Yesterday was arguably the most chaotic day we’ve ever seen for a college football coaching carousel. From the drama surrounding the Lane Kiffin saga to the rapid-fire moves on Sunday morning, in which seemingly every job was filled at the same time.

With so much noise and not a lot of clarity yesterday, today was the perfect day to sit back and digest all of the major coaching moves. My colleague Ryan Roberts and I joined forces to pitch which hire we thought was the best and worst from all of the moves. These are the results.

The best head coach hire

Roberts: USF HC Alex Golesh to Auburn

While Lane Kiffin to LSU is the biggest hire of the coaching cycle, I wouldn’t very much argue that Auburn landing Golesh is the best when you consider all the context. Auburn wanted Jon Sumrall, and it was one of the worst kept secrets out there this cycle. The former Troy and Tulane coach eventually opted to take the Florida job, but there is a legitimate argument that Auburn may have landed the better coach. The upside of Golesh is very high, and there is a lot to love about him on paper.

From a pure coaching perspective, Golesh has developed a great reputation as a quarterback developer and offensive mind while learning under current Tennessee head coach Josh Heupel. Golesh also has roots all over, having spent time at Ohio State, Tennessee, Oklahoma State, Illinois, Iowa State, and UCF before taking over as head coach at USF. During his three seasons, he accumulated a 23-15 record, including 9-3 overall this season. He’s a young and innovative offensive mind who is becoming a better head coach by the seasons. The sky is truly the limit for Golesh with the Auburn Tigers.

DeLeone: Ole Miss HC Lane Kiffin to LSU

If you ask an Ole Miss fan this question, you’ll likely get a completely different answer. However, ask any college football fan who’s been paying attention over the last few years, and they’ll say Kiffin is the best coach on the market.

Sure, the way he operated during this whole ordeal was problematic, but we’re not here to recap the events. LSU is a program that takes great pride in being one of the premier brands in the sport, and they chose to make a statement to prove it. While some of the G5 coaches would have been solid options, taking the biggest name and the best coach away from everyone is clearly the best move of the cycle.

For those who question if Kiffin is all hype and no results, look at what he accomplished at Ole Miss. To have compiled a 55-19 record at a program that does not have consistent success is extremely impressive. And despite having high school recruiting limitations due to the location, he produced elite transfer portal classes.

This hire was controversial, but it will go down as one of the most impactful in the sport. Kiffin isn’t Brian Kelly, who mailed it in after he got his big contract. This coach’s mentality perfectly aligns with LSU’s brand.

The worst head coach hire

Roberts: Memphis HC Ryan Silverfield to Arkansas

Let’s set the record straight for a second: the former Memphis head coach is a good coach overall. You don’t accumulate a 50-25 record, including two 10-win seasons in six years with the Tigers if you aren’t. Unfortunately, the hiring process has really hurt the optics for this move. If not for a misguided early report about Alex Golesh landing with Arkansas, that probably would have worked out for the Razorbacks. Instead, Arkansas had to go further down the board to a secondary option.

While things have been good for Silverfield, he did take over a program that was already in strong standing, both from a culture and financial perspective. We have no idea if he is able to build a program up from the ground floor, which is what he will need to do with Arkansas. This feels like a high risk-high reward type of situation, which is totally fine. It’s probably on that the Razorbacks needed to take, but there are going to be some major questions that need to be answered.

DeLeone: Memphis HC Ryan Silverfield to Arkansas

This hire is a failure because Arkansas consistently fails to leverage the resources it has. For a university that has a ridiculously wealthy alumni base, it’s perplexing that they operate like a mid-level Big 12 team.

As Roberts pointed out, on Friday, it looked like they pulled off the biggest steal of the cycle, getting USF HC Alex Golesh. Instead, they ended up with the last man standing, someone no other program seemed to want.

While Silverfield has a solid record as a coach, it’s perplexing why he wasn’t able to capitalize on one of the deepest pools of resources for a G5 program. Memphis was consistently projected as a conference contender and seemingly always fell short. They may have put together solid seasons, but not winning the AAC once is disappointing. What makes us think he’s going to accomplish anything at Arkansas with much lighter competition?

This feels like an “Aw shucks, oh well!” type of a hire because they couldn’t pull a top guy. Don’t be surprised if Silverfield isn’t the first coach fired.

LSU Tigers News

Lane Kiffin has an ace in the hole to rebuild the LSU Tiger roster to National Title caliber in a hurry after spurning Ole Miss

This LSU roster will look very different quickly under HC Lane Kiffin.

Ryan Roberts