Staff Roundtable: Which New Pac-12 Head Coach Will Have the Most Success?

This week, we are loaded with four big preseason questions: who the best player in the Pac-12 is, which new head coach will have the most success, how important the preseason polls are, and a sleeper team that Oregon should take note of this season.

Next, most of the staff believes that former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach will have the best season of all four new head coaches in the Pac-12. Rich Rodriguez takes over at Arizona, Jim Mora, Jr. at UCLA, and Todd Graham at Arizona State.

Which new Pac-12 head coach will have the most success in his first year?

Brian: Mike Leach, Washington State. The team already had a passing attack in place under former coach Paul Wulff. The Cougars won’t have nearly the setback they had when Wulff first started, and I anticipate them fighting for a bowl bid this season.

Raymond: Mike Leach. He will have the best record of the four new Pac-12 coaches. Leach will bring a much more formidable offense to Washington State this season and he always makes his quarterbacks look very good even though that hasn’t translated to success on the NFL level.

Ricky: Jim Mora, UCLA. I feel that Mora (even though he was unsuccessful in the NFL) is the right man for the job. UCLA is a few minor adjustments from being a solid Pac-12 team. Plus, UCLA needs a solid head coach to rival USC in the recruitment battles.

Mike: Mike Leach. He will be the most successful first year coach in the conference because I really like what the Cougs return on offense. However I’m intrigued by the Jim Mora hire at UCLA because the guy had some success in Atlanta and Seattle.

Each week, the staff at Autzen Zoo will react on the previous day’s games in Pac-12 football and other news that happens in the conference. Our current staff includes lead editor Brian Spaen, along with staff writers Mike Vamosi, Raymond Mencke, Jr., and Ricky Widmer.