5 G5 COACHES THAT ARE VITAL TO THEIR SCHOOL'S FOOTBALL SUCCESS

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Football, more than any other sport, requires a strong and steady hand at the top. This is especially true in College Football where good coaching is often the difference between winning and losing on the field. Here then are 5 G5 Head Coaches that are vital to their school's success.


1. MARK HUDSPETH ULL:  Before Mark Hudspeth arrived as the Ragin Cajun Head Coach, the ULL football program had been a perennial underachiever.  In only  his first year as Head Coach (2011),Hudspeth lead the ULL program to a 9-4 record giving  the  Cajun football team its first  winning season since 1993.  Hudspeth has been instrumental to the ULL football program turn around and his leadership has brought both money and attention to ULL.  How valuable is Hudspeth to the ULL program? Well  last year ULL officials raised his salary to a little over 1 million dollars a year making him the highest paid coach in the Sun Belt. For Ragin  Cajun fans Hudspeth salary is money well spent. Hudspeth has earned a 36-17 record as Head  Coach of ULL.  Just how much longer they can keep him in Lafayette is another story.

2. DOC HOLIDAY MARSHALL :To say that Head Coach Doc Holiday  put Marshall football back on the College Football map is an understatement. In the five years before  Holiday arrived in Huntington the Thundering Herd had amassed a record of 22-37. These numbers  failed to live up to  Marshall's proud history or program expectations.  Marshall University, desperate for someone who understood its football culture,  took a risk on Doc Holiday, the long time college assistant coach. Holiday went to work immediately and put  his excellent recruiting skills to good use. He took advantage of  his long time connections to South Florida and began to recruit  gifted athletes to Marshall. Many of the athletes Holiday recruited had been over looked by some of the bigger schools in the region. Perhaps no other player personifies Holiday's bold and savvy recruiting chops more than Rakeem Cato. The Miami Central QB standout was passed over by many P5 schools, but Holiday saw something in Cato and took a chance on him. Holiday's gamble payed off and Cato has helped Doc Holiday earn a 40-25 record in his 5 years as Marshall Head Coach. Holiday has also positioned  Marshall  as one of the top G5 football schools in the country.

3. GEORGE O'LEARY UCF : No one has ever doubted George O'Leary's coaching abilities . After a lapse in judgment cost him the Notre Dame job, UCF reached out to him and has never looked back. Before O'Leary arrived in Orlando the Knights had underachieved given their proximity to the great High School football talent in the region. O'Leary got off to a rocky start in his inaugural year as  Head Coach going 0-11.  Soon however, O'Leary's tough nosed-no nonsense approach to the game took over the UCF football culture. O'Leary also began to upgrade the talent level and take advantage of the excellent players in the Orlando zip code.

In 2014 O'Leary led UCF to its first BCS Bowl game victory beating a heavily favored Baylor team in prime time tv. While O'Leary's tenure at UCF has not been without its blemishes, he has put the UCF program in an excellent position for a potential  Power conference jump in the future. In his 11 seasons O'Leary has earned a 81-60 record as UCF Head Coach.

4. FRANK SOLICH  OHIO BOBCATS: When the Nebraska Cornhuskers relieved Frank Solich of his Head Coaching duties in 2003, little did Ohio Bobcat fans know what a favor the Cornhuskers had done them. Hired by the Bobcats in 2005, Solich and Ohio have become good partners. Since his hiring,  Solich has been the model of consistency as the Bobcat Head Coach,   leading them to 6 Bowl games during his tenure. Just as important as the Bowl games however,  is that Solich understands the football culture at Ohio and has built an extremely clean program. While Bobcat fans might want to see more Conference Championships, there is no denying that Frank Solich has been an asset to the Bobcat program. Under Solich's leadership  Ohio earned its very first top 25 ranking( 2012) and made it to a Bowl game (GMAC Bowl 2007) for the first time since 1968.

5. RUFFIN McNEIL ECU: Immediately after Texas Tech defeated Michigan State in the Alamo Bowl in 2010,  Texas Tech interim  Head Coach Ruffin McNeil began the  difficult task of waiting for the Texas Tech administration to decide on a new Head Coach. McNeil, who was widely loved by both players and fans, was a crowd favorite to take the job. In the end however, Tech passed on McNeil and hired  Tommy Tuberville instead.( Tuberville lasted only 3 years as Head Coach of the Red Raiders) Texas Tech's loss was East Carolina's gain. Known as a father figure to his recruits, McNeil took an already successful ECU football team and has added his own  unique and spirited gifts to Pirate program.  McNeil is also the fist African American Head Coach to ever lead East Carolina. When he was first hired as Head Coach, McNeil took a chance on a young Texas Tech assistant coach, Lincoln Riley, and made him the Pirates OC. Riley, who was only 26 year  old when he came to East Carolina , quickly  transformed the ECU offense into one of the best Air Raid systems in the country.   McNeil, who is also a children's author, has upgraded the ECU talent level while at the same time holding his players to a high standard of ethics and guidelines. McNeil is known for his vibrant leadership and for placing faith in his assistant coaches and players.

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