The past offseason saw 28 teams acquire new head coaches. There were some high profile schools involved in the coaching search for numerous reasons. The Ohio State Buckeyes, Penn State Nittany Lions, Arizona Wildcats, Arkansas Razorbacks, UCLA Bruins and Texas A&M Aggies are a few of the big name schools with a new coach. After looking over the coaching hires, I picked the hires that I think will benefit the schools that hired them the most. Narrowly missing my list was hires like Rich Rodriguez to the Wildcats. If Rodriguez wouldn't have failed so miserably at Michigan, this would have been a splash hire. One hire that is intriguing, but not sure how su

ccessful it will be is Charlie Weis heading to Lawrence to coach the Kansas Jayhawks. He immediately brought in some big name quarterbacks, but it will be interesting to see if he can sustain long term success. His offensive coaching abilities are unquestioned. How he can relate to college aged players is still up in the air.

Here are my top 3 hires of the offseason and it is no doubt that their fan bases are hoping and expecting for immediate success in every instance.

3. Kevin Sumlin - Texas A&M Aggies

Head coach Kevin Sumlin returns to the Aggies sideline, but this time as head coach. Sumlin was on the staff in both 2001 and 2002. Sumlin worked wonders for the Houston Cougars, compiling a 35-17 record over 4 seasons and leading the team to 3 bowl berths in 4 seasons. Sumlin has his work cut out for him though as the Aggies are moving from a Big 12 Conference that is tough, but the SEC will pose a much more challenging schedule. It is widely known the success the SEC has had in recent years. Aggie fans will have to have some patience in the transition stages as wins won't come easily early on.

2. Mike Leach - Washington State Cougars

Every since Mike Leach was let go from the Texas Tech Red Raiders sideline, it was just a matter of time before he got back into coaching. The Cougars are giving Leach the chance to build his reputation, as well as, bring their school some recognition and hopefully more wins in the process. In 10 seasons with the Red Raiders, Leach led his team to 10 bowl games and finished the season in the top 25 in 5 of his final 6 seasons. Leach is a mastermind on the offensive side of the ball and will no doubt bring excitement back to an offensive that has only managed to score more than 28 points twice against Division 1 opponents in the past 3 seasons.

1. Urban Meyer - Ohio State Buckeyes

Urban Meyer has been at or near the top of every coaching search since he left the Florida Gators for family and health reasons. Buckeye fans are hoping Meyer is re-energized and ready to go. Meyer has shown he will have no problems recruiting, despite the probation and appears likely to restore the success the Buckeye faithful have become accustomed to. Smith won 2 National Championships with the Florida Gators before a surprising 8-5 campaign in 2010. Don't expect Meyer to take long to get the Buckeyes back on top. Despite a bowl ban in 2012, I would fully expect Ohio State to be battling for a Rose Bowl berth in 2013.

Born in Lincoln, NE and being a Nebraska Cornhusker an his entire life, Kevin has been an avid football fan his entire life.

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Top 3 Coaching Hires of the Offseason - a Fan's Take