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Top 10 CFB Coaches

Memnon said:



Feldman released his top 25 list, but of course the Top 10 is always the most interesting...

My top 10:
1. Nick Saban
2. Dabo Swinney
3. Kirby Smart
4. Ryan Day
5. Jim Harbaugh
6. Lincoln Riley
7. Mike Gundy
8. James Franklin
9. Kyle Whittingham
10. Brian Kelly

Honorable Mention: Jeff Traylor, Jamey Chadwell, Gus Malzahn, Josh Heupel

Who’s your Top 10?
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James Franklin is top 15 imo
 
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da truth said:
James Franklin is top 15 imo
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I think Gundy is on the downward trajectory now. Franklin is actually growing on me. I used to laugh at him, but he's been consistent, and that says a lot. He's also been able to generally attract a good staff. I'm BIGLY on staff.
 
BostonCanes47 said:
Tough to pick, but all I know is that Lincoln Riley is the most overrated head coach in all of football.

He’s the elite of the elite offensive coordinator but the guy sucks on making head coaching decisions during games and can’t build a roster outside of WR and QB to save his life
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hes got faults but he took an OU team to the playoffs multiple times in his first ever HC gig and turned around USC which was as middling as us into a double digit winner his first year w a ton of holes on the roster. id take that overrated bum over anyone on our campus in a. heartbeat
 
Cryptical Envelopment said:
Mario went 5-7 last year.

If he had stayed at Oregon and gone 12-2 would that mean he's a much better coach right now?

These lists are silly. It's flavor of the month club type stuff. Just win, baby.
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eh everyone on the list outside of the KU coach is a consistent winner for a long period of time at multiple programs
 
So many variables. A lot of coaching success is based on how much money their program spends and how many bags they can drop. But…recruiting is probably the most important part of being a college coach. Like, if we hired Kirby Smart instead of Mark Richt, does he make it on anybody’s top ten list?
 
Just using last 5 yrs (6 seasons) as a sample size

1. Saban (.903 win%, 2 Titles, 4 CFP Finalist)
2. Smart (.879 win%, 2 Titles, 3 CFP Finalist)
3. Swinney (.867 win%, 1 Title, 2 CFP Finals)
4. Day (.875 win%, 2 CFP appearances)
5. Riley (.848 win%, 3 CFP appearances)
6. Kelly (.820 win% 2 CFP appearances)
7. Harbaugh (.696 win%, 2 CFP appearances)
8. Franklin (.716 w%, 3 NY6 bowl victories)
9. Wittingham (.676 win%, 4 Div, 2 Conf Titles)
10. Gundy (.675 w%, 1 NY6 bowl victory)

Jmo
 
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hoops156 said:
he'd still be behind those guys imo. he doesn't have the consistent success longterm those guys do.
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Most of them. I could see him as having made a run at Franklin and Gundy, and even an outside chance at Wittingham if he was able to beat him this year lol. Recency bias is a big thing, how you're trending.

You'd be talking about 3 Pac-12 Championships and three major NY6 bowls in just five years with double digit wins in the last three non-covid seasons. He'd have a 48-15 (.762) or something close at Oregon, the upset at OSU over Day, plus the hype of monster recruiting classes piling up.

Pretty formidable.
 
For Franklin to be at a school of that caliber, and them have no real shot at the championship every year he can’t be anywhere close to 5 on that list. He’s a Mark Richt type
 
Cryptical Envelopment said:
Most of them. I could see him as having made a run at Franklin and Gundy, and even an outside chance at Wittingham if he was able to beat him this year lol. Recency bias is a big thing, how you're trending.

You'd be talking about 3 Pac-12 Championships and three major NY6 bowls in just five years with double digit wins in the last three non-covid seasons. He'd have a 48-15 (.762) or something close at Oregon, the upset at OSU over Day, plus the hype of monster recruiting classes piling up.

Pretty formidable.
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**** never beat wyttingham lol. its his hartline
 
JustAFanHTX said:
Mark richt was probably always a top 10 coach in his prime tho
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Because they were always top 10, but would always blow their shot at it all. He arguably underachieved

Georgia was always a sleeping giant with the right coach with the talent in the state
 
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JeddTheFisch said:
I think Gundy is on the downward trajectory now. Franklin is actually growing on me. I used to laugh at him, but he's been consistent, and that says a lot. He's also been able to generally attract a good staff. I'm BIGLY on staff.
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Diaz is doing well at Penn st but yes, I used to knock Franklin but he’s consistent
 
It's an interesting top 5.

There was a discussion on Colin Cowherd's show a few years back regarding coaching impact. A high-quality coach immediately changes the culture. The argument being that changes are immediate. Alabama jumped 10 wins from '07 to '08. Georgia went from 8 in '16 to 13 in '17.

I don't believe that's the case anymore. Some coaches are more recruiting-class oriented with a consistent jump and dip. Franklin hit 7 in '14, 11 in '16, then dipped in 2020 and 2021. 2022 was 11 again.

Swinney had a longer way to go in terms of infrastructure. He hit 10 wins in '11, but hit his stride in '15 with a title shot. He's dipped a bit, but I suspect that it's taken longer to adjust to the CoVID rules. I'm happy we got his A.D. On the flippity-flip, Harbaugh seems to be the model of evolving via CoVID.

The "immediate impact" philosophy bit us in the hoo-hoos with Coker, Shannon, Golden. I don't think we've fully recovered from the devolution of the Shalala/Wisconsin style of visionless leadership. Do you guys think we've got an immediate year 2 climb or does the leadership infrastructure above Mario need upgrading?
 
88 said:
Because they were always top 10, but would always blow their shot at it all. He arguably underachieved

Georgia was always a sleeping giant with the right coach with the talent in the state
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Mark Richt wanted no part of the shady stuff so they had to recruit around that. Smart came in with a plan and got a lot more money to work with.
 
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