Athlon Ranks All 128 College Football Coaches
In the spirit of this is offseason and there is not much to discuss of tangible value once we get past the bball NBA entrees for the next few months, here is one of those lists to have fun with. Athlon ranks all 128 coaches, will highlight some prominent names below:
- #1 Saban
- #2 Urbz
- #3 Spurrier
- #6 Synder (in my book considering his resources he should be #3)
- #8 Dantonio
- #9 Kelly
- #11 Frankin (seems high, yes good job at Vandy but let's see)
- #12 Shaw (given good foundation from Harbaugh and able to maintain it)
- #17 Miles
- #18 Fitzgerald
- #21 Anderson
- #30 RR
- #31 Mora (think this guy is a stud - if UCLA blooms this year should shoot up ranks)
- #35 Ferentz
- #36 Kill (has done well with Minnesota's resources)
- #38 Hoke
- #43 Pelini (seems too low - for all the hate he has done a solid if not great job)
- #53 Beilema (if you did this survey a year ago he'd probably be top 20, shows you how karma can hit you)
That said the "brand" is still strong as in a similar rank a month ago, UM's football coaching job was ranked #10 in the country.
Nothing shocking in the evaluation of Hoke:
The substance of what we've seen on the field is the primary reason for the assessment that Hoke doesn't appear to be turning things around, but I also believe a contributing factor to this perception is the fact that Hoke is far from impressive in front of a microphone, and that's being kind. The contrast with Beilein is remarkable, and is not kind to Brady—he frequently comes across as a very warm-hearted and caring but painfully inarticulate doofus who isn't sure what's going on with the team. I think the reality is completely different (for the most part), and I would never suggest that a coach's ability to speak extemporaneously in public is the most important part of his job, but in this media-saturated age it's hard to ignore. Obviously Hoke's strength is in his personal relationships with people, and most of that happens in small group settings far away from the prying eyes of the media.
April 10th, 2014 at 11:09 AM ^
In fairness to Hoke, in the first interview with Dave Brandon at the introductory news conference, Brandon pointed out that Hoke was not a polished PR person and he was okay with that. I think the PR inexperience came in to play more with the Gibbons situation more so than typical weekday or post game interviews.
I still have hope that Hoke can get the job done. It took Dantonio until his 7th season to win the BIG outright although he did tie in his 4th season. They even lost 4 straight bowl games to start his career. MSU didn't really start winning consistent until the 4th year under Dantonio. There was one small dip in 2012 but 3 out of the past 4 seasons they've won at least 11 games.
I hate MSU being a benchmark but I do believe that if you want to build a solid program it does take time. It's also no coincidence that MSU is up because UM is down. I have confidence in Hoke but I feel this may be his last year if the tide doesn't begin to turn.
I agree, the Dantonio/Narduzzi combo is effective and competant, but when Michigan is Michigan and is right, they (MSU) are not close.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:19 AM ^
I don't have much to add, but he is not the best DC in America.
We were only able to redshirt about half of our freshmen last year. Indicates what Hoke was up against in terms of roster depth.
Michigan would never hire Narduzzi for two reasons: He's never been a head coach and we would never take anyone who coached under Dantonio.
is there substance as to why in your statement?
Keep in mind that Bo coached under Woody. Of course Bo had a gig in between as head coach to prove he could do that as well.
Why does everyone assume we'll be so bad next year? For all we know at this point, we could be 15-0 next year in football. Nobody knows anything at this point in time. There's no reason to be taking a crap on the program with everything some posters post. If Hoke needs to be fired he will be. If he turns it around then we are great.
Assuming we will stink this year is not that far of a stretch.
Look at a preview of the 2007 Appalachain State game. Many people assumed that we'd roll over them. Look at a preview of the 1969 Michigan Ohio game. Many people assumed we'd get rolled over by them. I don't get caught up in what thousands of people who have never played the game think. I'll wait for the season to make up my mind rather than defecating on the program 5 months before we actually see a game.
Now, in the bottomless pit of an offseason - and after a season that was largely a failure by most peoples' expectations - what do you expect us to say? We have lost to our primary rivals in epic fashion the last several years, and our coaches have proven to be pretty deficient in critical areas. Yes, there is new blood in Nuss, but - hell - have you been living under a rock the past few years? We have been a joke across the board. Hence, I'm now pessimistic, and Hoke will hopefully prove me wrong.
We were supposed to be no better than 7-5 in 2011 and we were supposed to be the 8th best team in the country in 2012. That's 2 of the last three seasons where the so called experts and know it all fans have been dead wrong.
IMO it is Bill Synder at KSU. Problem is he was born in 1939 and is the face of KSU. He is not leaving.
I don't know who the 52 year old version of Bill Synder is - frankly Urban at Utah was 10 years ago. You say Urbz is loaded with talent - he was not loaded with talent at his first 2 stops in the MAC and in Utah. He earned the right to get that loaded talent at UF OSU by turning around junk programs - and fast.
If Franklin comes in and makes PSU a bad a$$ team in 3 years he would be a logical chance as he took a tough Vandy program with high academic standards and made them decent.... so I like that PSU took a dice roll with that type of guy. Some would have said Pat Fitzgerald a few years ago. Maybe it is Mike Gundy at OK State - they have not taken the last step but he has done quality things there: 9-4, 11-2, 12-1, 8-5, 10-3 the last 5 years in a program that is competing with Oklahoma and Texas for recruits. Some would say ND's Kelly was that prospect a few years ago. (his ego was too big for UM) Charlie Strong - on paper - is that perfect candidate; perfect age, took a mid major to a prominent level, etc. But he obviously now has the biggest job in the land. Jim Mora Jr is another but most think he is headed to the NFL in a few years.
Unfortunately at UM you need - at least in the football program- a cultural fit too. Beilein didnt have to worry about it because frankly a lot of people didnt care less about UM basketball so there were not special interests. We have seen the past decade, UM football is very different.
before he went off to the NFL.
Hoke is more of a CEO than a coach!
Hoke >Kingsbury? Doubtful
Hoke > Pelini? No
Hoke> O'Leary? Stopppppp It! LMFAO
April 10th, 2014 at 11:13 AM ^
It's an interesting year. I know we all like to buy the hype, but I think we all need to be realistic.
Any win @MSU, OSU, or ND would be considered an upset win for us.
Sure, I think we should win most of the rest of our games, but we barely beat NW, lost to PSU, and Maryland has more returning than we do and they were just as good as we were last year. Utah is also a game we should win, but it is no gimme, they beat Stanford last year. So while we could easily be no worse than 9-3, a couple of close losses and 7-5 is possible too.
We lost a heck of a lot on offense and we've installed a brand new offense. That's a recipe for trouble on any team. And we somehow will have a much younger O line than our worst line in team history.
Defense is pretty stacked, but we do lose some key contributors in our DTs and the Gordons. Still, the defense has the potential to be fantastic and it's why I think we are more likely to be at that 9-3 or possibly even 10-2 than that 7-5.
Either way, Hoke has a tall task and if he can get these youngsters to win 8 or 9 games, I think he's done a good job. If we only win 7, but a couple of the losses were well played nail biters, I also think he's done a good job.
April 10th, 2014 at 12:51 PM ^
#8 DantonioToo high.
#17 MilesSuch a goofball, but I think he's low there. He's done a fine job at LSU.