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

I Joseph Louis Barrow was an American retired pro boxer who fought during the years 1934 to 1951. The Ring magazine considers him one of the hardest punchers of all time, and boxing experts agree he was one of the greatest fighters ever. He is best known as Joe Louis.

II Joseph Louis Barrow wrote Louis so large in his documents that there was no space left for his full name. Thats how he became known only as Joe Louis. The year was 1932, and at 17 years of age, Joe was barely literate.

III Legend has it that Joe Louis deliberately avoided writing his full name in a bid to hide his boxing endeavors from his mother, who wanted him to become a violinist. To further hide this ambition to become a boxer, he would hide his gloves inside his violin case.

IV Louis victory over Primo Carnera was tinged with a political and racial stigma. It was deemed a victory by African Americans who supported Ethiopia, which was struggling to stave off an invasion by Italy. IN the wake of it, he was variously nicknamed Mahogany Mauler, Safari Sandman, Chocolate Chopper, Coffee-colored KO King, and The Brown Bomber.

V In Joe Louis versus Max Baer, the latter fighter had strong support from white supremacists, who looked at Baer as the lone white hope in the boxing ring. But Max Baer didnt rise to the challenge as they had hoped, and he was easily dominated and knocked out by Louis in the fourth round.

VI Louis first met Marva Trotter when he was training for a fight against Lee Ramage. They married in 1935 on the same day he fought Max Baer. Louis was so excited that he wanted to end the bout quickly in his favor so he could go home to his wife.