geoff Collins that are entering their 3rd as their team’s head coach. Who has the most the prove?
Mack Brown, North Carolina
Mack Brown erased his doubters early on as some thought Brown may have been out of the coaching game to long to recruit and then elevate the Heels program. It took Brown two years to get the Heels ranked back in the top 20. He’s recruited well, and has UNC ranked the preseason top 25 for 2021. Brown enters this season with very little pressure. It’s like he barely left the late 90s in Chapel Hill
Prove it Level – Low
Scott Satterfield, Louisville
Scott Satterfield had a great reputation coming from Appalachian State. He didn’t disappoint in his first year winning 8 games with the Cardinals. That buys him some credibility after the frustrations of a 4-7 2020. In addition his off-season dalliances with other jobs hurt his reputation. The recruiting to be honest hasn’t been blowing anyone away either. A lot of talent was lost off last year’s team. NC State and Boston College appear to have passed Louisville, and that can’t sit well with Louisville fans. Satterfield has some to do work to do to win back Louisville fans.
Prove it Level – High
Manny Diaz, Miami
At the end of 2019, Diaz was already on the hot seat. The 3 game losing streak to FIU, Duke, and Louisiana Tech was a disaster. In 2021 with the transfer of QB D’Eriq King, Miami was much better. They got ranked as high as 10, really only played one really terrible game and that was at home against UNC in a 62-26 loss. This is a critical year for Diaz. Miami going forward with Diaz is not a slam dunk, but the 2020 season and solid optimism going into 2021 puts Diaz in a pretty good spot.
Prove it Level – Medium
Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech
Geoff Collins had a monumental transition from Paul Johnson’s triple option offense. Georgia Tech fans were going to patient, and they have been. The Jackets have only won 6 games the last two years, and at the end of the day wins are all that matter. Improvement has been shown and recruiting is going pretty well, but even with a brutal schedule in 2021 Georgia Tech needs to make a big step forward in the win total. A bowl season would do it, but even 5 wins with competitive play would suffice. Anything less and doubts would really start about Collins.
Prove it Level – High
Geoff Collins and Scott Satterfield definitely lead this foursome with the most to prove. I think Satterfield has a stronger pedigree of wining than Collins. Satterfield has his Appalachian State success. Collins had a couple of decent of years at Temple following in the footsteps of the Matt Ruhle era. Collins has never really won at a big level at any time as a head coach. He doesn’t need to either this year, but his Prove it Level is probably a bit higher than Satterfield’s.
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