re: Top 10 coaches record in their first year

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Dabo Swinney lost three of his first five games after having the interim tag pulled off at Clemson, capping off that run with a loss to Maryland. Paul Chryst lost his Big Ten opener to Iowa, a month after getting whollopped by Alabama in the season opener by 18. He won the Big Ten West the next two years. James Franklin won two Big Ten games his first year at Penn State, mainly because he got to play Rutgers and Indiana. He was another coach to lose to Maryland in his first season. Clay Helton got the interim tag lifted at USC in 2016, and promptly lost to Alabama by 46 points. He followed it up with losses in his first two conference games. USC hasn’t lost since. Mike Gundy went 4-7 his first year at Oklahoma St in 2005, and only won one conference game. He lost to Colorado by 34, Texas A&M by 39, and Iowa St by 27. Chris Petersen went 8-6 his first year at Washington despite a preseason top 25 ranking, qualifying for a bowl game only because Washington managed to beat Hawaii by a single point. Jim Harbaugh lost his first game at Michigan 24-17 to Utah. Later that year, he’d guide Michigan to a win over Ohio St and its first 10 win season in five years."

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all most all of those dudes took over dumpster fire programs that hadn't won consistently in years. Even the ones who didn't did not start off in as good a shape as O did with LSU. You can make excuses for a loss to Miss. State. It just better not be a 30 point loss.