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Who are the top 10 coaches in college football?

Buffnik

Real name isn't Nik
Club Member
Junta Member
Of people working right now, what are your:

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10.
 
1. Jim Harbaugh
2. Nick Saban
3. Frank Beamer
4. Urban Meyer
5. Chris Peterson
6. Kirk Ferentz
7. Mike Riley
8. Bob Stoops
9. Gary Patterson
10. Kyle Wittingham
 
1. Urban Meyer: have to give to him, 2 NCs in like 5 years.
2. Nick Saban: as much as I hate him, he's a damn good coach.
3. Mike Riley: I don't think anyone does more with less.
4. Kirk Ferentz: not exciting, but he also does more with less.
5. Jim Tressel: has a whole lot to work with, but he gets a ton of wins.
6. Bob Stoops: same as Tressel, has trouble winning the big game.
7. Mack Brown: recruiting and program building machine, average football coach.
8. Les Miles: I think he's a damn good coach, but the SEC doesn't agree. Wins a lot of games despite questionable clock management.
9. Chip Kelly: I'd put him higher, but he has only been around for 1.5 years. Offensive genius.
10. Frank Beamer: He has plateaued a bit recently, but I still think he should get massive credit for building VT into what it is today.

honorable mention: Al Golden, Jim Harbaugh, Bo Pelini, Mike Gundy, Bobby Petrino, Bret Bielema, Pat Fitzgerald. I think a lot of these guys would be higher if they were at name programs or they had more time at their jobs.

Pretty hard to come up with a solid list, some of those guys don't win as much as the others, but they don't have the recruits that some of them do. I could easily see a lot of them being called overrated big time and a pretty decent case could probably be made for it too.
 
1. Dan Hawkins 2. Mike Sherman 3. Mike Locksley 4. Paul Wulff 5. Slick Rick 6. Rich Rod.......jk
 
1. Urban Meyer--only this year is remotely questionable
2. Nick Saban--two NC's at two schools. kind of a nomad.
3. Jim Harbaugh--could be closer to the bottom, but impressive so far.
4. Chris Peterson--wins, team is disciplined, exciting.
T6. Bob Stoops--impressive longevity over a decade. BCS probs, and OU at a crossroads of sorts imo
T6. Jim Tressel--kicks too many FG's. but, like Stoops a lot of success, an NC, and some big game "ouchies".
7. Mack Brown--based on success over a decade...this season a bit of a blight. as Mack's coordinators go, so goes Mack
8. Chip Kelly--admit, i thought he was a bit of an afterthought when Belotti retired. but, we'll see if he's Larry Coker or takes UO to the next level
9. Kirk Ferentz: the Barry Alvarez of this generation--8-9 wins in the Big Ten--and an occasional breakout year into the BCS. but, much much less hype than BA.
10. Frank Beamer--rep has taken a hit of late but still a great coach imo.

hon mention: Kyle Wittingham, Gary Patterson.
 
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Who has had the most success over the last ten years? Mack Brown, by the numbers.

A number of teams recruit well. Georiga often has better classes than Texas, for example.

My personal favorites: Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly.
 
1. Nick Saban
2. Urban Meyer
3. Bob Stoops
4. Jim Harbaugh
5. Chris Peterson
6. Jim Tressel
7. Frank Beamer
8. Kyle Wittingham
9. Gary Patterson
10. Mack Brown
 
It's my personal opinion that doing less with more and doing a lot with a lot are two totally different things with potentially different skill sets. I think someone could be very good at doing more with less and not so good at reaching the top with top talent and resources.
 
I think a very good indicator is success at multiple schools, or at least more than one. Urban Meyer is a perfect example. Hawk would also be a perfect example, in reverse.
 
1. Nick Saban
2. Jim Harbaugh
3. Chris Peterson
4. Jim Tressel
5. Frank Beamer
6. Gary Patterson
7. Bob Stoops
8. Kirk Ferentz
9. Urban Meyer
10. CU's next HC
 
Peterson, Patterson, and Whittingham are definitely good coaches, I just don't give them as much credit for winning in the conferences they're in.

Not to throw this thread to the side, but I think a top 10 assistant coaches in college football would be pretty interesting. Maybe we'd come up with some new ideas for possible HC candidates.
 
This was interesting to think about. To me, a HC is a good combination of:
- being able to win, wherever you are at
- being able to recruit, giving the circumstances. Utah at a disadvantage to Texas, but proportionally, must be able to recruit to the school given it's limitations (or lack of)
- being able to deal with the expectations of fans and media. At Boise/TCU/Utah, the expectations have grown over the past few years, but it probably nothing compared to 'Bama or Texas or Ohio St
- either building a program back up, building it from nothing, or maintaining excellence from the prior regime

At least that was my thinking when I built my list.
 
1. Nick Saban (Nick got the nod because his teams beat Urban's)
2. Urban Meyer
3. Jim Tressel
4. Bob Stoops
5. Mack Brown
6. Les Miles
7. Kirk Ferentz
8. Jim Harbaugh
9. Frank Beamer
10. Mark Richt

I take the view that the coaches who consistently win with the top programs are even better than most people think. They get everyone's best game every time they play. And with the amount of talent out there plus scholarship limitations, the talent gap they enjoy over conference opponents isn't overwhelming and this makes every week a challenge. It didn't used to be that way.
 
Which coach has a better winning percentage than Mack Brown?

Guys a great program builder, but how many of those wins are outside of the state of Texas? Most years they don't leave the state until conf season opens. Sorry, while he's good, damn good, I wouldn't put him in my top 5. 8 or so is where he belongs.
 
Which coach has a better winning percentage than Mack Brown?

Mack's numbers are inflated by UT's traditionally cupcake OOC schedule....in which they rarely play outside the state of Texas. OK, Ohio State and a couple mediocre Arkansas teams over 11 years. who else?
 
Which coach has a better winning percentage than Mack Brown?

I like Mack Brown a lot. I have no issue with anyone thinking he is a top 10 coach. But at some point, the fact he has won exactly two Big 12 championships has to count when you're comparing him to other elite coaches.
 
1. Riley....had talent before but he's taken it to a whole new level
2. Peterson....has proven he can play with, and beat, the big programs
3. Patterson....see above, but ranked below since he's in a talent rich state
4. Wittingham....the blowout of 'bama in the Sugar Bowl convinced me
5. Harbaugh....has made Stanford a real threat
6. Beamer....year in and year out, they're good. He could have lost his team after the JMad loss earlier this season. Instead, they're leading their conference by what, 3 games?
7. Navy or Air Force coach....they can't recruit the same talent but beating D1 that can. Wow.
8. Mike Stoops....he doesn't have the tradition, fan base, nor facilities that his brother does, but he's building a good program down Tucson-way.
9. Saban....why so low? He's coached (and won) at locations where uber-talented players fall at your feet. I'd like to see him do this at New Mexico.
10. Paterno....still coaching and winning at an age where he should be watching Matlock and waiting for his next enema.
 
9. Saban....why so low? He's coached (and won) at locations where uber-talented players fall at your feet. I'd like to see him do this at New Mexico.

He did go 9-2 at Toledo and also led Michigan State to a top 10 finish before he left for LSU.
 
He did go 9-2 at Toledo and also led Michigan State to a top 10 finish before he left for LSU.

And where are those 2 schools located? Last I checked Ohio and Michigan produce a lot of good players. Now, Toledo isn't gonna get the good ones like, say, OSU, but 9-2 in the MAC ain't the same as 9-2 in the BigTEleven or $EC. And MichSt seems to get talented athletes no matter who's coaching.
 
What numbers?

Since the BCS' inception in '98, Ohio State has been to the most BCS bowls.... 8. Then USC and Oklahoma with 7. Then Florida and Florida State with 6. Then a smattering of others with 4, including Texas.

If anything, Mack Brown has underachieved with his talent.

Who has had the most success over the last ten years? Mack Brown, by the numbers.

A number of teams recruit well. Georiga often has better classes than Texas, for example.

My personal favorites: Pete Carroll and Chip Kelly.
 
Mack Brown Numbers
One National Championship and One Runner Up
Record = 115-26 (.816 winning %)
Big 12 Record = 72-16 (.818 winning %)
10-Win seasons = 8
Bowl Wins = 8
Top 25 finishes = 11
Top 10 finishes = 6
 
More Mack...
  • 20 consecutive winning seasons
  • 18 consecutive bowl game appearances
  • 162 consecutive weeks ranked in the AP poll from 2000–2010 and 192 consecutive weeks ranked in the coach's poll from 1998-2010.[32]
  • B12 record 21 consecutive conference wins from 2004–2006.
  • UT has posted back-to-back 11-win seasons, nine consecutive 10-win seasons and ten consecutive 9-win campaigns for the first time in school history, though it must be noted that Texas played a maximum of only 11 games per season up until 1975 and only 12 games per season up until 1995 (including conference championship and bowl game).
  • Through 2009, the Longhorns under Brown were 26-13 against their four archrivals: Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Texas Tech.
  • The Longhorns are 8-4 in Bowl games under Brown.
 
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