Let’s keep track as the coaching carousel spins or whatever.

Below, brief notes on each FBS head coaching change, along with an INSTA GRADE. The difference: let’s also grade the firing part as well. Why should only hirings get graded? Onward.

Note: I’m not factoring buyouts here. You’re probably paying him too much to leave. That’s your boosters’ problem, not mine.

Bowling Green

• Mike Jinks firing grade: A. At some MAC schools, you might as well just stick with whoever you have. But BGSU had won pretty consistently under four straight coaches before its former AD reportedly Googled his way to a poor fit, both geographically and experience-wise.
• Scott Loeffler hiring grade: D. He’s only been an OC, so let’s look at his offenses: as he’s coached four different teams, his offenses have ranked Nos. 32, 73, 91, 94, 72, 124, 101, and 95 in opponent-adjusted S&P+. The old joke about the majority of his resume being “was Tom Brady’s position coach at Michigan” seems to still apply.

Central Michigan

• John Bonamego firing grade: B. CMU wasn’t supposed to be good this year, and he led three solid seasons before this one, but — well — this was the worst season in program history. Considering how hard it is to hire well in the MAC, I think I would’ve given him a chance to prove this year was a fluke, but I get it.

Charlotte

• Brad Lambert firing grade: A. It was time for the program architect to move on. A startup jumping to FBS is never easy, but this job should have plenty of interest as it enters year 7.

Colorado

• Mike MacIntyre firing grade: C+. Building 10-win teams at San Jose State and Colorado is hard ... but what’s he done over the last decade if you take out those two years? CU’s good year didn’t feel especially sustainable, considering how senior-heavy that team was. The 2018 Buffs fattened up with a deceptive 5-0 record, then lost six straight.

East Carolina

Scottie Montgomery firing grade: A. This had been a simple call for about two months. A school that’d recently been to eight bowls in nine years had gone 9-26 under Montgomery at the time of firing.

Georgia Tech

• Paul Johnson retired.

Kansas

• David Beaty firing grade: B+. KU improved on the field during the first-time head coach’s four years, but not that much. More importantly, things don’t look that much better going forward than they did when he showed up.
• Les Miles hiring grade: C+ for now, because the expectations matter greatly. Is Miles’ primary task to stabilize the program and set it up for a young innovator? In a weird way, Miles’ beloved gritball might be an underdog tactic in the wide-open Big 12 (see: some of Kansas State’s best recent teams), but he needs to show he’s willing to evolve his Schembechler-ian tendencies.

Louisville

• Bobby Petrino firing grade: A+! Lamar Jackson evidently covered up even more warts than we realized, the program was crumbling all around Petrino, and there’s an ideal replacement who won’t necessarily be available next time around.

Maryland

• D.J. Durkin firing grade:Far more serious things than football to consider here, so not playing around with grades on this one.

North Carolina

• Larry Fedora firing grade: B. He had really rough roster situations for the last two years and led UNC’s best season this millennium, but winning five games in two years against mediocre schedules ain’t getting it done.
• Mack Brown hiring grade: C-, until he shows Texas’ six or so down years were a big fluke. He was UNC’s second or third best coach ever before becoming Texas’ second best coach ever, but his last really good team was 11 seasons before his first at UNC. Unlike Kansas, UNC clearly had more encouraging options.

Texas State

• Everett Withers firing grade: B. Wins had yet to arrive, with only seven wins in his three years at a school that joined FBS in 2012, and Withers’ personality wasn’t a great fit, but at least recruiting was going well. Withers clearly never should’ve left JMU for this job.
• Jake Spavital hiring grade: B. Lots of relevant experience in the area and air raid roots that should be popular in Texas and stand out somewhat in the Sun Belt.

Texas Tech

• Kliff Kingsbury firing grade: A. Yeah, five straight years of losing the exact same way and producing .500-ish seasons at a school that would prefer its Mike Leach records is gonna get a person fired. Both parties should better succeed apart, with Kingsbury sure to have his choice of OC jobs.

UMass

• Mark Whipple firing grade: A. Five years with nothing better than 4-8 is an easy call. Amid significant roster turnover, this sets up as a fresh rebuild.

Western Kentucky

• Mike Sanford firing grade: C. A 9-16 record is a clear step down from Jeff Brohm’s three straight bowl wins. But canning a previously up-and-coming coach after just two years at a school that’s still a C-USA newbie suggests he was clearly way in over his head. Do four one-score losses in 2018 and two comfortable wins to finish the season support that? Hard to say from afar.
• Tyson Helton hiring grade: C. He has basically the same resume as Sanford and wasn’t exactly on the rise at Tennessee. If there’s a secret reason he’s a significantly better choice than Sanford, tremendous.

This post will be updated after each FBS head coaching move.