G5 Midseason Coaching Report: Jeff Choate, Jeff Monken, and More

By: Mike Huesmann

We are now at the last of the five midseason reports, covering the G5 . Each conference will have a coach who, through the first half of the season, has either overperformed, underperformed, is on the hottest seat, the safest seat, or who the jury is still out on, meaning we need to see how the second half of the season goes before jumping to conclusions. Additionally, we'll have an MVC (most valuable coach), focusing on preparation and in-game coaching, not offseason aspects like roster building or recruiting. A coach can only be selected for one category, avoiding repeats. Earlier this week, we’ve covered Midseason Coaching Reports for the Big Ten , ACC , Big 12 , and SEC . For the G5, I selected two coaches for each category to account for the five conferences.

Overperforming

Bryan Vincent, ULM

It's a humbling start to this article for me. I wasn't high on the Vincent hiring at ULM, but he's proven me wrong (though the rest of the list has been accurate). The Warhawks sit at 5-1, just one win away from bowl eligibility, and they haven’t been to a bowl game since 2012. He's been a revelation so far .

Jeff Choate, Nevada

Choate, on the other hand, is one I can gloat about. He was on my offseason list of the five best hires . Nevada is a modest 3-4 but looks far more competitive—a far cry from the 2-10 record they posted under Ken Wilson in both previous years.

Underperforming

Troy Calhoun, Air Force

Calhoun has been a rock at Air Force. They've almost always been competitive, tough, and disciplined, winning an impressive 131 games under his leadership. However, they haven’t figured out how to run an offense effectively since the cut block rule changes. To make matters worse, Army and Navy have clearly adapted.

Jeff Traylor, UTSA

Traylor is another coach who has been uber successful in his tenure at UTSA but struggling this year. The decision not to add a quarterback via the transfer portal and instead rely on Owen McCown hasn’t paid off. Traylor is still a good coach, though I doubt he gets brought up for P4 jobs this offseason as he had before.

Hottest Seat

Will Hall, Southern Miss and Stan Drayton, Temple

Both of these guys are on borrowed time. I said they both should probably have been fired after last season. They are both 1-5 this year and might not make it to Thanksgiving. Their teams haven’t given up and still seem to be playing hard for them, but that’s not a job saver at the FBS level. I’ve already started working on "Five Coaches to Replace Each of Them" lists.

Coldest Seat (Most Job Security)

Chuck Martin, Miami OH

Our safest coaches both come from the MAC. Martin and the Redhawks sit at 2-4 right now, while Chris Creighton’s Eagles are 4-2; both teams are 1-1 in conference play. Martin is as steady as they come and is in his 11th year in Miami. While his team is down this year, they’re perennial contenders and won the MAC last year. He has led them to bowl games for three consecutive years.

Chris Creighton, Eastern Michigan

Creighton is also in his 11th year at this school and has led the program to bowl games for three consecutive years.. This program is light-years better than when he took over and is now among the most stable in the G5. Both of these coaches have earned their ticket to keep coaching. The Redhawks did take down EMU last weekend, 38-14.

Jury Still Out (We Need to See How the Second Half of the Season Goes)

Charles Huff, Marshall

Huff and the Herd secured a nice win against Georgia State last night, improving to 4-3 on the season. The victory was essential following their meltdown against Georgia Southern last week. Huff is in his fourth year with Marshall and has led the team to a bowl game every year, although they did regress in year three. For some reason, he has yet to endear himself to the fans despite the success, but a bowl appearance this year should keep him safe.

Mike MacIntyre, FIU

MacIntyre, on the other hand, took a bad loss to UTEP this week, who was winless at the time. I like Mac and have always thought he’s a good coach but there’s work to do with this team. The Panthers are 2-5 and we may be looking at a third consecutive 4-8 season for him.

MVC (Most Valuable Coach)

Jeff Monken, Army

Monken is currently in the running for national coach of the year. Sitting at 6-0 is truly remarkable. The significant changes in offense that the service academies were compelled to make after the cut block rule changes have not hurt the Black Nights. He has QB Bryson Daily running the offense like the clockwork we’d expect from a West Point-trained engineer.

Pete Lembo, Buffalo

Lembo, new to the job after being at South Carolina, shows us why he was a good head coach at Elon and Ball State before. The Bulls are 4-2 and look significantly better than in previous years , positioning themselves as MAC competitors. They haven’t looked this good since Lance Leipold was coach.