In Southern’s first FBS year (2014), Willie Fritz won 9 games and a regular season conference championship for Southern while transitioning from the option. So, in the first year transitioning from the option, with literal FCS players, Fritz excelled with a team that had won 7 games the year prior as an FCS team.
Fritz is a very average FBS coach, and yet he made it work. If you think Collins went through the biggest transition in the history of college football, call me, I’ve got a bridge to sell you.