Ranking the BCS Coaches
April 17, 2008
TSN’s Tom Dienhart, who knows more about college football than you (wink, wink) and yet still errs on which teams are in which conference (ahem), has begun his annual series of ranking the top coaches in each of the BCS conferences.
His full “analysis” is offered up for every BCS coach at the conference links.
1. Jim Grobe, Wake Forest. The bottom line is this: No one does more with less at a place that had mastered losing before he arrived. Grobe’s 20 wins over the last two years are the most in school annals. The ACC title and Orange Bowl berth he led the Deacs to in 2006 was one of the greatest college football accomplishments in the last 25 years. Is it any wonder major BCS programs knock on his door all the time?
2. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech
3. Bobby Bowden, Florida State
4. Tom O’Brien, N.C. State
5. Paul Johnson, Georgia Tech
6. Al Groh, Virginia
7. Tommy Bowden, Clemson
8. Butch Davis, North Carolina
9. David Cutcliffe, Duke
10. Ralph Friedgen, Maryland
11. Jeff Jagodzinski, Boston College
12. Randy Shannon, Miami. His hiring look dubious. And his debut only cast more doubt on his ability. He’s a player’s coach and recruiting machine, but is he feared by his troops? Give Shannon credit for landing defensive coordinator Bill Young from Kansas. But will the offense ever take flight?
For those keeping score for the ACC coaches at home, Deinhart has fallen out of love with Friedgen - big time. His #6 rankings and comments last year (”…the quintessential “ball coach” who has forgotten more Xs and Os than most coaches know. The Fridge combines that know-how with a hard-edge East Coast toughness. His teams always are prepared. Gotta love the Fridge. “) are a marked contrast to this year’s #10 ranking and his assessment (”The Fridge is running on empty.”) I think I tend to agree more with 2008 Tom than 2007 Tom, this time.
1. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma. The postseason foibles notwithstanding (he is 0-fer in his last four BCS games), Stoops remains one of the nation’s best. Witness his 97-22 mark and five Big 12 crowns in nine seasons in Norman. Stoops’ problem: Spoiling the Sooner fan base by leading the program to the national title in his second year on the job.
2. Mack Brown, Texas
3. Mark Mangino, Kansas
4. Mike Leach, Texas Tech
5. Dan Hawkins, Colorado
6. Gary Pinkel, Missouri
7. Art Briles, Baylor
8. Mike Sherman, Texas A&M
9. Bo Pelini, Nebraska
10. Mike Gundy, Oklahoma State
11. Gene Chizik, Iowa State
12. Ron Prince, Kansas State
I can’t argue the 2008 version of the Big XII list, although I hold Pelini in higher regard than Sherman. Deinhart wiffed badly in ranking Bill Callahan as third last year. There’s been a lot of turnover in the Big XII, so it will be interesting to see how the coaching ranks might shake out over the next few seasons.
1. Randy Edsall, UConn. His great body of work gets lost in the national media fawning over other Big East programs. But close inspection shows Edsall, a smart mind with an astute eye for talent, has built a strong foundation buoyed by excellent facilities.2. Greg Schiano, Rutgers
3. Brian Kelly, Cincinnati
4. Steve Kragthorpe, Louisville
5. Jim Leavitt, South Florida
6. Dave Wannstedt, Pitt
7. Greg Robinson, Syracuse
8. Bill Stewart, West Virginia
I have to take exception with the 2008 Big East list, and I’ll call Deinhart’s 2007 list into evidence. First and foremost, Brian Kelly is the best (remaining) coach in the Big East - hands down. That said, I don’t understand how Schiano, Kelly, and Kragthorpe all leap-frogged USF’s Leavitt year-over-year. Leavitt built the Bulls by hand and set a record for time from I-A status to Top 25 (breaking Boise State’s mark). USF melted under the white-hot spotlight last season, but going from no program a decade or so ago to #2… that’s not a fluke.
1. Pete Carroll, USC. He only has built the premier program in America, that’s all. And don’t tell me he’s in a cushy job that is set up for success. Remember Paul Hackett? Larry Smith? Yes, Carroll has advantages, but with an energy and mojo unseen in any other coach, he has built a talent-laden power.
2. Dennis Erickson, Arizona State
3. Mike Bellotti, Oregon
4. Mike Riley, Oregon State
5. Jeff Tedford, Cal
6. Rick Neuheisel, UCLA
7. Jim Harbaugh, Stanford.
8. Tyrone Willingham, Washington
9. Paul Wulff, Washington State
10. Mike Stoops, Arizona
No real arguments about the Pac10 list. Everyone expects Neuheisel to be in the top three very quickly, but it is hard to say (today) that he is a better coach than Bellotti, Riley, and Tedford. If I had to pick one coach to win one game for me at any talent level, I would probably pick Erickson. That said, the Pac 10 is just absolutely stacked with coaching cred.
1. Jim Tressel, Ohio State. First, there’s the 2002 national championship. Second, there are the four Big Ten titles. Third, there’s the 6-1 mark vs. Michigan. More big things loom this fall, too. It’s good to be Tressel. It just makes you wonder what John Cooper was doing all of those years, doesn’t it? No doubt: In Tressel we trust.
2. Rich Rodriguez, Michigan
3. Joe Tiller, Purdue
4. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa
5. Bret Bielema, Wisconsin
6. Ron Zook, Illinois
7. Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
8. Joe Paterno, Penn State
9. Pat Fitzgerald, Northwestern
10. Tim Brewster, Minnesota
11. Bill Lynch, Indiana
I can’t argue the top two - Tressel and Coach Rod are the class of the Big 10 - but Bielema and Zook are interchangable at the three/four spot. After that, I think you could put them all in a hat and come out even on the draw. Dienhart claims that Paterno’s ranking is not based on his legacy, but…. I’m sorry - PSU is not on the rise.
1. Mark Richt, Georgia. Here is all you need to know: Richt is fourth among active I-A coaches with a .791 winning percentage (72-19). Want more? He’s one of just six coaches to win two SEC crowns in his first five years. On top of all of this, Richt is a terrific human being who knows how to motivate.
2. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
3. Urban Meyer, Florida
4. Nick Saban, Alabama
5. Les Miles, LSU
6. Tommy Tuberville, Auburn
7. Phillip Fulmer, Tennessee
8. Houston Nutt, Ole Miss
9. Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt
10. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
11. Rich Brooks, Kentucky
12. Sylvester Croom, Mississippi State
I can’t question Richt as the best coach in the SEC. He may very well be the best coach in the nation.
But the rest of the list? Eh… There’s no way that Spurrier is a top three coach, just as there is no way that Petrino is a bottom three coach. I know that Tommy Six-Fingers gets mocked considerably, but he is still one of the best coaches in the country - and putting him at number six is a huge disservice. And Saban at number four?! Puh-leaze!!! How ’bout…. Richt, Meyer, Tuberville, Miles, Petrino, Nutt, Brooks, Spurrier, Saban, Johnson, Croom, Fulmer,
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