An interesting article from The Football Scoop that looks at all coaches hired to start the 2019 season. It covers all major coaches hired in that cycle, but I'm cutting and pasting the info below on the ACC coaches, and on Houston, as he was discussed as a possibility for UNC (along with Satterfield).
Mike Houston, East Carolina (10-17, 5-13 AAC): Houston has never been at a head coaching stop longer than three years, because he's never needed more than two to get a place going. Holding on to that 14-0 lead over South Carolina would've been a milestone win for Houston, but as of now this appears to be a middle-of-the-road AAC team. That's a step above the Scottie Montgomery days but two steps behind the Skip Holtz and Ruffin McNeill.
ACC
Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech (9-19, 7-14 ACC): We all knew Georgia Tech's transformation into the 21st century wouldn't be seamless, and it hasn't been. But the progress is there, if incremental. The Jackets won two ACC games in 2019, three in 2020, and now sit at 2-2 at the '21 midpoint.
The Northern Illinois loss was ugly and could stick around as an anchor over the entire season; considering Tech closes with Notre Dame and Georgia, they'll likely need to win three of their next four (at Virginia, Virginia Tech, at Miami, Boston College) to reach a bowl game. My how things might be different in the ACC if Collins' crew had punched it in against Clemson.
Scott Satterfield, Louisville (15-15, 9-11 ACC): Satterfield and co. won the Rookie Staff of the Year in 2019, transforming a team that was nearly Kansas-level bad, left for dead by Bobby Petrino, into an 8-5 product that won the Music City Bowl.
And in the two seasons since, Satterfield has taken that hard-earned goodwill and flushed it down the drain. There was the open flirting with South Carolina, compounded by last season's 4-7 record. The 2021 Cardinals are 3-3, and all three losses were painful in their own way: out-classed by Ole Miss in the opener, a near miss over new ACC favorite Wake Forest, and then blowing a 17-point lead at home to Virginia this past Saturday. The Cardinals will be underdogs to Clemson and No. 11 Kentucky, and favorites over Syracuse and Duke. That leaves the next two games that, barring an upset, will shape the tenor of the season, and thus the Satterfield regime: home against Boston College, at No. 22 NC State.
Manny Diaz, Miami (16-13, 11-7 ACC): Underwhelming is the word that comes to mind here. Arguably The U's greatest asset is its prominent set of young alums that continue to hover around the program, and they haven't been shy about sharing their dissatisfaction with the state of the program.
Left to an open vote of fans and football alums, this would be a clear verdict for regime change. But what do the donors and administration think?
Mack Brown, North Carolina (18-13, 13-10 ACC): Brown exceeded expectations early, and now the expectations are exceeding him. He oddly blamed the media for UNC's status as 2021's Biggest Underperformer. Miami is up next, followed by three straight games where the Heels will be underdogs -- at Notre Dame, Wake Forest, at Pitt -- where this season can be salvaged or completely lost.
Mike Houston, East Carolina (10-17, 5-13 AAC): Houston has never been at a head coaching stop longer than three years, because he's never needed more than two to get a place going. Holding on to that 14-0 lead over South Carolina would've been a milestone win for Houston, but as of now this appears to be a middle-of-the-road AAC team. That's a step above the Scottie Montgomery days but two steps behind the Skip Holtz and Ruffin McNeill.
ACC
Geoff Collins, Georgia Tech (9-19, 7-14 ACC): We all knew Georgia Tech's transformation into the 21st century wouldn't be seamless, and it hasn't been. But the progress is there, if incremental. The Jackets won two ACC games in 2019, three in 2020, and now sit at 2-2 at the '21 midpoint.
The Northern Illinois loss was ugly and could stick around as an anchor over the entire season; considering Tech closes with Notre Dame and Georgia, they'll likely need to win three of their next four (at Virginia, Virginia Tech, at Miami, Boston College) to reach a bowl game. My how things might be different in the ACC if Collins' crew had punched it in against Clemson.
Scott Satterfield, Louisville (15-15, 9-11 ACC): Satterfield and co. won the Rookie Staff of the Year in 2019, transforming a team that was nearly Kansas-level bad, left for dead by Bobby Petrino, into an 8-5 product that won the Music City Bowl.
And in the two seasons since, Satterfield has taken that hard-earned goodwill and flushed it down the drain. There was the open flirting with South Carolina, compounded by last season's 4-7 record. The 2021 Cardinals are 3-3, and all three losses were painful in their own way: out-classed by Ole Miss in the opener, a near miss over new ACC favorite Wake Forest, and then blowing a 17-point lead at home to Virginia this past Saturday. The Cardinals will be underdogs to Clemson and No. 11 Kentucky, and favorites over Syracuse and Duke. That leaves the next two games that, barring an upset, will shape the tenor of the season, and thus the Satterfield regime: home against Boston College, at No. 22 NC State.
Manny Diaz, Miami (16-13, 11-7 ACC): Underwhelming is the word that comes to mind here. Arguably The U's greatest asset is its prominent set of young alums that continue to hover around the program, and they haven't been shy about sharing their dissatisfaction with the state of the program.
Left to an open vote of fans and football alums, this would be a clear verdict for regime change. But what do the donors and administration think?
Mack Brown, North Carolina (18-13, 13-10 ACC): Brown exceeded expectations early, and now the expectations are exceeding him. He oddly blamed the media for UNC's status as 2021's Biggest Underperformer. Miami is up next, followed by three straight games where the Heels will be underdogs -- at Notre Dame, Wake Forest, at Pitt -- where this season can be salvaged or completely lost.
