Three percent of all current FBS head coaches were coaching at Alabama 10 years ago. Eight percent of all current FBS head coaches were coaching at FCS programs 10 years ago, and two percent of all current FBS head coaches were at Division-III programs 10 years ago.
Ten years ago, Dabo Swinney wasn't Dabo Swinney. Dabo Swinney was just second-year Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney who was closer to unemployment than the first of two eventual national championships. Now, he's a two-time national champion and one of 37 current FBS head coaches were also FBS head coaches 10 years ago.
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Entering 2020, Swinney is the 12th-longest-tenured FBS head coach. He's also one of only 21 FBS head coaches at the same program as 2010, and one of 17 in same position at the same school, though of those 17, three had interrupted tenures: Gary Andersen (Utah State), Greg Schiano (Rutgers), and Randy Edsall (UConn).
Swinney is one of three current head coaches who were on the Clemson staff 10 years ago, tied with six other programs for second behind Alabama's four coaches (Nick Saban, Jeremy Pruitt, Kirby Smart, Jim McElwain). Louisiana's Billy Napier was offensive coordinator and USF's Jeff Scott was receivers coach at Clemson in 2010. The other five 2010 staffs that had three eventual 2020 FBS head coaches: Auburn, FIU, Oklahoma State, USC, and Stanford.
With the exception of FIU, each of those programs had their current head coach on staff: Gus Malzahn at Auburn (offensive coordinator), Mike Gundy at Oklahoma State (head coach), Clay Helton at USC (quarterbacks coach), and David Shaw at Stanford (offensive coordinator). Nineteen other programs had at least two 2020 head coaches on staff, including Hawai'i (Dave Aranda and Nick Rolovich), North Carolina (Butch Davis and Sam Pittman), and Toledo (Jason Candle and Matt Campbell).
Only one current FBS coach was coaching high school football in 2010: Jeff Traylor.
One was a JUCO head coach: Steve Campbell.
Two weren't coaching (or in a non-coaching position with a team) at any level: Herm Edwards and Danny Gonzales.
Three were Division-III head coaches: Tom Arth, Lance Leipold, and Tim Lester.
Four were Division-II head coaches: Jamey Chadwell, Mike Houston, Sean Lewis, and Rod Carey.
Seven were in the NFL, including one head coach: Illinois' Lovie Smith.
Eleven were in the FCS, including Chris Creighton, Jeff Monken, Matt Viator, Craig Bohl, and Willie Fritz.
And 101 current FBS head coaches were coaching in the FBS 10 years ago, 37 of whom were head coaches. In total, 48 were head coaches at seven different levels in 2010: FBS, FCS, NFL, D-II, D-III, JUCO, and high school.
Of the 76 who were on-field assistants in 2010, 52 were offensive assistants, including 26 offensive coordinators. The other 25 were defensive assistants, including 17 defensive coordinators.
Two were graduate assistants in 2010, while one was an NFL scout (Mike Neu) and one was a college scout (Chad Lunsford). Only 2 current FBS head coaches were defensive line coaches, and four were offensive line coaches. Two were tight ends coaches, five were defensive backs coaches, six were quarterbacks coaches, and 12 were receivers coaches. One was an assistant offensive coordinator in the NFL (Mike Bloomgren), and one was a quality control assistant in the FBS (Eliah Drinkwitz).
Where weren't current FBS head coaches 10 years ago?
They weren't exclusively coaching running backs, linebackers, or special teams. Some coaches listed as coordinators were also coaching those positions (e.g. Philip Montgomery was running backs coach and offensive coordinator at Baylor in 2010), but not one current FBS coach was exclusively a running backs coach, linebackers coach, or special teams coach in 2010.
Ten years ago, current FBS head coaches were almost everywhere.
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