It’s the question everyone in college football is wondering right now. 

No, not how Alabama and Clemson continue to steamroll the entire sport into submission. 

But instead, why are so many big-time, second-year coaching hires, so freakin’ awful.

Seriously, it isn’t just a story right now. It’s a damn epidemic. 

A little under two years ago, we saw one of the wildest coaching hiring cycles of our lifetimes, with so many major big-time jobs opening up it was impossible to keep track. Florida needed a new coach. And Nebraska. And Florida State. 

Tennessee technically needed two new head coaches, since they hired one (Greg Schiano) and immediately un-hired him just a few days later. Texas A&M was in search of a new coach, and Oregon and UCLA, too. A bunch of second-tier Power Five programs like Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Arizona and Arizona State were in the hunt for a new coach also.  

Since then the dust has settled, and admittedly, some of those schools did knock their hires out of the park (Florida, Texas A&M and Oregon come to mind). Some have been fine (I’m looking at you, Joe Moorhead and Mississippi State) and some have exceeded minimal expectations (admit it, you thought Herm Edwards would already be out at Arizona State, didn’t you?).

But quite a few others have been disappointments at best — and, at worst, abject failures.

So after asking the question on Twitter a few days ago, I decided to bring it here instead: Who has been the most disappointing second-year coach in college football?

Was just thinking about how truly abysmal some of the second year college football coaches in college football have been. Which one, in your eyes, has been most disappointing (write in's accepted for Scott Frost, by the way)

— Aaron Torres (@Aaron_Torres) September 8, 2019

Here is our first annual (and hopefully last annual) Second-Year Head Coach Misery Rankings: 

(Before we get started, one note: We decided to keep any coach who hasn’t been miserable (think Dan Mullen, Jimbo Fisher, Herm Edwards, etc.) off this list. We also avoided including Matt Luke at Ole Miss since he basically only got the job because the program got hit with crippling sanctions, and we gave a pass to Jonathan Smith at Oregon State since, well, no one really wins at Oregon State. They haven’t made a bowl game since 2013. 

Anyway, below is our list): 

6. Kevin Sumlin, Arizona 

It’s easy to pile on Rich Rodriguez now, but in hindsight his tenure at Arizona wasn’t nearly as bad as it seemed in real time. Rich Rod was never able to reach the pinnacle of his West Virginia glory days in Tucson. But in six seasons he went to five bowl games and even won a Pac-12 South title in 2014.

Not great. But certainly not terrible either. In the process he also proved that even at a school with minimal football history (although Arizona was better than most realize in the early to mid-90’s), it isn’t unrealistic to expect the football program to at least get bowl eligible. In a world where there are 57,000 bowl games every December and January, Arizona could, and probably should be playing in one of them.

Well to the credit of Kevin Sumlin he came into Tucson and… completely flipped that idea on its head. Sumlin – fresh off a fully-paid $10 million buyout at Texas A&M – went 5-7 in Year 1 at the school, with a really big win over Oregon, and not all that much else to show for it. The defense was especially terrible, allowing 32 points per game, including a staggering 110 in the final two games of the regular season which cost the Wildcats a bowl berth.

Then, to make matters worse, after an off-season where Sumlin spoke about cleaning up the defense, the Wildcats proceeded to go out and… give up 45 points in a season-opening loss at Hawaii. They gave up 41 to Northern Arizona last week, although in defense of Arizona, most came in the second half when the game was well out of hand.  

Still, this isn’t exactly what Arizona fans were expecting when they plucked Sumlin off of a semi-successful run at Texas A&M. 

5. Scott Frost, Nebraska 

It was a story that seemed to come straight from a Hollywood script: Take a down on its luck former college football power. Take that program’s last great star at quarterback, a player from the state, who led the program to a national championship 20 years earlier. Turn that former star quarterback into a rising head coach, who just led his previous school to an undefeated season, and – depending on who you ask – a national championship.

Then have that big-time coach turn down other power programs (specifically Florida) and return to his roots, and lead his program back to glory. 

Unfortunately, as they say, when a story sounds too good to be true, it usually is. Which is exactly how the Scott Frost era has played out in Lincoln so far. 

Now look, no is saying Frost has been terrible, or anything close. Still, when he returned – again, off an undefeated season at UCF – no one was expecting an 0-6 start and 4-8 finish to Year 1, which included losses to Troy and Purdue by two touchdowns at home. They also didn’t expect that after an off-season full of hype, Year 2 would start with a dud either. The Cornhuskers didn’t look all that good in a season-opener against South Alabama (where they needed three non-offensive touchdowns to seal the win). And they looked downright awful by blowing a double-digit fourth quarter lead to Colorado. 

Admittedly, Frost will have plenty of time to figure things out. No one is rushing him out of town, and 13 games is way too small of a small size to determine anything about where this program is, or where they’re going.

But if you were expecting a Hollywood ending for Frost and Nebraska, it probably isn’t coming this season. 

4. Chad Morris, Arkansas 

Morris was hired with a bluster in December of 2017 and promised to play the fastest brand of football just about anywhere in the sport. 

The term “Left Lane, Hammer Down” was even used. 

No, I’m not even kidding about that.

"We're gonna put it in the left lane and put the hammer down."@coachchadmorris' first meeting with the team is a must-watch.https://t.co/8hPF0gWmPT

— Arkansas Razorback Football (@RazorbackFB) December 7, 2017

Unfortunately, the only place Arkansas is headed to in a hurry is the bottom of the SEC standings.

Overall, the Hogs are an abysmal 3-10 under Morris, which includes wins over two FCS schools (Eastern Illinois and Portland State) as well as Tulsa late last season. During Morris’s tenure they’ve yet to win a single SEC game, going a combined 0-9 in league play between the 2018 season and their league opener against Ole Miss last week. 

But hey, at least there have been a few close games in there, right? 

Which, by the way, reminds me of the old line from the movie Major League: “Dorn is O-for-the-Century against this guy… with a lot of foul tips.” 

That’s basically Arkansas right now. If we can’t actually beat SEC teams, at least we’re keeping things close!!

As a matter of fact, based on pure wins and losses, Arkansas should be even higher on this list. Just about the only reason we don’t have them there is that Arkansas fans are so beaten down at this point, that they seem to be handling this lull surprisingly well.

I guess when the best coach of a generation gets fired for riding his motorcycle into a ditch (with his mistress on his back) going 0-9 in the SEC isn’t quite so bad. 

3. Chip Kelly, UCLA

Credit Chip Kelly for this: He was a man that was hotly-pursued by Florida, and as best we could tell, the reason he turned down the Gators was because he didn’t want to take over an SEC program with national-title-or-bust expectations. Instead, he reportedly preferred a place where – if he were to lose games – it would fly a little more under the radar.

So yeah, at least Kelly is smart. Or maybe he knew what we’re all learning: That’s it’s possible he just doesn’t have it anymore. 

Whatever the reason, based on the hype of the hire, no second-year coach has crashed and burned harder than Kelly. Frankly, no one is close. Overall, Kelly is just 3-13 since taking over at UCLA, this for a guy that went 46-7 with four Pac-10/12 titles in his previous stop at Oregon. Included in those losses were a 22-point defeat to Fresno State at home last season, and a loss to San Diego State a week ago – the first time in 23 attempts that the Aztecs have ever beaten the Bruins.

To make matters worse, a coach who was once hailed as an offensive genius can’t get things going on that side of the ball: UCLA ranked 98^th in scoring offense last season. This year, the Bruins have combined for 28 points in two games. 

Not ideal. 

Especially with Oklahoma coming to town this weekend. 

2. Willie Taggart, Florida State

Like Kelly above, Taggart had a solid reputation that preceded him when he arrived at Florida State. That reputation? He was the “quick fix” guy. A coach who made a career out of arriving at a place, and turning it around relatively quickly. He did it at Western Kentucky. And at South Florida. And in one year at Oregon he more than doubled the Ducks’ win total from the season before. 

And then there is Florida State. 

Since Taggart arrived the Seminoles are… 6-8 and coming off a season where they missed their first bowl game since 1981. The wins – like last week’s overtime victory on a missed extra point against UL-Monroe – don’t really even feel like wins. The losses – like a Week 1 meltdown against Boise State at home – are downright unexplainable. 

What’s also unexplainable is how a team that has recruited at the level Florida State has, could be so darn bad on defense. They currently rank 121^st nationally in points allowed and 124^th nationally in total yards allowed. This from a school that used to churn out top defenses like Dabo Swinney churns out corny one-liners. 

Again, it really is unexplainable.

Florida State, one of the great programs in college football during the runs of both Bobby Bowden and Jimbo Fisher is unspeakably bad. And there are no signs right now that things will get any better, any time soon.

1. Jeremy Pruitt, Tennessee

You know you’ve got to be really, really lousy to earn the No. 1 spot on a list of most disappointing coaches that includes Chip Kelly and Willie Taggart, yet here we are.

At this point, Tennessee is finding new and inventive ways to lose games every single week. As my buddy, CBS Sports’ Barrett Sallee said last weekend...

There is no rock bottom for Tennessee. It’s a never-ending pit of misery.

— Barrett Sallee (@BarrettSallee) September 8, 2019

That is the perfect way to describe all of Tennessee football over the past decade, yet what’s ironic is that things actually started off better for Pruitt than just about anyone on this list (well, as long as you completely block out the coaching search that got him the job in the first place). The Vols began last season at 2-1 overall, were 3-3 after a win at Auburn, and at one point were 5-5 after a victory over Kentucky, which was ranked in the Top 15 at the time.

At that point, all they needed to do was beat either Missouri or Vanderbilt and they would get bowl eligible. Instead, they lost the two games by a combined score of 88-30. Woof. 

Since then, things have only gotten worse with, if you haven’t heard, losses to Georgia State and BYU at home to open the season. With a gauntlet of a schedule coming up, there is a very realistic – if not probable — chance that they start the season 1-6. 

That is, if they beat UT-Chattanooga this weekend.

And if that doesn’t tell you about the state of Tennessee football, nothing will. When you’re Tennessee, you go into a weekend game against Chattanooga, and no one is quite sure if you’ll win, that’s when you know things are bad.

That’s also how, if you’re Jeremy Pruitt, you end up No. 1 on the first annual, Second-Year Head Coach Misery Rankings.