Looking Back: The Best College Football Coaching Hires Of 2024
By Max Dorsey
As the 2024 season comes to an end, I decided to look back and pick what I think were the three best home-run coaching hires of the 2023 coaching carousel.
#3: Spencer Danielson, Boise State
#BoiseState is working on a new contract for first-year head football coach Spencer Danielson.
— Jay Tust (@KTVBSportsGuy) December 17, 2024
"He's earned it."
Also, Danielson's primary focus with a new deal?
Raises for his assistant coaches, according to director of athletics Jeramiah Dickey.
"The first thing out of his… pic.twitter.com/aNeyXOn0tQ
Spencer Danielson became the Broncos interim head coach in 2023 after Boise fired the previous coach, Andy Avalos, following a 5-5 start. Danielson led Boise to an 8-6 finish and was promoted to full-time head coach at the end of the season. Since that moment he has been nothing short of fantastic, delivering Boise fans a 12-1 season, a Mountain West Championship, and a college football playoff appearance. Danielson should be the leader of this program for a long time with the job he’s done this season. Absolute home run hire by Boise to keep Danielson in-house.
#2: Fran Brown, Syracuse
Fran Brown was asked tonight if he felt he achieved his goals in his first year as head coach by going 9-3.
— Ashley Wenskoski (@AshleyWenskTV) December 1, 2024
His answer?
"I wanted to go to the national championship, there was nothing else on my mind except trying to repeat what happened in 1959...but I guess this is progress." pic.twitter.com/z1hsPS1OGf
Fran Brown took over the Syracuse program after the previous coach, Dino Babers, was let go. Despite only having experience as a defensive back’s coach, the main reason the Orange brought Brown in, was because of his elite recruiting ability. In the 2023 recruiting cycle, Fran was ranked as the single best recruiter in the nation. When he came to Syracuse he delivered on the hype around his recruiting ability landing key transfer QB, Kyle McCord. In terms of the actual product on the field, Brown led the Orange to a 9-3 record, their best season since 2018. With a win in the Holiday Bowl on December 27th, he can get Syracuse to a ten-win season for only the seventh time in program history. Overall this was a massively successful hire by the Orange.
#1: Curt Cignetti, Indiana
✅ Led Elon to 2017 FCS playoff
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) December 16, 2024
✅ Led James Madison to share of 2022 Sun Belt East title
✅ Led Indiana to 2024-25 CFP
As Curt Cignetti noted at B1G media days, his teams do special things when picked next to last in preseason polls.#B1GFootball pic.twitter.com/QRqsWSFTp0
Curt Cignetti might have done the most impressive turnaround of a program that I have ever seen. Cignetti led a team that has been playing football since 1899, to their first double-digit win season in program history. Indiana was looking for a replacement for Tom Allen, who had been their coach since 2017. They were able to pick up Cigentti after his ultra-successful 11-1 season at James Madison and continue his success into the Big 10. Cignetti deserves all the credit in the world for what he’s been able to do this season at Indiana and was immediately rewarded for his success with a contract that last through 2032. He was just awarded AP Coach of the Year and was the best hire of 2024.
MAX DORSEY
CFB, NFL Draft Analyst
A Floridian, Max is a Broadcast Digital Journalism student at Syracuse University – where he has previously been a recruiting and scouting intern for The Orange. Follow him on Twitter @maxdorsey44