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Top 10 Coaches Heading into the Season

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OriginalCanesCanesCanes said:
Kirby dumb goes no higher that number seven for me.

Yes he’s got the one ship, but there are way too many red flags, the only thing that overcomes them is his Alabama type roster, with five stars in the 3-deep. Give Danny Miaz that roster, and even he might stumble into the playoffs.

Remember when Kirby dumb was hired, the booster base at UGA went on high alert and started an unprecedented spending campaign to attract recruits, the bags were frequent and heavy, much heavier than what UGA was doing before, and probably surpassing Alabama’s spend.
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I’m not Kirby defender and don’t think he’s an X’s and O’s genius, but recruiting and program infrastructure is like 75% of the job. He’s done pretty well with that.
 
Liberty City El said:
Jumbo is 34-14 in his first 4 years at TAMU thus far.

Kevin Sumlin was 36-16 in his first 4 years at TAMU.

Post BCS era Jumbo has been at best slightly above average IMO.
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True on Jimbo but do we forget the ACC chips and 1 MNC all of a sudden? He is gonna have to produce soon at ATM but his resume says he is easily top 10 and IMHO top 5.
 
bobbydigius said:
True on Jimbo but do we forget the ACC chips and 1 MNC all of a sudden? He is gonna have to produce soon at ATM but his resume says he is easily top 10 and IMHO top 5.
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The conference titles yes, the Natty, ehhh kinda.

The way FSU got steamrolled in the first ever CFP vs Oregon made me revalue the National title they won vs Auburn.

I don’t deny he has a great resume & I can’t or wouldn’t take any of his accomplishments away from him, but I don’t necessarily think that in the Playoff era of college football he’s on equal footing with most of the rest in the top 10.

I fully understand most would have him in their top 10, just for me personally I don’t.

He’s been fairly mediocre at TAMU & that weighs a lot more in my assessment, it’s a program that’s set up to win & win big with resources & access to recruits, he should be much better than he’s been thus far.
 
Liberty City El said:
The conference titles yes, the Natty, ehhh kinda.

The way FSU got steamrolled in the first ever CFP vs Oregon made me revalue the National title they won vs Auburn.

I don’t deny he has a great resume & I can’t or wouldn’t take any of his accomplishments away from him, but I don’t necessarily think that in the Playoff era of college football he’s on equal footing with most of the rest in the top 10.

I fully understand most would have him in their top 10, just for me personally I don’t.

He’s been fairly mediocre at TAMU & that weighs a lot more in my assessment, it’s a program that’s set up to win & win big with resources & access to recruits, he should be much better than he’s been thus far.
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Those are all hypotheticals though. How you gonna have some of these coaches above a guy who took FSU from a rebuild, one ACC after ACC chip, finished top 5 with EJ Manual at QB and then won a chip and then went to the playoff? Because they got worked by Oregon in 2014? That somehow undoes all of that? Now as stated he does have to step up at ATM soon but he did just finish 9-1 in 2020 and was down a QB this last year. Anyway, if you nitpick his resume, imagine what you could do with Lane’s or Mario’s?
 
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Liberty City El said:



My top 10:

1) Nick Saban
2) Dabo Swinney
3) Kirby Smart (🤢🤮)
4) Lincoln Riley
5) Mike Gundy
6) Ryan Day
7) Kyle Whittingham
8) Paul Chryst
9) Mario Cristobal
10) Lane Kiffin

Honorable Mention: Jim Harbaugh, Brian Kelly, Mark Stoops, Hugh Freeze, Dave Aranda, Luke Fickell, Kalani Sitake, Billy Napier, Jamey Chadwell, Blake Anderson, Jay Norvell, Brady Hoke

Coaches I think are set to breakout: Jeff Traylor, Sonny Dykes, Josh Heupel, Eli Drinkwitz, Shane Beamer, Joey McGuire, Rhett Lashlee, Tyson Helton, Timmy Chang, GJ Kinne

What’s yalls top 10?
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i like yours.

* jimbo is overrated and a saban wannabe *** clown
* harbaugh is better in the NFL i think. too weird for college. nfl guys don't care about that quirkiness. you're not recruiting their moms
* kirby is on there only because he's really good at cheating

my other observation: sad that the list is not more diverse. sure the NFL has an issue with it too, but the lack of diverse representation in the college head coaching ranks shouldn't go unnoticed. and it should be talked about more. and it needs to be addressed. (when the white guy starts saying, "jesus, there's a ton of white folks here," something is clearly amiss).

calvin hill, one of my alma mater's most famous athlete alumni, was at a yale luncheon i attended a while back, and we were seated at the same table. we were talking about open opportunities in the coaching profession, as well as other areas of industry, (me in finance, others at the table who were in law, and in the tech sector).

Calvin said: "it doesn't matter if you see that we've made good progress, or think we haven't made any at all. either way, we can all still do much better."

I kind of feel that way looking at the list.

anyway, food for thought.
 
Liberty City El said:
Mike Gundy is 149-66 & 11-5 in Bowl games & has done so at a program like OK ST that doesn’t have the same resources that people think they have like Texas, Oklahoma, TAMU etc.. he turned OK ST into a viable program, if he wasn’t there they’d be a middling 7/8 win team. The only reason they ever have a chance to compete in the Big XII is because of him.

Cocaine Lane is 76-41 with 2 conference titles & I don’t see how he could be overrated when he’s probably one of the most disliked coaches in the country & has especially become hated by canes fans by simple proxy lol.

Winning 10 games at Ole Miss is impressive, considering only 3 coaches in their school history since 1970 have ever won 10 games in a season & one of them had to have multiple wins vacated for violations. Meaning the majority of coaches in their program history have not won there, it’s not an easy program to win at at all, so winning at Ole Miss at a time when the SEC West is as stacked as its ever been is no easy feat to sneeze at.
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Agree on Lane’s excellent 2021 season, but I’d like to see a body of work at Ole Miss, see him with multiple 9-10 wins seasons over the next 4-5, assuming he even stays in Oxford. And by the way he allegedly politicked for the Miami job, he may not stay long.
 
RedSquare said:
i like yours.

* jimbo is overrated and a saban wannabe *** clown
* harbaugh is better in the NFL i think. too weird for college. nfl guys don't care about that quirkiness. you're not recruiting their moms
* kirby is on there only because he's really good at cheating

my other observation: sad that the list is not more diverse. sure the NFL has an issue with it too, but the lack of diverse representation in the college head coaching ranks shouldn't go unnoticed. and it should be talked about more. and it needs to be addressed. (when the white guy starts saying, "jesus, there's a ton of white folks here," something is clearly amiss).

calvin hill, one of my alma mater's most famous athlete alumni, was at a yale luncheon i attended a while back, and we were seated at the same table. we were talking about open opportunities in the coaching profession, as well as other areas of industry, (me in finance, others at the table who were in law, and in the tech sector).

Calvin said: "it doesn't matter if you see that we've made good progress, or think we haven't made any at all. either way, we can all still do much better."

I kind of feel that way looking at the list.

anyway, food for thought.
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Very True.

What I think would help is more HBCU/FCS coaches being elevated up to the FBS level & getting more opportunities.

For the longest time, the excuse was that it’s a coordinator pipeline to being a HC, but in the modern era we’ve seen mostly Recruiter CEO type coaches getting the best HC jobs & the premium for being a X’s & O’s guru has been devalued.

Given that, more Black coaches should have more opportunities, not that we’re incapable of being X’s & O’s gurus, but if that’s no longer the stringent prerequisite to get a HC job then there’s several Recruiter CEO types that fit the bill perfectly to get the HC opportunities.
 
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Liberty City El said:
The conference titles yes, the Natty, ehhh kinda.

The way FSU got steamrolled in the first ever CFP vs Oregon made me revalue the National title they won vs Auburn.

I don’t deny he has a great resume & I can’t or wouldn’t take any of his accomplishments away from him, but I don’t necessarily think that in the Playoff era of college football he’s on equal footing with most of the rest in the top 10.

I fully understand most would have him in their top 10, just for me personally I don’t.

He’s been fairly mediocre at TAMU & that weighs a lot more in my assessment, it’s a program that’s set up to win & win big with resources & access to recruits, he should be much better than he’s been thus far.
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Seems like this year should be a make or break as far as what to expect from Jimbo at A&M. If he’s not in playoff contention at this point, no reason to expect him to get there.
 
bobbydigius said:
Those are all hypotheticals though. How you gonna have some of these coaches above a guy who took FSU from a rebuild, one ACC after ACC chip, finished top 5 with EJ Manual at QB and then won a chip and then went to the playoff? Because they got worked by Oregon in 2014? That somehow undoes all of that? Now as stated he does have to step up at ATM soon but he did just finish 9-1 in 2020 and was down a QB this last year. Anyway, if you nitpick his resume, imagine what you could do with Lane’s or Mario’s?
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I didn’t say it undid all of that, I said it made me revalue exactly where I place him as a coach.

He’s not in my top 10, I understand why you have him in yours.
 
Liberty City El said:
Very True.

What I think would help is more HBCU/FCS coaches being elevated up to the FBS level & getting more opportunities.

For the longest time, the excuse was that it’s a coordinator pipeline to being a HC, but in the modern era we’ve seen mostly Recruiter CEO type coaches getting the best HC jobs & the premium for being a X’s & O’s guru has been devalued.

Given that, more Black coaches should have more opportunities, not that we’re incapable of being X’s & O’s gurus, but if that’s no longer the stringent prerequisite to get a HC job then there’s several Recruiter CEO types that fit the bill perfectly to get the HC opportunities.
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David Shaw in the “not Saban or Dabo” tier. Stanford is a tough gig academically, and while they’ve been down the last few seasons I think Shaw’s done a great job. He needs a top QB, like he had with Luck, and a more ‘up-to-date’ offense.
 
Mack Brown won a national championship too, yet no one ever mentions him in any conversation among the top coaches in college football...

Why is that?

If you can answer that question, that will give more insight as to why I don’t hold Jumbo to as high esteem as some may do, regardless of the Natty he won.
 
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Liberty City El said:
Very True.

What I think would help is more HBCU/FCS coaches being elevated up to the FBS level & getting more opportunities.

For the longest time, the excuse was that it’s a coordinator pipeline to being a HC, but in the modern era we’ve seen mostly Recruiter CEO type coaches getting the best HC jobs & the premium for being a X’s & O’s guru has been devalued.

Given that, more Black coaches should have more opportunities, not that we’re incapable of being X’s & O’s gurus, but if that’s no longer the stringent prerequisite to get a HC job then there’s several Recruiter CEO types that fit the bill perfectly to get the HC opportunities.
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agree.

a HC is the CEO of the organization. and just as CEO's come from different functional areas, so can HC's ... being an "X's and O's" guy is just one part, and in some (maybe most) cases, may not even be the most important part. as you said, recruiting = people. and so does managing a staff = people. leadership, vision, perseverance, adaptability, teaching. those are HC traits as they are CEO traits.

coach cozza was close with bill walsh. he said that in all the years walsh was the 49ers head coach, he might have walked into the defensive meeting rooms a dozen times. didn't mean he wasn't on top of what george seifert and the defensive coaches were doing. and it didn't mean he wasn't a great head coach. hopefully, AD's and GM's will recognize there will be multiple paths for people to the same destination
 
Liberty City El said:
Mack Brown won a national championship too, yet no one ever mentions him in any conversation among the top coaches in college football...

Why is that?

If you can answer that question, that will give more insight as to why I don’t hold Jumbo to as high esteem as some may do, regardless of the Natty he won.
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Vince Young is to Mack Brown as Jameis Winston is to Jimbo Fisher.
 
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TemplarCane said:
David Shaw in the “not Saban or Dabo” tier. Stanford is a tough gig academically, and while they’ve been down the last few seasons I think Shaw’s done a great job. He needs a top QB, like he had with Luck, and a more ‘up-to-date’ offense.
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Shaw’s biggest mistake was staying too long at Stanford, he basically ruined his stock.

He should’ve left Stanford after 2017 or 2018 & got a better job.

At that point in his career he was 82-26 with 3 pac-12 titles.

He’s all but killed his stock & his profile as a HC by staying deathly loyal to program that is very very hard to win at.
 
Liberty City El said:
Shaw’s biggest mistake was staying too long at Stanford, he basically ruined his stock.

He should’ve left Stanford after 2017 or 2018 & got a better job.

At that point in his career he was 82-26 with 3 pac-12 titles.

He’s all but killed his stock & his profile as a HC by staying deathly loyal to program that is very very hard to win at.
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Stock? He's happy there. Living in an incredible place, surrounded by interesting and intelligent people, helping student-athletes attain one of the greatest degrees on Earth, while being completely appreciated by an admin and fanbase that has realistic expectations. He's also paid like he's a top 5 coach, very much in-line with what Mario is making I'd guess based on some data that's out there. Why in the heavenly fark would he ever end that gravy train? To go to Minnesota or Atlanta or somewhere else in the NFL to make similar money and bomb out in three years because his GM made bad draft picks, overpaid for mediocre free agents, and mismanaged the salary cap? Or to go to some other pressure cooker SEC spot with a nutbag racist fanbase that will give him 18 months to turn it around?

David Shaw has one of the greatest jobs in sports. And the reason he hasn't left is because he's smarter than all of us. :)
 
if i was drafting coaches for my program marcus freeman would be my 1.01. i also think he’s the guy the media machine is about to get behind. guys like saban are on their way out.
 
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