Coaching Changes for the 2013 Season

With 14 head coaching jobs on the FBS ranks changing hands, let's take a look at the coaching changes for the 2013 season: 

• Arkansas State: 2012 Coach: Gus Malzahn--Malzahn continued the work of former coach Hugh Freeze with another Sun Belt title for the Red Wolves. In the same manner as Freeze, Malzahn parlayed his Sun Belt title with a head coaching job in the SEC taking over the Auburn program where he was a former offensive coordinator. 2013 Coach: Bryan Harsin--Harsin steps in to take over the 2X defending Sun Belt champs after spending the last two seasons as offensive coordinator of the Texas Longhorns. Previously, Harsin worked his way up the ladder at Boise State finally leaving for the Texas job after getting as high as the Broncos offensive coordinator. This is the first head coaching job of any kind for Harsin.
• Florida International: 2012 Coach: Mario Cristobal--In maybe the most ridiculous of any firings after the 2012 season, Cristobal was let go from FIU after a 3-9 season. Cristobal coached 6 seasons for the Golden Panthers with a 27-47 overall record including winning seasons and bowl berths in 2 of his final three seasons at the helm. The firing caught everyone by surprise and may be a catalyst to a poor first season in Conference USA. 2013 Coach: Ron Turner--Turner is the newly minted head coach of the Golden Panthers after spending the last 8 seasons assisting on the college level after an up and down experience at Illinois as the head coach. This is Turner's third head coaching job. Turner coached the San Jose State Spartans in 1992 and led them to a 7-4 record in his only season as the coach. Turner coached at Illinois for 8 seasons that saw the highs of going to a BCS bowl in 2001 and the lows of finishing 9th or worse in the conference 4 times.
• Idaho: 2012 Coach: Robb Akey--Akey was unceremoniously let go from the Idaho football program in October of 2012. Akey led the Vandals to a 20-50 overall record with one bowl berth and three 10+ loss seasons. Other than the 2009 season, Akey's tenure for the Vandals was a disaster. 2013 Coach: Paul Petrino--Brother of former Arkansas and current WKU head coach Bobby Petrino, Coach Petrino jumped at the chance to take over the Vandals. Throughout much of Petrino's career, he has been a successful offensive coordinator running offenses at Louisville, Arkansas, and Illinois. This is Petrino's first head coaching job.
• Kent State: 2012 Coach: Darrell Hazell--Hazel was the head coach of the Golden Flashes for two seasons before taking the open Purdue job at the end of the 2012 season. Hazell led the Golden Flashes to a 5-7 record in his first season before going 11-3 with a berth in the GoDaddy.com bowl. 2013 Coach: Paul Haynes--Haynes is a 43 yard old defensive coach that took the job after the 2012 regular season but did not coach the bowl for the Golden Flashes. Haynes has made his name coaching secondaries in the Big Ten before coaching the Arkansas defense as coordinator in 2012. Haynes was able to use that job as a platform to the Kent State job. This is his first head coaching job.
• Louisiana Tech: 2012 Coach: Sonny Dykes--Dykes is a quickly rising head coach that used his 3 seasons at Louisiana Tech to earn a job in the Pac-12 as the California head coach. Dykes went 22-15 in his three seasons with a bowl berth in season 2. The Bulldogs were bowl eligible in 2012 but the administration turned down the bowl invitation. 2013 Coach: Skip Holtz--Son of former Notre Dame coach Lou Holtz, Skip took this job quickly after Dykes left having the opening to do so as a result of being fired at South Florida. This is Holtz's 4th head coaching stint starting at Connecticut in 1994. Holtz went 34-23 in his five years for the Huskies before waiting 8 more years to get another head coaching job. In 2005, Holtz took over East Carolina and led the Pirates to a 38-27 record and 4 bowl games in 5 years. Holtz left ECU for South Florida where he went to a bowl game in 2010 before finishing with a losing record the last two years. Holtz was fired after going 16-21 in his three years at the program.
• Nevada: 2012 Coach: Chris Ault--Ault is one of the legends of college football and widely considered the inventor of the pistol offense as well as coach of Super Bowl quarterback Colin Kaepernick. Ault coached the Wolfpack for 28 seasons in three separate stints with only three total losing records. Ault led the Wolfpack to a 13-1 record and #11 final ranking in the 2010 season. Ault was offered many more years to coach the team but decided to retire after 28 years coaching the program. 2013 Coach: Brian Polian--The son of NFL executive Bill Polian, Brian takes over for a legend in Chris Ault putting him in the dreaded spot of being the man after the man. Polian has made his name in special teams leading the special teams for Notre Dame, Stanford and Texas A&M before taking the Nevada job. This is the first head coaching job of any kind for Polian.
• New Mexico State: 2012 Coach: DeWayne Walker--After a 1-11 season in 2012 and a 10-40 overall record, Walker abruptly resigned from his position and took a job as defensive backs coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. While this caught the program by surprise, Walker leaving allows the program to go in a different route with a new coach and a badly needed clean slate. 2013 Coach: Doug Martin--New Mexico State has decided to go in an interesting route and brought back 2011 offensive coordinator Doug Martin as the 2013 interim head coach. While it is surprising that Martin was only given an interim role for leaving Boston College, Martin could turn this into a long term job with a solid 2013 season. This is Martin's second head coaching stint after coaching Kent State for 7 years during a tough time in Kent State history to a 29-53 record.
• Northern Illinois: 2012 Coach: Dave Doeren--Doeren was the head coach for the Huskies for two seasons going 23-4 in his two years with a trip to the Orange Bowl in 2012. (he did not coach in the BCS game) Doeren used those two successful season to earn the North Carolina State job taking it quickly after the job became open. 2013 Coach: Rod Carey--Carey took over the job officially before the Orange Bowl after Doeren's departure and coached the Huskies to a loss to Florida State. Carey has been with the Huskies for 2 years previously as the offensive line coach and promoted to offensive coordinator as well in 2012. This is Carey's first head coaching job.
• San Jose State: 2012 Coach: Mike MacIntyre-- MacIntyre is a defensive minded coach that led the Spartans for 3 years with one bowl berth. MacIntyre has had 4 separate defensive coordinator jobs with his time at Duke earning him the SJSU job. MacIntyre leaves the Spartans after going 10-2 in 2012 and leaving for the Colorado job before the bowl game. 2013 Coach: Ron Caragher--Caragher gets his call up to the FBS after 6 years coaching San Diego University to a 44-22 overall record. Caragher has assisted at UCL A and Kentucky before getting the job at San Diego. Caragher was the successor to Jim Harbaugh at San Diego and looks to continue success in similar manner at SJSU.
• Southern Miss: 2012 Coach: Ellis Johnson--Maybe one of the worst fits in all of college football for the 2012 season, Johnson was ran out of town with pitchforks and torches after going 0-12 in his one year in Hattisburg. 2013 Coach: Todd Monken--Monken takes over for Johnson after spending the last two years as Oklahoma State as the offensive coordinator. Monken has seen time at 8 separate programs with one other offensive coordinator job (Eastern Michigan). This is Monken's first head coaching job of any type.
• Utah State: 2012 Coach: Gary Andersen--Anderson resigned from Utah State after the 2012 season on the heels of an 11-2 record and win in the Famous Potato Bowl. Anderson left to take over Wisconsin who lost their coach to Arkansas. Anderson went 26-24 overall at Utah State with bowl trips in both of the final two seasons. 2013 Coach: Matt Wells--A former quarterback at Utah State, Wells has worked his way up the coaching ranks on the offensive side spending his last two years at Utah State as the quarterback coach and offensive coordinator. Wells was named head coach quickly after Anderson resigned to take the Wisconsin job. This is Wells first head coaching job.
• UTEP: 2012 Coach: Mike Price--After 9 years on the job at UTEP and 22 overall years as a head coach, Price retired after going 3-9 in 2012. Price went 48-61 in his 9 years at UTEP and went 177-183 in his career as the head coach. Price went 0-3 in bowl games for the Miners. 2013 Coach: Sean Kugler--Taking over for Price is Sean Kugler who has been around the blocks as a great offensive line coach for the Detroit Lions, Boise State, the Buffalo Bills, and Pittsburgh Steelers. Kugler has never been the head coach at any level and it will be interesting to see how he works out as coach.
• Western Kentucky: 2012 Coach: Willie Taggart--Taggart resigned from his position as the head coach at Western Kentucky after three years at the program. Taggart went 16-20 in those three seasons with a 2-10 year the first season and back to back 7-5 records in 2011 and 2012 and the first FBS bowl in school history leading the Hilltoppers to the Little Ceasar's Bowl (he did not coach in the bowl). 2013 Coach: Bobby Petrino--In what could be one of the most interesting coaching hires in recent years, the Hilltoppers replaced Taggart with former Arkansas coach Bobby Petrino. Petrino has been an excellent coach in his 8 years on the college level as head coach going 75-26 with four finishes in the top 12 nationally. Petrino sat out in 2012 after being fired following a huge scandal. It will be interesting to see how he handles football on a much smaller stage than he is used to.
• Western Michigan: 2012 Coach: Bill Cubit--Cubit was fired from Western Michigan after 8 years coaching the Broncos to a 51-47 overall record. Cubit led the Broncos to three bowl games, all losses, before finishing 2012 4-8 and fired. Cubit was recently hired as offensive coordinator of Illinois after being in the running for some FCS jobs. 2013 Coach: P.J. Fleck--One of the youngest coaches in all of the FBS, Fleck is 32 years old with no previous job any higher than wide receivers coach. Fleck is considered an up and coming star in the coaching ranks but many wonder if he is ready for a head coaching job, especially on the FBS level. This will either be a slam dunk hire that will see his star burn even brighter towards bigger jobs or could be a crash and burn situation.