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Danny White: Ranking Tennessee Vols AD’s 10 best coaching hires at UCF, Buffalo

By Caleb Calhoun

Mar 24, 2019; Storrs, CT, USA; Buffalo Bulls head coach Felisha Legette-Jack watches from the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies during the first inning in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 24, 2019; Storrs, CT, USA; Buffalo Bulls head coach Felisha Legette-Jack watches from the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies during the first inning in the second round of the 2019 NCAA Tournament at Gampel Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports /
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Feb 19, 2020; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; UCF Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins reacts from the bench in the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the second half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Feb 19, 2020; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; UCF Knights head coach Johnny Dawkins reacts from the bench in the game against the Cincinnati Bearcats in the second half at Fifth Third Arena. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports /

Record with UCF Knights (prior to 2020-2021): 83-58

  • 1 NIT (2017 Semifinals)
  • 1 NCAA Tournament (2019 Round of 32)

And now we move on to hires Danny White made that improved the program. Honestly, Johnny Dawkins being this low shows how great White’s track record is. Dawkins replaced Donnie Jones, who was fired after three straight losing seasons with the UCF Knights. Jones could never get the program to adjust to its move to the American Athletic Conference.

Nobody can deny the improvement of the program under Dawkins. UCF has had four straight winning seasons before this year, which is still going on. Twice, Dakwins’ teams won more than 20 games, including a 24-12 record and NIT semifinals appearance his first year on the job.

In 2018-2019, Dawkins took UCF to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 24-9 record. Now, they only went 16-14 in 2019-2020 and are suffering through a losing season so far this year, which is an odd year for everybody, but Dawkins still has the program in better shape.

The range of improvement would actually make Dawkins somewhat higher on the list. However, only one NCAA Tournament appearance in four years shows him to just be a solid hire at this point, not necessarily a home run hire. That could change, though.

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