5 Interesting Coach Debuts

Check out these 5 coaches making a name for themselves in college football this fall.

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Dave Aranda

This rookie head coach managed to completely restore a unit that yielded a low amount of yards per play and points per game in the Big 12 last year. Aranda’s hire of Larry Fedora to coordinate the offense could certainly reap the benefits. As for the more long term success, the jury is still out.

Scott Cochran

Certainly the most curious of assistant coaching recruits of the offseason; Kirby Smart grabbing Scott Cochran from Nick Saban. Smart made the former coach his special teams. It’s not clear if he is going to coach or if it’s just a title for show, while Cochrane continues with his valuable work in practice, and maybe on game day. It’s not as it Georgia and Alabama don’t have enough history together.

Bo Pelini

Ed Orgeron takes over the more level-headed and brainy Aranda. Well, historically that’s how Pelini was. To be fair, Orgeron was once like that too. Since then, he has a far more calm presence on the sidelines. While Pelini won’t totally eliminate his personality, he will have to refrain from the rampages after every uncertain call. It’s clear that Pelini wants to be a Power 5 head coach again, and a triumphant stint at LSU can help make that reach fruition.

Chris Ash

The third season for Tom Herman was a major dip. The biggest reason for this was the defensive side of the ball. In 2019 Texas finished 97th in total defense, 90th in pass efficiency, and 18 sacks in the first 11 games, which might explain the firing of Todd Orlando. After Ash was fired as head coach at Rutgers, he rebounded and reunited wit, Herman. Ash said he wants “a defensive unit that’s fanatical about getting the ball.” Texas has had fewer and fewer takeaways under Herman, going from 26 to 20 to 19.

Rhett Lashlee

After playing for and coaching under Gus Malzahn, Lashlee stepped up to the plate to coach for the American Athletic Conference for three seasons—one at Connecticut and then two at SMU. He and Shane Buechele linked up last year, resulting in the best season of his career for this Texas transfer. Miami is hoping for the same thing with Lashlee and Houston’s D’Erik King.

The Wisdom Segment - Sports

Facts about Sugar Ray Leonard

I As an amateur boxer, Sugar Ray Leonard had already established himself as something of a prodigy, winning 145 of his 150 fights and bagging two National Golden Glove championships, two Amateur Athletic championships. He won a gold medal at the Pan American games in 1975.

II Sugar Ray Leonard is a part of the "Fabulous Four" in boxing, a group of boxers who fought historic matches with each other throughout the 1980s. The others in this group are Roberto Duran, Thomas Hearns, and Marvin Hagler.

III In 1979, Leonard defeated Wilfred Benitez, winning the welterweight championship title. He lost the title to Roberto Duran in 1980, a historic match taking place between the two. In no less than five months later, Leonard won back the title in a rematch and successfully defended it thereafter.

IV Though Leonard retired from prizefighting in 1982, and once again in 1984, he made a stunning comeback in 1987. Leonard defeated "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler to win the WBC middleweight championship. The grueling fight went down as one of Boxing's greatest of all-time.

V In 1997, Leonard made a final comeback at the age of 40, taking on the welterweight champion - but he lost by a fifth-round technical knockout. He went back into retirement after the fight, ending with a record of 36 wins, 3 losses, and 1 draw.

VI Sugar Ray Leonard released his autobiography in 2011. The title of the book is "The Big Fight: My Life In and Out of the Ring". In an astonishingly candid memoir, Leonard talks about a wide range of subjects, including his less-than-stable life prior to and after boxing.