What's your top 10 list of active college football coaches?

GrayTide

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1) Nick Saban
- The man is truly one of, if not the greatest coach in college football. I base this a lot on the fact that he doesn't lean on the coaches around him, but he builds the coaches around him. How many different offensive and defensive coordinators has Saban had??? It seems that it does not matter what coaches are on his staff or how many players went to the draft the previous year... the team is just as deadly if not more deadly the next year. Could Dabo say the same?

2) Dabo
- I give him this primarily due to accomplishments (national titles and conference titles). However, Clemson plays in a very weak conference and Dabo has a staff that does not have much change from year to year. Put Dabo in the SEC with the revolving coaching door that Saban has had and I don't think he would look nearly as impressive

3) Kirby
- Yes, I am biased here. Kirby beat Lincoln Riley. Kirby also only has 3 seasons of head coaching experience. What other coaches have been as successful as Kirby in their first 3 years? We will gauge more this year by seeing how he does with a new DC and new OC. In my opinion it is too early to tell, but its hard to say that Kirby isn't somewhere on the top 10 list at this time.

4) Lincoln Riley
-extremely impressive for his age and his number of years as a head coach. If he can get a defense figured out, they will be dangerous.

5) Jimbo Fisher
- Time will tell if he was a one hit wonder or not. He surely left FSU in shambles, but for a while there FSU was a pretty good team. He gets bumped up the board for the national championship

6) Tom Herman
-Texas was 6-7, 5-7, and 5-7 before Herman arrived and went 7-6 and then 10-4. Wins over Oklahoma and Georgia in a second year at Texas are impressive

7) Chris Peterson
- sure, he does a great job with what he has... but he also plays against PAC 12 schools and has a bowl record of 6-6

8) Chip Kelly
- how quickly and if he can turn around UCLA will tell us a lot

9) David Shaw

10) Scott Frost

You could make arguments for any of them. Saban and Dabo are surely at the top, but I still insist that Dabo would not be nearly as successful in the SEC with a revolving coaching door like Saban has had.
Not sure Scott Frost is a top 10 coach yet, but IMO he has a tremendous amount of potential. His problem, like we have discussed many times, is that Nebraska's location makes it a tough sale when recruiting. The state does not produce a lot of D1 players and Nebraska has to rely on bringing in recruits from Texas, California, Florida and some east coast states. If he can get the recruits to Lincoln I believe he can be a perennial contender for the B1G West since it the easier side of the B1G. I see Frost much like Herman, but Herman is in a recruiting hotbed and Frost will have to expand his base nationwide.
 

selmaborntidefan

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7) Chris Peterson
- sure, he does a great job with what he has... but he also plays against PAC 12 schools and has a bowl record of 6-6
Let's conveniently not mention that 2 of his 3 consecutive losses came to the 2 greatest coaches of the last 20 years..........

Washington was playing the same easy Pac 12 schedule they were playing from 2001-2013. In fact, you can argue the additions of Colorado and Utah actually made the conference tougher.

As far as Frost - I think he's a coach with a tremendous upside IF - and it's a huge IF - the Nebraska Mafia will sit down and shut up long enough to allow him to BUILD a team. They are going to have to tolerate 9-4 seasons with the occasional Big Ten championship and 2-3 times a decade in the top five (at absolute most). I think he offers substantial upside in that he can appeal to the native instincts of Nebraskans and maybe - just maybe - get 2 or 3 guys from outside the state who are 3-stars that turn out to do better than anticipated.

But if they cling to that delusion of returning to the glory days of the 90s, Frost will wind up coaching in the Pac 12 himself.

I actually didn't take Chip Kelly into consideration, but if you take the overall body of work, one can argue he's top ten. Let's see if he can get it going out there.
 

81usaf92

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Frosty is probably looking forward to a 6-6 season this year assuming he doesn’t lose any games he isn’t supposed to. Out of his next 4 years he may not have but one above .500 season and I don’t think the children of the corn are going to put up with that. The simple truth is Nebraska is dead and isn’t coming back unless Nebraska fans stop acting like they are an elite program and give a longer grace period to coaches, and stop firing good coaches because they have issues with Osborne and the BOT. Nebraska isn’t going to be a team that competes for National titles every decade anymore and them going to the Big 10 all but assured that.

Point is I don’t think Frosty is going to get the time to prove he is great coach. But also note that Frosty had every advantage known to man to succeed at UCF. This is his first real job.
 
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CoachInWaiting

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IF Scott Frost wins at Nebraska with consistency, and gets the 'Huskers in the Top Ten, he deserves to be in the conversation as a great coach. The fortunes of Nebraska football went downhill with the demise of the Big 8 and the formation of the Big XII. The move to the B1G only exacerbated their misery.
 

crimson fan man

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I think Frost is a very good coach but I agree with many going to Nebraska was a major bad decision. The Coach I believe that will make the biggest waves not counting Saban or Dabo is Mulllen. I always thought he was a good Coach even when he was still at Florida as an assistant.
 

selmaborntidefan

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I'm a little surprised no one included Matt Campbell in their list.
It would have been hypocritical of me given that Campbell has only been a coach 12 games long than Riley, whom I refused to rank along with Herman due to their newness.


But I think his upside is tremendous, yes.
 

owenfieldreams

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I've always thought the best coaching took place at schools not endowed with all the attributes necessary for success. Hence, Patterson, Campbell, Gundy in the Big 12. Shaw out west. Mendenhall at BYU. Cutcliffe at Duke. I'm sure I'm overlooking others. Snyder is/was the poster child...maybe the best coaching job ever done given the circumstances.
 

PA Tide Fan

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I'm surprised some have put Lincoln Riley so high. Can a great coach care so little about defense? I'm not so sure. He got to the playoff twice but that's because he has a dynamic offense and nobody plays defense in the Big 12. He inherited a great situation from Bob Stoops and won with Stoops recruits. I'll have to wait a couple more seasons to be sure about him.
 

BamaJama17

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Let's conveniently not mention that 2 of his 3 consecutive losses came to the 2 greatest coaches of the last 20 years..........

Washington was playing the same easy Pac 12 schedule they were playing from 2001-2013. In fact, you can argue the additions of Colorado and Utah actually made the conference tougher.

As far as Frost - I think he's a coach with a tremendous upside IF - and it's a huge IF - the Nebraska Mafia will sit down and shut up long enough to allow him to BUILD a team. They are going to have to tolerate 9-4 seasons with the occasional Big Ten championship and 2-3 times a decade in the top five (at absolute most). I think he offers substantial upside in that he can appeal to the native instincts of Nebraskans and maybe - just maybe - get 2 or 3 guys from outside the state who are 3-stars that turn out to do better than anticipated.

But if they cling to that delusion of returning to the glory days of the 90s, Frost will wind up coaching in the Pac 12 himself.

I actually didn't take Chip Kelly into consideration, but if you take the overall body of work, one can argue he's top ten. Let's see if he can get it going out there.
Frosty is probably looking forward to a 6-6 season this year assuming he doesn’t lose any games he isn’t supposed to. Out of his next 4 years he may not have but one above .500 season and I don’t think the children of the corn are going to put up with that. The simple truth is Nebraska is dead and isn’t coming back unless Nebraska fans stop acting like they are an elite program and give a longer grace period to coaches, and stop firing good coaches because they have issues with Osborne and the BOT. Nebraska isn’t going to be a team that competes for National titles every decade anymore and them going to the Big 10 all but assured that.

Point is I don’t think Frosty is going to get the time to prove he is great coach. But also note that Frosty had every advantage known to man to succeed at UCF. This is his first real job.
IF Scott Frost wins at Nebraska with consistency, and gets the 'Huskers in the Top Ten, he deserves to be in the conversation as a great coach. The fortunes of Nebraska football went downhill with the demise of the Big 8 and the formation of the Big XII. The move to the B1G only exacerbated their misery.
I think Frost is a very good coach but I agree with many going to Nebraska was a major bad decision. The Coach I believe that will make the biggest waves not counting Saban or Dabo is Mulllen. I always thought he was a good Coach even when he was still at Florida as an assistant.
Scott Frost is their “Golden Boy” and “Hometown hero” and their last QB to lead them to an undefeated and national championship season. Why would they not give him more time?? IE see Jim Harbaugh. I’m sure Tom Osborne has his back 100%. I’m sure Frost can handle the “Mafia” better than any outsider could.
 

selmaborntidefan

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I've always thought the best coaching took place at schools not endowed with all the attributes necessary for success. Hence, Patterson, Campbell, Gundy in the Big 12. Shaw out west. Mendenhall at BYU. Cutcliffe at Duke. I'm sure I'm overlooking others. Snyder is/was the poster child...maybe the best coaching job ever done given the circumstances.
Snyder would have been in my top ten had he not just retired.

I think Cutcliffe "was" top 20, but the game has passed him.
 

81usaf92

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Scott Frost is their “Golden Boy” and “Hometown hero” and their last QB to lead them to an undefeated and national championship season. Why would they not give him more time?? IE see Jim Harbaugh. I’m sure Tom Osborne has his back 100%. I’m sure Frost can handle the “Mafia” better than any outsider could.
You are also talking about a program that ran away two very good coaches because they couldn’t get along with the BOT and fan expectations. Frost has about 4 years of clean up to deal with to right the ship to get on an even playing field with Wisconsin, and not to mention being competitive with the monsters in the east. Take it from someone who has lived there and isn’t looking at this from afar. These Nebraska fans think like Alabama fans when they should be thinking like Mississippi St fans in terms of expectations. They will turn on Frost once they are reminded of their place in the world. Nebraska is a 10+ year project in terms of championship potential not a less than 4 year project. It’s like Alabama baseball.
 

selmaborntidefan

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Scott Frost is their “Golden Boy” and “Hometown hero” and their last QB to lead them to an undefeated and national championship season. Why would they not give him more time?? IE see Jim Harbaugh. I’m sure Tom Osborne has his back 100%. I’m sure Frost can handle the “Mafia” better than any outsider could.
Two words: Frank Solich
 

BamaJama17

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Two words: Frank Solich
Ok yes but he was also unfortunate enough to succeed a coach who won 3/4 NC’s who succeeded a coach that made Nebraska (for that time) a national power. Frost came into a program that has now had 14 seasons of mostly bad teams with a few good here and there.
 

BamaJama17

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You are also talking about a program that ran away two very good coaches because they couldn’t get along with the BOT and fan expectations. Frost has about 4 years of clean up to deal with to right the ship to get on an even playing field with Wisconsin, and not to mention being competitive with the monsters in the east. Take it from someone who has lived there and isn’t looking at this from afar. These Nebraska fans think like Alabama fans when they should be thinking like Mississippi St fans in terms of expectations. They will turn on Frost once they are reminded of their place in the world. Nebraska is a 10+ year project in terms of championship potential not a less than 4 year project. It’s like Alabama baseball.
Well for his sake he better hope those connections he has in Florida still hold up. You really shouldn’t have any problem getting players to come to Lincoln. If West Virginia and Louisville can get good players then so can Nebraska.
 

81usaf92

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Well for his sake he better hope those connections he has in Florida still hold up. You really shouldn’t have any problem getting players to come to Lincoln. If West Virginia and Louisville can get good players then so can Nebraska.
The problem is that Nebraska lived off Missouri and Colorado recruits for years, but they have lost those pipelines probably forever. Basically their core recruits are Nebraska-iowa recruits now.
 

owenfieldreams

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The problem is that Nebraska lived off Missouri and Colorado recruits for years, but they have lost those pipelines probably forever. Basically their core recruits are Nebraska-iowa recruits now.
When they left the Big 12 they lost their Texas recruiting & that as much as anything hurt the program. They used to recruit Calif. N.J., and FLA. a lot too but no longer.
 

selmaborntidefan

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I know I've beat this to death but.......look at a map.


Nebraska used to OWN:

all the way from the middle of Kansas to the Canadian border
west to Boise, Idaho
east to St Louis


and pick off Dallas and Florida recruits.


What happened?

N Dakota St became an FCS dynasty (they were already a Division 2 dynasty)
Kansas St got good
Kansas had years they were okay
Missouri got good
Colorado got good
TV shows every game so a kid who might go to Nebraska has as much a chance at the NFL at UNT (here in Denton, TX) or TCU as he does at Nebraska
And no kid nowadays is going to live in the frozen corn crib for four years
 

owenfieldreams

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I have a theory about the pattern of HC selections at major programs. It seems to me that when a legend or iconic coach is being replaced there is a set of predictable outcomes that become false steps to mediocrity until the right choice is made. Generally, these bad decisions form a pattern, not necessarily in the same order at different schools but from the same list of options. In OU's case these options can be categorized as follows: the loyal assistant; a former player recommended based on friendship; a big name with gravitas; an assistant from either inside or outside the family. Most of these never pan out and it takes repeated mistakes before a cooler more shrewd head prevails in the selection process. These false steps usually play out over a decade or so before the messiah emerges. Selecting the right HC is at best an inexact science. Interestingly, the 4 most successful coaches at OU have all been hired as assistants with no previous HC experience. Our '90's were a poster child for such missteps. Except for Stallings, your '90's into the 2000's were similar. Texas made mistake after mistake between Royal and Brown. Nebraska...I could go on and on. Look at Michigan. Look at USC.
 

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