10 best and 5 worst college coaches

A year ago this week, in an attempt to lull Mailbag readers out of their midsummer comas and submit some questions, I came up with a list of the 10 best and five worst coaches in the country. Suffice it to say, the rankings worked a whole lot of people into something of a frenzy. One Kentucky sports talk show even accused me of sabotaging the Wildcats' recruiting efforts by naming Rich Brooks one of the worst. (It must not have worked, seeing as Brooks reeled in a top 30 recruiting class in February.)

A year later, I'm not exactly lacking in e-mails like I was then (though most of them lately have been semi-creepy requests from single men to hook them up with Jen from Austin's e-mail address), but after last year's response, I'd be nuts not to do it again.

Now, you may be wondering, how much could the lists really have changed in the span of a year? The answer is, not that much at the top, but I found it much harder this year to zero in on Nos. 6-10. There were about 15 deserving candidates for those five spots. Meanwhile, the "five worst" underwent a drastic makeover. Also, the two most controversial selections last year were Mack Brown's inclusion on the best list and Joe Paterno's on the worst. Since that time, one justified his status in a big way and the other made me look like a complete idiot.

Finally, remember that this is a ranking of the best and worst coaches right now, not over their entire careers. Therefore, the emphasis is almost entirely on recent performance (the past three to five seasons). Also, guys who have been college head coaches for less than three seasons, like Charlie Weis and Bill Callahan, were not considered.

My top 10 coaches heading into the 2006 season

1. Pete Carroll, USC: I find it pretty amusing that some people have chosen to blame Carroll -- specifically his ill-fated fourth-and-two call -- for the Rose Bowl loss to Texas. The guy won 34 straight games, people. I don't think he suddenly forgot how to coach with two minutes left in the Rose Bowl.

2. Bob Stoops, Oklahoma: Similarly, one disappointing 8-4 season in what we all knew going in was going to be a rebuilding situation does not override Stoops' 60-7 record and three national title appearances in the five years before that. If things don't get better this season, then maybe we'll talk.

3. Kirk Ferentz, Iowa: His teams continue to exhibit the hallmark of good coaching: They get better as the season goes on. With an entirely new D-line last year, the Hawkeyes gave up 314 rushing yards to Ohio State on Sept. 24. Seven weeks later they held Brian Calhoun and Wisconsin to 19.

4. Mack Brown, Texas: I'm sure there are still plenty of die-hard Mack haters out there who will contend he lucked out with Vince Young, but the guy's got to be doing something right: His 56-8 record is the best in the country over the past five years, and he hasn't won fewer than nine games in a season since 1995.

5. Jim Tressel, Ohio State: Over the past two years we've watched the traditionally conservative Tressel reinvent his offense around the playmaking abilities of electrifying QB Troy Smith while still maintaining his usual emphasis on defense and special teams.

6. Mark Richt, Georgia: Two SEC titles and three conference-championship-game appearances in the past four seasons? Not too shabby. In just a short time, Richt has built a consistent program that has been an annual contender no matter the personnel turnover each season.

7. Frank Beamer, Virginia Tech: The Hokies' first two seasons in the ACC have been nothing short of remarkable (back-to-back 7-1 conference seasons), though last year's meltdowns against Miami and Florida State certainly left a bitter taste in some people's mouths -- not to mention the Marcus Vick situation (more on that later).

8. Bobby Petrino, Louisville: In only four seasons as a head coach, Petrino has emerged as arguably the top offensive mind in the country, and he's upgraded the talent level at once-small-time Louisville so dramatically as to have two of this season's top Heisman candidates (Brian Brohm and Michael Bush).

9. Urban Meyer, Florida: His first season at Florida had its share of ups and downs, but the Gators still managed to finish 9-3, and Meyer asserted his presence in the recruiting world shortly thereafter. His five-year head coaching record now stands at an impressive 48-11.

10. George O'Leary, UCF: He never really got proper due for his tenure at Georgia Tech, where his .612 winning percentage was the school's highest since Bobby Dodd, but his most remarkable achievement came last year, when he orchestrated the Golden Knights' incredible turnaround from 0-11 to 8-5 and a Conference USA division title.

Just missed: TCU's Gary Patterson, West Virginia's Rich Rodriguez, Cal's Jeff Tedford, Auburn's Tommy Tuberville and Texas Tech's Mike Leach.


The five worst

1. Chuck "Red Shoes" Amato, N.C. State: Any remaining doubts as to how badly the Wolfpack has underachieved lately were erased in April's NFL draft, when three members of a 7-5 team were selected in the first round. Amato's teams have had no offensive identity whatsoever since Philip Rivers' departure, which might have something to do with going through new coordinators nearly every year. Didn't he at least take notes when Norm Chow was there?

2. Gary Pinkel, Missouri: How golden an opportunity were the last two years for Missouri football? The career of the most dynamic quarterback in school history (Brad Smith) and a roster finally filled with Pinkel recruits happened to coincide with the rare downturns of division powers Nebraska and Kansas State. What do the Tigers have to show for it? A 12-11 record and an Independence Bowl win.

3. Chan Gailey, Georgia Tech: Another year, another season of maddening inconsistency for a Gailey-coached team, which last season managed to go on the road and beat top 10 foes Auburn and Miami but lose to N.C. State and Virginia and, in its most embarrassing display to date, crumble 38-10 to Utah in its bowl game. At least he's consistent about one thing: Tech has won exactly seven games in each of Gailey's four seasons.

4. John L. Smith, Michigan State: There was a time, back at Louisville, when Smith might have merited consideration for the other list. But he appears in over his head in the Big Ten, where defense and special teams -- not exactly Smith's fortes -- actually matter. Despite producing the nation's fifth-ranked offense last year, the Spartans dropped six of their last seven games, including 49-14 to Northwestern and 41-18 to Minnesota.

5. Bill Doba, Washington State: The 65-year-old career high school coach/college assistant was able to carry on the pipeline for one season, going 10-3 in 2003 and beating Texas in the Holiday Bowl, but the Cougars have won only four Pac-10 games in the two seasons since. Can someone explain how a team with a 1,900-yard rusher (Jerome Harrison) can go 4-7?

Yes, that's right, Kentucky fans, Brooks earned a reprieve this year. After a fairly disastrous first two seasons in which rumors circulated almost daily that he wanted out, Brooks finally seemed more comfortable last season, and the Wildcats showed signs of progress on the field.

Others considered for best: Navy's Paul Johnson, Northern Illinois' Joe Novak, Toledo's Tom Amstutz, Tulsa's Steve Kragthorpe and UTEP's Mike Price.

Others considered for worst: Virginia's Al Groh, Texas A&M's Dennis Franchione, Oregon State's Mike Riley, North Carolina's John Bunting and Illinois' Ron Zook.

Whenever Charlie Weis qualifies, reserve him a spot at the top of this list.

i think Weis will be a great coach, but id wait to see a couple more seasons before we let him overtake Pete Carroll right now

whats funny is coker has the highest winning percentage in D1 and of anyone on that list yet gets no respect. He could easily be on both lists, im not disputing that, but the winning percentage is just amazing.

If Beamer is on there Bowden has to be.

Bowden owns Beamer....

i got to uva, and i cant stand groh. he seems to think its good enough that he graduated from uva and coached in the nfl. he seems so d*mn arrogant and smug. that would be annoying if he was good. and usually every year someone, either himself or the media, rants and raves about how wonderful the new class is. what does he have to show for it? finishing middle of the pack every year and going to an average bowl. when the top players in your state are signing with your arch-rival, thats not ever a good sign.

Weis will be a great coach? He took a team completely off the radar team at the beginning of last year to a BCS game. Took argueably the best team in the past 20 years to the last series with the lead. All of this with players that ty willingham recruited and couldn't win with. He is pre season #1 this year with only one recruiting class under his belt. And oh yeah he has 3 super bowl rings. He may qualify a little better that "pretty good"

PS most under rated coach in the history of College football..... Bill Snyder at K state.

i agree how could beamer be on there and not Bowden?

snyder def did some great things and had a bunch of success, but at the same time there out of conference schedule was consistently filled with cupcake teams yr in and yr out. a very respectable coach tho.

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i agree how could beamer be on there and not Bowden?

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Beamer does more with what he has than most anyone in the country. He has shown he can consistently take recruiting classes ranked 30-45 and make a top 15 team out of them. I'd like to see him get 4-6 top 10 classes and watch him work with them. FSU reels in top 10 classes every year it seems so I would expect a Texas, Miami, UT, USC or FSU to finish ahead of them on a regular basis due to the "superior" talent they bring in.

i didnt say Beemer was a bad coach but BOwden shoudl be up there.

I do hope you realize that FSU was an all girls school turned boys school and had no tradition and a terrible football team before bowden got there. Basically Bowden did what Beamer has been trying to do. Bowden deserves all the credit in the world along with some of the best assistants the game has ever seen. Gotta agree with Blue.

Also, Weiss gets way too much credit for what Notre Dame did last year. Sure they turned things around and beat teams that they should have beat that they didnt before, but other than beating Michigan(an underachieving as always Michigan team) Notre Dame didnt beat a good team all year long, and that includes Tennessee. Notre Dame lost to Michigan State, USC, and Ohio State which were really the only good teams that were on the schedule other than Michigan.

Ty did the same thing in his first year at Notre Dame. Things fell apart after that. I dont think that will happen to Weiss but I still dont think Notre Dame is all that good. They lack team speed at about every position, especially on defense. Also, no USC was far from one of the best teams of the last 20 years. Its pretty easy to hide your defiencies when you play in the pac-10. All they had to do was keep scoring to win. They were a good team dont get me wrong, but over the last 20 years there are plenty of teams that would have kicked their arse with good team defense and a solid offense. USC was very soft last season.

Gotta agrue with Ferentz being that high.

What has he done?

The Big 10 has been way down of late, and how many Big Ten titles does Iowa have?

And WTF???

Notre Dame off the radar?

What [censored] hole do you live in that ND has EVER been off the radar?

Jesus [censored] Christ, ND gets so much attention its sickening, and you said they are off the radar??

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i agree how could beamer be on there and not Bowden?

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Beamer does more with what he has than most anyone in the country. He has shown he can consistently take recruiting classes ranked 30-45 and make a top 15 team out of them. I'd like to see him get 4-6 top 10 classes and watch him work with them. FSU reels in top 10 classes every year it seems so I would expect a Texas, Miami, UT, USC or FSU to finish ahead of them on a regular basis due to the "superior" talent they bring in.

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Bowden has had one losing season in 30 years at FSU, and that was his first season. I have a hard time believing that he had superior talent for all of those seasons, especially the early years.

He's also never lost a game to VT, 3-0 while at WV and 11-0 while at FSU, once again he owns Beamer.

And all those teams that you expect to finish ahead of VT on a regular basis, well they usually do...

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Finally, remember that this is a ranking of the best and worst coaches right now, not over their entire careers. Therefore, the emphasis is almost entirely on recent performance (the past three to five seasons). Also, guys who have been college head coaches for less than three seasons, like Charlie Weis and Bill Callahan, were not considered.



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I'm not saying Bowden isn't a great coach. He is indeed but I think some may have overlooked the criteria of his list. Not the career of a coach but looking at the past 5 or so years.

I understand that, but what has Beamer done the past 5 years that Bowden hasn't.

exactly.

1 more person that has to be in the top 10.........there is this guy....I believe he coaches Penn State.........He's won a few ball games in his time, including a BCS bowl last year............yeah...he's missing

because one good season in the last decade doesnt put you on the list

he can be on the list of best over a long time period that are still in the biz...(joe pa, bowden, beamer, fulmer) but not the best of today

where is my boy mack brown? Until last season, we was the best 1 loss team for like 10 straight years [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wall.gif[/img] [img]/LDPforum/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]