HERO Sports is counting down the 100 days until the kickoff of the 2018 college football season on Saturday, Aug. 25, with daily trivia. Each day, from May 17 through Aug. 24, we'll publish one college football trivia question.
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Twenty-one FBS head coaches are entering their first full season as permanent head coach. Can any of them join a tiny group of coaches who won a title in their first season?
Only three coaches have accomplished the feat (AP: 1936-97; BCS: 1998-2013; CFP: 2014-present). Who is the last coach to win a national championship in his first season?
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Answer
Larry Coker, Miami (FL) – 2001
Bennie Oosterbaan became the first coach to accomplish the feat, leading Michigan to the 1948 AP title. Four decades later, Dennis Erickson did it, winning the title with Miami in 1989. And 12 years after that, another first-year Miami coach, Larry Coker, won the BCS National Championship.
Near misses since 2001 include Urban Meyer, who led Ohio State to a 12-0 mark in 2012 but the Buckeyes were ineligible for the postseason, and Gus Malzahn, who led Auburn to a 12-2 mark and loss to Florida State in the 2013 title game.
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