College football is right around the corner. With the first official games less than three weeks away, the 2023 college football season is fast approaching.
Here are some storylines involving coaches I will be looking out for this season.
Michigan football is back The Wolverines are aiming for a third consecutive playoff berth and third straight win over Ohio State in 2023. And they’ll likely be starting the season without head coach Jim Harbaugh on the sidelines. Harbaugh will sit out a four-game suspension for allegedly making false statements to NCAA investigators regarding a recruiting investigation. Harbaugh declined to comment on any NCAA discipline at Big Ten media day. But once the suspension is over, it would not surprise me if he has some sharp words about the NCAA and its processes.
Michigan shouldn’t suffer without Harbaugh to start the season. The Wolverines have one of the easiest non-conference schedules in the country with games against East Carolina, UNLV and Bowling Green at home before the first Big Ten game of the season against Rutgers. Harbaugh should be returning to a Michigan team that’s 4-0 and ranked in the top five.
Alabama has a new offensive coordinator in Tommy Rees. The former Notre Dame quarterback ran an effective offense as the OC in South Bend over the past three seasons and comes to Tuscaloosa as the Crimson Tide are looking for a quarterback to succeed Heisman winner, Bryce Young, who was the first pick in the NFL Draft last spring. Some feel Georgia has supplanted Alabama as the best program in college football. Rees will need to make an immediate impact to quiet those thoughts.
All eyes will be on Deion Sanders at Colorado. The outspoken former NFL star immediately overhauled the Buffaloes’ roster ahead of his first season in Boulder.
Colorado should be a lot more competitive in 2023 than it was a season ago. That is not saying much as the Buffaloes were the worst Power Five program in the country in 2022.
A bowl game is probably asking too much. But even If Colorado finishes the season with three or four wins, there will be a lot of optimism about the future.
Let me close with this interesting story. Iowa offensive coordinator, Brian Ferentz has one of the most unique contracts in college football. His offense at Iowa last season was a disaster. The Hawkeyes scored fewer than 18 points per game a season ago as Iowa quarterbacks threw for just seven TDs over 13 games. Such a bad offensive performance over the course of the season would cost most offensive coordinators their jobs.
But not at Iowa. It may help that your father is the school’s head coach. Instead, he took a $50,000 pay cut and now has two interesting incentives added to his contract. If Iowa doesn’t score 25 points per game and wins at least seven games, the junior Ferentz’s contract will terminate in June of 2024.
