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Pac 12 Coach Rankings

I can't bring myself to believe that Helfrich isn't one of the 2 worst coaches in the conference. Time will tell, he's got a lot of talent and almost unlimited resources, but it still baffles me that his career path landed him in that job. Timing is everything I guess; Helfrich leaves CU at the right time for the right job and is now HC for a national title contender - Eric Kiesau stays at CU and is now a WR coach at Kansas. Kiesau must wonder how the f**k that happened.
 
#1 is clearly Mike MacIntyre, then I see an eleven coach tie for last place.

Being a homer makes life so much easier.

By the way, these rankings are stupid and clearly a way to drive internet traffic. It's kind of like having fans vote a player on to the cover of a start-up, regional, digital magazine no one has ever heard of.
 
I have an inherent bias against the Air Raid offense. I think it is mostly crap.

Sarkisian may be too high. 4-8 in my rankings are pretty close IMO.
 
SINKRATZ said:
I can't bring myself to believe that Helfrich isn't one of the 2 worst coaches in the conference. Time will tell, he's got a lot of talent and almost unlimited resources, but it still baffles me that his career path landed him in that job. Timing is everything I guess; Helfrich leaves CU at the right time for the right job and is now HC for a national title contender - Eric Kiesau stays at CU and is now a WR coach at Kansas. Kiesau must wonder how the f**k that happened.
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Helfrich was a much higher level assistant than Kiesau. He had been Dirk Koetter's protege. Helfrich wanted to install an Okie Lite or Oregon style offense at CU (utilizing first B-Jax and then Tyler's running ability), but got stonewalled by HaLkins on that.
 
Buffnik said:
Helfrich was a much higher level assistant than Kiesau. He had been Dirk Koetter's protege. Helfrich wanted to install an Okie Lite or Oregon style offense at CU (utilizing first B-Jax and then Tyler's running ability), but got stonewalled by HaLkins on that.
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Wasn't Hawk a Dirk Koetter protege too? You're probably right about Helfrich being stonewalled, I just found their completely opposite career paths since being OC at CU interesting. I also have the impression that he was a glorified position coach at Oregon with Chip Kelly really running the offense, so my view of him is probably unfairly biased based on how awful we were when he was here.
 
Boise fan perspective...

Whether or not that list in the article has Pete ranked to high or not largely depends on which version of him Washington gets in the upcoming years.

Starting with the 2007 Fiesta Bowl team, Pete was one of the best coaches in the country in several areas from game planning to playcalling to in-game adjustments. One of the reasons Boise was so good in their games against giants like Oregon, Virginia Tech, Georgia, etc. was that he consistently had gameplans that took away the strengths of the opponent and maximized whatever advantages we might have. I remember one of the games against Oregon they didn't even get a first down until the third quarter. OREGON. 14 total yards in the first half. He plain out worked a lot of coaches getting the team ready and outsmarted a lot of coaches on game day.

However that kind of changed the last couple of years at Boise. It was a little like Phil Jackson's last couple of years on the Lakers where he clearly wasn't giving the same level of effort and was kind of coasting. The last two years Pete lacked the same level of passion, energy and effort. When he left Boise he talked a lot about the need to move on and for a fresh start and how it would be better for both sides. I think that was definitely true.

If Washington gets the old Coach Pete then they have one of the finest and best coaches in America who has been handed a buttload of new advantages to work with. If they got the same tired, worn down version of Pete who has lost a couple of steps then he may not last particularly long at Washington.

Pete is not good at some of the softer parts of the coaching profession. He hates the media for starters. Doesn't like doing press conferences, fundraising, booster and alumni relations, etc. Those things always wore him down and he did then with visible reluctance. He could get away with a lot of that at Boise because, well, it's Boise. Not going to be able to at his new home.

The talent is all there for him to be a VERY successful Pac-12 coach...if the will is still there.
 
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Buffnik said:
Helfrich was a much higher level assistant than Kiesau. He had been Dirk Koetter's protege. Helfrich wanted to install an Okie Lite or Oregon style offense at CU (utilizing first B-Jax and then Tyler's running ability), but got stonewalled by HaLkins on that.
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Interesting. Did not know that
 
Buffnik said:
Helfrich was a much higher level assistant than Kiesau. He had been Dirk Koetter's protege. Helfrich wanted to install an Okie Lite or Oregon style offense at CU (utilizing first B-Jax and then Tyler's running ability), but got stonewalled by HaLkins on that.
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I heard that too. Obviously Cody wasn't going to run that O, because running that O requires the ability to, anyone, anyone, run. Those who have a good memory will remember the preseason 2008 interview where they said they were going to run the Oregon O, except the QB would not run. It was all zone and no read. DS got clobbered all the time. It really was the idot hour that season and Helfrich left right after that.....
 
While doing some business in Houston I decided for once to get up at the crack of dawn and grab a workout in the hotel facility. Only a couple of us in there, and one of them was Charlie Strong. I joked with him "say your that new coach of the Colorado Buffaloes right?"..... He chuckled when he saw my shirt. He then went on to great length about his admiration for coach Mac. Very positive. He said although it is always a process, Mac will get the job done and felt it was very fortunate for us fans that he ended up at the helm.

One guys opinion of course, but a credible one.....
 
MM is very well respected in coaching circles...Strong's comments help confirm that
 
Eggon said:
While doing some business in Houston I decided for once to get up at the crack of dawn and grab a workout in the hotel facility. Only a couple of us in there, and one of them was Charlie Strong. I joked with him "say your that new coach of the Colorado Buffaloes right?"..... He chuckled when he saw my shirt. He then went on to great length about his admiration for coach Mac. Very positive. He said although it is always a process, Mac will get the job done and felt it was very fortunate for us fans that he ended up at the helm.

One guys opinion of course, but a credible one.....
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Holy ****. That is awesome. He was my top choice for CU. It's at least cool that he is familiar with us and Mac


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
The jury is still out on MM and Peterson. It appears sark isn't as good as he could be, but he may be better at USC just given that the south isn't as good as the north.
 
There are many facets to being successful in coaching. Recruiting, having your team ready, Xs and Os on game day. Very few excel in all areas.

Recruiting: Sarkisian, Mora, Shaw and Graham excel at recruiting. Rodriquez and Helfrich are close behind. Petersen closed well but not sure how he will do in the long run, Dykes did well considering the season. I think Riley, Whittingham and Leach have tough places to recruit to but you still have to recruit. MacIntyre has been disappointing in recruiting to date.

Having you team ready - I would put Riley, Shaw and Graham at the top in this area. Mora, Petersen, Rodriquez and Helfrich I would put in the second group. MacIntyre I will withhold judgement on - too soon to tell. Whittingham and Leach are so-so. (Leach will be higher in some minds but having a system is not the same as game planning an opponent.) I give Sarkisian a D in this area, his teams have falter many times when they should not have. Dykes team was horrible last year in this area.

Game Day Xs and Os. Shaw, Graham Riley, and Rodriquez are tops in my mind in this area. Petersen, Mora, would be close behind to the top group. Sarkisian, Whittingham and Helfrich are lagging behind here. Leach does not adjust. I am giving MacIntyre and Dykes a pass here. Neither had many games were an adjustment would make a difference.

My summary Ranking based on the above breakdown.

1. Shaw
2. Graham
2. Mora
2. Rodriquez
5. Riley ( The guy does more with less and could be higher)
6. Petersen ( This is generous since he has not coached yet in the PAC-12).
7. Helfrich ( Guy wins 12 games his first season and is considered a failure)
8. Sarkisian ( He will rise on the list when he quits losing games he should win).
9. Whittingham (Utah has been disappointing and his previous success is becoming a distant memory.
10. Leach ( Not a fan of system guys. When things don't break right has little to adjust).
11. MacIntyre (Hard to judge because the Buffs have so few weapons but recruiting needs to improve).
12. Dykes (You get on the bottom when you don't beat a team in your weight class - I think he will move up a lot this. Last year was a (bad) transition year).
 
No way should MacIntyre be ranked lower than Willingham and Leach. Don't see why you'd be terribly optimistic about Dykes doing much at Cal.
 
Think it's fair. Leach has gotten it done at tech and Whittingham has a BCS bowl win and kept Utah as a top non aq program. Plus, they beat Stanford last year. MacIntyre did well at sjsu and we hope will do the same at CU, but he has only been a HC do four years. Hopefully he'll shoot up those rankings every season.

Also, PAC has some very good coaches

From phone
 
SD Buff said:
Think it's fair. Leach has gotten it done at tech and Whittingham has a BCS bowl win and kept Utah as a top non aq program. Plus, they beat Stanford last year. MacIntyre did well at sjsu and we hope will do the same at CU, but he has only been a HC do four years. Hopefully he'll shoot up those rankings every season.

Also, PAC has some very good coaches

From phone
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Willingham hasn't done much in the Pac 12 though. 8-4 the first year but then followed by two straight 4-8 seasons. Leach, well him blowing games at the end due to his refusal to run the ball bring him down.
 
I'm not sure how I feel about Whittingham. He did well in the MWC, but Utah has struggled a bit since they joined the Pac. That's understandable given that they weren't recruiting at the level they needed to be to be successful. I feel like he could be the Pinkel of the Pac12 and have a long stay with ups and downs. If he gets his Chase Daniels they could be a formidable opponent in the South.
 
Don't disagree. Just wouldn't put MacIntyre in front just yet, although I fully expect to soon

From phone
 
'Tini said:
Willingham hasn't done much in the Pac 12 though. 8-4 the first year but then followed by two straight 4-8 seasons. Leach, well him blowing games at the end due to his refusal to run the ball bring him down.
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?????
 
I wonder how much better a coach Mac will be when the facility upgrade happens?
 
Saying you can judge Helfrich after one season but not Mac demonstrates bias. You tried really hard to be thoughtful and much of it was, but it is clear you have an opinion regardless of the attempt to review the facts.
 
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'Tini said:
No way should MacIntyre be ranked lower than Willingham and Leach. Don't see why you'd be terribly optimistic about Dykes doing much at Cal.
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No, MacIntyre is ahead of Willingham - although I have no idea of where he is now days.

Seriously, Why jump on my list - Buffnik had Whittingham and Leach ahead of MacIntyre. IMO, MacIntyre did not have a good season last year. I am not a fan of Leach as you can tell from my rankings but I have to realistically respect what he has done in his career and he definitely had a better year last year then MacIntyre did (beating both Arizona and USC on the road.)

We will see on Dykes, but my opinion is that Cal has solid talent and got hit by the triple whammy last year, Injuries, having to blow up the program, and lack of player buy in replacing a popular coach. I think Dykes is a good coach and will have an opportunity to bounce up quicker than CU because they have more talent on the team. I did rank Dykes in the bottom so what is your complaint.
 
Highlander said:
Saying you can judge Helfrich after one season but not Mac demonstrates bias. You tried really hard to be thoughtful and much of it was, but it is clear you have an opinion regardless of the attempt to review the facts.
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I don't know if you are talking to me but the reason I was reluctant to evaluate MacIntyre in game day prep was because on the talent deficiency...in all fairness he could have his team well-prepared and the result would of been the same. Several differences with Helfrich - he was not new to Oregon, he had been the OC for several years, he knew the players and the system. The transition for him was minimal plus he inherited a lot of talent. I think there are good reasons for giving Dykes and MacIntyre passes in some areas, but in the end I did Rank them so they did not get a complete pass.

And yes there is a bias BECAUSE IT IS OPINION. I never said it was fact just my perception.
 
'Tini said:
Willingham hasn't done much in the Pac 12 though. 8-4 the first year but then followed by two straight 4-8 seasons. Leach, well him blowing games at the end due to his refusal to run the ball bring him down.
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They've both done far more in the Pac than MM...
 
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