Let’s Debate: Which College Football Coaching Hire Is Most Puzzling, Impactful?

Each winter, the college football coaching carousel sets social media ablaze with speculation surrounding who might leave for new jobs, which athletic directors and donors will give their existing coach another chance and which up-and-comers might get a big opportunity for the first time. The frenzied discussion is reasonable, considering just how much can change when a team swaps head coaches in the modern era. Not only will a new crew of assistants be coming in, but hordes of behind-the-scenes staffers are shuffled to and fro, as are scores of players via the transfer portal. Modern rules — or the absence of them — really do facilitate fresh starts in every sense of the term. Once the dust settles, few decisions are more important than which coordinators a new head coach will hire, especially if the program’s leader isn’t a play caller himself. The offensive and defensive coordinators will be the ones building the playbook, scheming for opponents and matching wits with their counterparts on the opposite sideline every Saturday. That said, our FOX Sports experts gathered for a discussion about some of the most interesting assistant coach hires of the current cycle: Which college football assistant coaching hire will have an immediate positive impact on the team? Laken Litman: Texas’ hiring of Will Muschamp as its new defensive coordinator Muschamp, who was most recently on Kirby Smart’s staff at Georgia, was the Longhorns’ defensive coordinator from 2008-10 and helped the program get to the national championship game in 2009. He was also Mack Brown’s head coach in waiting before later leaving to become the head coach at Florida. Muschamp knows Texas, and he knows Steve Sarkisian — both are former Nick Saban assistants. The Longhorns’ defense was supposed to be one of the best in 2025, but underperformed, leading to Sarkisian firing former defensive coordinator Pete Kwiatkowski. Now, it’s Muschamp’s turn to work some magic and help Sarkisian get the most out of a talented defensive roster. Michael Cohen: Northwestern’s hiring of Chip Kelly as its new offensive coordinator If this was two years ago, imagine being able to tell Northwestern head coach David Braun that he’d soon be able to hire someone who won a national championship with Ohio State in 2024 and then became one of the highest-paid play-callers in the NFL in 2025. And before all that, this same individual was the head coach of two different NFL franchises on the heels of an incredible run as the leading man at Oregon that included four consecutive 10-win seasons and a closet stuffed with national coach of the year awards. Talk about a farfetched idea. Yet here we are, entering the 2026 season with Kelly as the new offensive guru for Northwestern. On paper, it’s an incredible hire by Braun and one that should significantly elevate the Wildcats’ ceiling for as long as Kelly remains with the program. He’s as sharp an offensive mind as there is in college football. RJ Young: USC’s hiring of Gary Patterson as its new defensive coordinator Patterson’s hiring at USC stands out. While many were waiting on just who Ryan Day would appoint to call the offense at Ohio State — even if it was Day himself — I was waiting on just who Lincoln Riley would replace departed defensive coordinator D’Anton Lynn, who took the same job at Penn State. When Riley pulled out progenitor of the 4-2-5 defense, a College Football Hall of Fame coach and all-but-retired Gary Patterson, I was taken aback. Riley and Patterson are friends, and each is renowned for their play-calling acumen and innovation on their respective sides of the ball. There’s no question that Patterson will be an asset — not just as head coach of the Trojans’ defense, but as a former Power 4 head coach who has seen and coached against Riley’s offense before — and a sounding board for what might turn out to be a pivotal season for USC. If Patterson can marry his scheme with Riley’s — an offense that is notoriously unfriendly to playing complimentary football — the Trojans might be a dark horse in the race to secure the 2026 Big Ten crown. I’m intrigued to find out just how a coach who hasn’t worked for anyone other than himself (as an on-the-field assistant) in 26 years meshes with Riley in this new era of the sport. [COLLEGE FOOTBALL: Top-10 Most Impactful Transfer Players From 2025] Which college football assistant coaching hire is the most perplexing? Laken Litman: Ohio State’s reported hiring of Arthur Smith as its new offensive coordinator The thing that’s most perplexing or intriguing about this hire is that Smith is the former Atlanta Falcons’ head coach, and most recently, he was the Pittsburgh Steelers’ offensive coordinator. That will give Day two former NFL coaches as his offensive and defensive coordinators (Matt Patricia joined the Buckeyes’ staff before last season). Both Smith and Patricia are experienced at what they do and overqualified for their respective jobs. It’s an interesting tactic that Day is implementing in having former NFL coaches on his staff. The players love it, and it prepares them even further for when they’re ready to turn pro. Will this become a trend in college football? We will see. Michael Cohen: Bill Belichick and North Carolina’s hiring of Bobby Petrino Alarm bells rang out around college football in early January when embattled UNC head coach Bill Belichick — whose debut season with the Tar Heels was closer to soap opera than success — made the stunning decision to hire Petrino as his new offensive coordinator. Petrino, who turns 65 in March, was previously the offensive coordinator and interim head coach at Arkansas the past two seasons, overseeing a unit that ranked 23rd in scoring (32.9 points per game) and 13th in total offense (454.8 yards per game) this fall. Nobody has ever doubted Petrino’s football acumen, particularly when it comes to putting together high-level offenses. A résumé that now includes more than five decades of coaching experience in college and the NFL demonstrates how attractive his services have been over the years. Even with all that success, Petrino is perhaps best known for a motorcycle accident that occurred while he was the head coach at Arkansas in which his significantly younger mistress was riding with him. The story became a tabloid sensation and has followed Petrino ever since. Is that really the type of figure Belichick, whose own romantic interests have become a defining narrative during his time at UNC, needs by his side? Some messes are self-inflicted. [COLLEGE FOOTBALL: 7 Bold Predictions for the 2026 CFB Season] RJ Young: Ohio State’s reported hiring of Arthur Smith as its new offensive coordinator. I’m with Laken on this: Smith as the Buckeyes’ offensive coordinator is going to feel odd for those who have not followed Day’s career as head coach. Bear in mind, former Ohio State offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Brian Hartline is the only coach to call offensive plays at Ohio State without NFL position coaching experience or better since 2016. With his hiring of Chip Kelly in 2024, Day set a precedent that he has continued to follow through. He wants his play-callers to have experience as NFL coordinators and head coaches. So far, that strategy has been an unmitigated success. Kelly helped lead Ohio State to a national championship, and Patricia fielded the nation’s best scoring defense — all in their first years. Who’s to say Smith won’t be just as good? Not me.