“Shout” is a column by Matthew Andrade about college football.
Following an upset win over Notre Dame on Saturday, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney said, “If Clemson’s a stock, you better buy all you freakin’ can buy right now.”
That got me thinking: What do some of the head coaches’ stocks look like right now, including Swinney’s? Here’s a list of some head coaching stocks to buy, sell or hold.
Jake Dickert, Washington State: Hold
This season has been quite the roller coaster for Washington State.
Fresh off a 4-0 start and a win over then-No. 14 Oregon State, Dickert was putting together a season to remember for the Cougars. Then, all of a sudden, the brakes came off. WSU is on a five-game skid and will need to find a way to win two of its final three games against Cal, Colorado and Washington in order to make a bowl game.
Still, given the mess Dickert inherited from the previous regime and how strong this season started, I’m not willing to sell Dickert’s stock just yet.
Eli Drinkwitz, Missouri: Buy
With just one season of head coaching experience, Drinkwitz was given the tall task of rebuilding the Missouri football program. Mizzou’s gamble is working wonders in his fourth year at the post.
Mizzou made a bowl game each of the last two seasons and now has a great chance to finish 9-3 in the regular season if the Tigers can knock off 5-4 Florida and 3-6 Arkansas. That would be Missouri’s best finish since 2014.
Jedd Fisch, Arizona: Buy
The Wildcats have racked up three straight wins against AP Top 25 opponents — and it could’ve been four if Arizona held on to beat USC in overtime — and find themselves in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 2017. Fisch has consistently improved the Wildcats in his three seasons as head coach, starting at 1-11 to 5-7 to now 6-3 — and if they had just won their two overtime games, Arizona would be in the College Football Playoff conversation right now. You’d be hard pressed to find a more impressive rebuild in all of college football right now.
Jimbo Fisher, Texas A&M: Sell
Fisher’s tenure in College Station has been a complete dud. The Aggies haven’t won a true road game in two years. They are 9-13 in conference play over the last three seasons. Fisher is 6-12 in his last 18 games against Power 5 opponents, tied for fourth worst among Power 5 head coaches. Through 67 games at A&M, Fisher had a worse record than his predecessor Kevin Sumlin. Need I say more?
Marcus Freeman, Notre Dame: Hold
After the Clemson loss, the general public seems to have lost faith in Freeman. Have those people forgotten that this program lost to Marshall last season?
The Irish have already made great strides since Freeman’s first few games in charge. Freeman is two easy wins away from having back-to-back nine-win seasons in his first two seasons as a head coach anywhere. Freeman needs to put together a 10-win season before I buy more stock, but I’m confident he’ll continue to improve as a head coach as time goes on.
Brian Kelly, LSU: Hold
Let’s cut to the chase — LSU’s defense is terrible. In the Tigers’ three losses, their defense gave up an average of 47.3 points per game and the defense’s season average of 28.2 points per game places 87th in FBS. LSU fans don’t take losing well, so Kelly will need to fix the defense quickly or his tenure in Baton Rouge could easily spiral into disaster.
Fortunately for Kelly, his offense is third in the country in scoring offense this season. Senior quarterback Jayden Daniels has been putting up numbers comparable to Joe Burrow’s unbelievable 2019 season. The defense doesn’t need to improve much in the offseason for LSU to reenter the national title conversation if that offense can continue to play at that level with a new quarterback in 2024.
Chip Kelly, UCLA: Sell
After a deflating loss to Arizona, it’s looking like same-old, same-old for UCLA. The Bruins have just one win over a team with a winning record this season. Kelly is 6-28 against winning teams, per Bruin Report Online’s David Woods.
Barring disasters against 2-7 Arizona State and 3-6 Cal, UCLA will at worst be 8-4 at the end of the season, but that won’t inspire many Bruin fans as the program heads to the Big Ten.
Brent Key, Georgia Tech: Buy
The Yellow Jackets just need a win over Syracuse — which has lost five in a row — to make their first bowl game since 2018. Georgia Tech already has two upset victories over ranked opponents this season and has a chance to knock off Clemson if redshirt sophomore quarterback Haynes King plays as well as he did against North Carolina. Considering what Key inherited from his predecessor Geoff Collins, who went 14-32 in four seasons at GT, Key is already off to a great start in his first season at the helm.
Lincoln Riley, USC: Hold
The honeymoon period is over in the eyes of many USC fans. There’s a lot of uncertainty about the program in the wake of defensive coordinator Alex Grinch’s firing. Outside of the pandemic season, Riley’s defenses at Oklahoma and USC have never been better than 60th in scoring defense. The success of his USC tenure could rest on nailing this coordinator hire.
Jonathan Smith, Oregon State: Buy
It’s easy to criticize Jonathan Smith for the Beavers’ two road losses this season — especially considering that Oregon State’s two toughest tests are still ahead of them. Put this season in perspective, though, and what Smith is doing is incredible.
This is Oregon State’s best record through nine games since 2012 and this will be the first time since 2009 that the Beavers are going to a bowl game for three consecutive seasons. That this season looks like a let down from the Beavers’ preseason expectations shows just how impressive Smith has been.
Dabo Swinney, Clemson: Sell
Clemson may have gotten a big win over Notre Dame over the weekend, but don’t let that fool you. The Tigers are 5-4 and just 2-4 in ACC play. Clemson is still a team no one wants to face, but the program’s prestige could quickly fade if Swinney doesn’t change course to embrace the transfer portal and NIL. Only buy stock in Swinney if Tyler from Spartanburg calls into Swinney’s weekly call-in show again.
Troy Taylor, Stanford: Buy
Stanford is one of the toughest coaching jobs in the country. The university doesn’t invest much in football, and it’s incredibly difficult to get recruits and players from the transfer portal because of Stanford’s high academic standards.
David Shaw went 14-28 in his final four seasons before Taylor took over and Taylor isn’t doing much better, currently sitting at 3-6. But with the way the team fought back to beat Colorado, nearly upset No. 5 Washington and took down Washington State, it’s clear the Cardinal have more juice than the past few seasons. Look to see Taylor build Stanford into a respectable program over the next couple of years.
“Shout” runs every Tuesday.