Coaching Stock Watch: 2015 Week Two

We debuted Coaching Stock Watch last week, to much fanfare and adoration. [READ: A bunch of people lambasting me in the comments for not mentioning TEH LASHLEE!!1!!] After such a resounding success, we push ever forward into the one-eighth(ish) mark of the college football season.

IMPORTANT NOTE: This feature is NOT—we repeat, NOT—rating who might be the next head coach at Virginia (or any other school).

Stock Rising

DJ Durkin, defensive coordinator, Michigan

Michigan's season-opening loss at Utah could hardly be blamed on the defense. Durkin's side of the ball sacked Utes QB Travis Wilson once, picked him off once, and limited him to just over 200 yards passing, while bottling up star RB Devontae Booker and allowing only 3 of Utah's 13 third-down conversion attempts. A week later against Oregon State, they held the Beavers to only 7 points and 111 total yards. Durkin came to Michigan with a solid big-program resume already under his belt, having served as defensive coordinator at Florida (and interim head coach for the Birmingham Bowl) and special teams coordinator at Stanford. A young coach (only 37) with a national profile, Durkin should be in high demand so long as he keeps the Blue stingy.

Matt Rhule, head coach, Temple

Rhule caught national headlines with a week one spanking of his alma mater, Penn State. The Owls put NFL-prospect QB Christian Hackenberg under pressure all day en route to a confident 27-10 win. Temple followed up with an upset road win over conference favorite Cincinnati, 34-26. Rhule has pulled Temple up from a 2-10 first season, going 6-6 in 2014 and acquiring the AAC's second-ranked recruiting class. Expect to see ACC schools look Rhule's away as he's established himself as a force in the Pennsylvania area.

Lincoln Riley, offensive coordinator, Oklahoma

If we only gave credit for half games, Riley might be in the lower section this week for the Sooners' first half against Tennessee. But once Riley and QB Baker Mayfield got the Volutneers figured out, boy did they have them figured out. Oklahoma stormed back from a 17-point deficit and Mayfield dissected the Vols' defense. Riley has strong Air Raid roots, having been a walk-on QB at Texas Tech and then an assistant coach under Mike Leach before getting the OC reins at East Carolina. The Pirates thrived under Riley's tutelage and Oklahoma looks to be off on the same trajectory. Any program looking to fire up an aerial attack will keep an eye on Riley's season.

Stock Falling

Rhett Lashlee, offensive coordinator, Auburn

I AIN'T EVEN SORRY. Seriously though: how does a program with five-stars throughout its roster, coached by two great offensive minds, manage to put up only 27 points on Jacksonville State? In OVERTIME, no less?? Part of Lashlee's stock falling is because he's basically the Apple of this particular stock market: he had nowhere to go but down. Once Auburn remembers it's Auburn and hangs 50-something on an SEC defense, Lashlee will be right back on top.

Todd Grantham, defensive coordinator, Louisville

If Lashlee gets dinged for almost losing to an FCS team, Grantham gets dinged for actually losing to Houston. The Cougars aren't terrible, but shouldn't have been able to hang more than 30 on Louisville, at Louisville. Grantham has a stellar resume, with a decade of NFL experience and coordinator positions in the SEC. Louisville's defense has about as much talent as Auburn's offense, so I expect Grantham will right the ship soon. For now, he's hanging with the fallers.

Dan Enos, offensive coordinator, Arkansas

One really could've taken one's pick among SEC offensive coordinators this week. But Enos gets especially dubious distinction with the Razorbacks 16-12 home loss to Toledo. Enos left a relatively successful head coaching gig at Central Michigan to run the Razorbacks' offense. While a 48-point output against UTEP made that look like a good decision in week one, week two was a spectacular dud. Unlike Lashlee or Grantham, Enos has been at Arkansas for less time and is consequently a more volatile commodity. Maybe Arkansas' strength of schedule will bring out his best through the remainder of 2015.