Best Coaches right now ....

Submitted by Indiana Blue on

This is an effort to use a different part of everyone's brain ....  but still talk football !

With Urban Meyer leaving a lot is being said that the Florida job is the best job in America.  I think "best" in pushing it  ... but certainly an upper level team in the SEC (as well as nationally).  Meyer was 65 - 15 in 6 seasons at Florida (2 MNCs).  As they start naming potential replacements ... I started thinking about who are the top 3 college coaches  - right now ?

If you look at each BCS conference the top coach may be:

Big East - none   /   ACC  -  Frank Beamer   /   SEC  -  was Meyer ? (god -  not Saban)   /  B10  -  tressel (ugh)   /   Big 12  -  Stoops   /   PAC 10  -  Kelly or Harbaugh (neither have a long track record)   Outside of the BCS conferences  -  it has to be Chris Petersen. 

So my top 3 right now .. probably (not in order)  Beamer, Stoops & Petersen.

Beamer teams don't beat themselves  / Stoops has delivered consistency (save last year) & Petersen has taken a nothing program to one that is discussed nationaly the last 3 - 4 years.

Who do you see as the top 3 college head coaches working today and why ?

Go Blue !

Wolverine0056

December 9th, 2010 at 1:56 PM ^

Ahh yes I totally agree with you on that. No one is a better coach than BB. He takes a nobody (Woodhead just for one of many examples) and turns him into a great player for his team. He doesn't have a very good defense, but they completely shut down the Jets. No one is better than Belichick at any level, IMO.

g_reaper3

December 9th, 2010 at 2:27 PM ^

I think a change could easily be as rough or worse as our last three year period.  While 15-21 is bad, the trajectory is positive.  A better record with a flat or declining trajectory would feel worse to me. 

In the short run, it would really depend upon how many players/commits stay and how well they fit into a new system. In the longer run, it would depend on how good of a coach we hire.

But no need to debate this, it has been heavily debated and like politics, there is likely no agreement to be reached.

SalvatoreQuattro

December 9th, 2010 at 4:54 PM ^

because the defense I'd horrid. The lack if competitiveness versus good teams is also alarming.
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<br>The record has improved and the offense is dynamic, but you cannot ignore the above.
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<br>Assuming Rodriguez returns, 2011 will be the year we get a verdict on whether his methods will work in the Big Ten.

COB

December 9th, 2010 at 3:12 PM ^

OSU won a BCS game in January of this year.  If you consider that lately. 

 

Stoops has lost 5 BCS games in a row. 

No offense, but what has RR done to remotely compare to those two?  They both have national titles, multiple title game appearances and multiple BCS wins.  Bob Stoops resurrected a program from the ashes and made them a national champ. 

MichiganExile

December 9th, 2010 at 6:19 PM ^

The whole, "Tressel and OSU can't win BCS games," meme needs to die. They have lost 3 total BCS games-two were national title games and one was a Fiesta bowl to a team that probably should have been in the national title game. Last year they beat an Oregon team that is now the Vegas favorite to win the national title.

Oh and just for good measure Tressel and OSU's overall BCS game record is 4-3. I'd kill for Michigan to have a BCS record like that. I'm serious, pick someone. If it can guarantee Michigan will rip off 6 straight BCS appearances I'll kill 'em for a burnt sacrifice to the all-mighty Cthulhu.

Chester Copperpot

December 9th, 2010 at 1:38 PM ^

He may not be the best right now, but I really like what Pat Fitzgerald's done at Northwestern in such a short time.  He'll be sure to get big time offers in the coming years, but it'll be interesting to see if his loyalty to NU runs too deep to leave.

Blue2000

December 9th, 2010 at 2:38 PM ^

Those are two good season by Hoke that you've recognized.  In the 7 other seasons in which Hoke has been a head coach, both at Ball State and SDSU, he has exactly one other season in which his team won more games than it lost.  That was one of his Ball State teams that went 7-6.  So in ten full seasons as a head coach, Hoke has had 3 seasons in which he's finished with a winning record, and only 1 in which his team lost less than 4 games. 

I'm not sure why Brady Hoke gets any love around here. 

BlueVoix

December 9th, 2010 at 3:06 PM ^

No idea how he's coached nine (or 10, which one is it?) seasons when he was at BSU from 2003-08 and SDSU from 2009-10.  His total record at those schools?  46-50.  He's 12-12 at SDSU.  These aren't world-beating teams, so expecting him to turn them into anything but mediocre is asking a lot.  I'm not saying he's a great coach, but I do think he's a good coach.

Derek

December 9th, 2010 at 2:17 PM ^

But I don't think he edges out Stoops. They've both got one MNC since going to Texas and Oklahoma, Brown in 1998 and Stoops in 1999, so look at Big 12 conference and South division championships:

  • Stoops: 7 Big 12, 8 Big 12 South
  • Brown: 2 Big 12, 6 Big 12 South

Although, looking at BCS bowl games makes me lean towards Brown. Oklahoma has appeared in eight under Stoops with just a 2-5 record, whereas Texas under Brown has four with a 3-1 record. Still, since Stoops is up 7-5 in the head-to-head match-up, I think he gets the nod.

a2bluefan

December 9th, 2010 at 2:44 PM ^

Is Mack Brown such a great recruiter?  Texas is a football hotbed. I have to believe most high school football players in Texas have grown up dreaming of being a Longhorn. I have the (perhaps mistaken) impression  that Mack Brown has the easiest recruiting job in the nation.

PurpleStuff

December 9th, 2010 at 3:15 PM ^

Texas has a lot of good players, but everybody else knows that too and it isn't like it is a recent development (though UT still struggled mightily in the decade plus before Brown took over).  That program was never really relevant on the national stage under McWilliams and Mackovic.  Brown came in and completely revamped how they recruited, he got on the good side of every high school coach in the state by inviting them to camps, clinics, etc. and he started getting his pick of players. 

I don't think Brown or his staffs over the years have been all that impressive in terms of play calling, strategy, system, etc., but as a program architect there aren't many better and that is why you've seen them rack up double digit wins 9 years in a row and at least nine wins for 12 years in a row before this season.

Blue_Sox

December 9th, 2010 at 1:41 PM ^

Saban (because he won at LSU, had his NFL fail, then did it again at Bama almost immediately), Tressel (because of his remarkable consistency) and then Stoops (same as Tressel).

 

What amazes me though, is how far coaches can fall and how quickly. Mack Brown would have probably been #2 last year and now he's not even the best in his conference. 

JClay

December 9th, 2010 at 1:42 PM ^

In what world is frank Beamer, who has never won a national title, annually loses "I can't believe we lost to them" games, and has spent more of his tenure without an above average offense better then Nick Saban who's won national titles in two places?

Indiana Blue

December 9th, 2010 at 1:49 PM ^

Saban is lowest level of pond scum sucking people on the planet.  He cheats and he lies  -  which is a perfect fit for the SEC conference. 

Saban lucked into the NC game at LSU and last year got the NC when Texas forfeited (Colt McCoy out) plus a blocked chip shot FG against somebody to win.  I refuse to list him.

Go Blue !