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

saturdaysarebet · Apr 30, 2019

Crimson 1967 got me to thinking. With Les Miles and Mack Brown back on the sideline, that now makes five active coaches that have won national championships, the others being Coach Saban, Dabo and Jimbo Fisher.

What's your top 10 list look like? Does it have Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly, Tom Herman, David Shaw, Kirby Smart, Chris Petersen, Mark Dantonio, James Franklin, Harbaugh? Does the last coach to beat Coach Saban other than Dabo make your list? That would be Gus Malzahn.

What about the coaches that seem to do more with less: Pat Fitzgerald, David Cutcliffe, Bill Snyder?

What's your top 10 list look like?

BamaNation · Apr 30, 2019

Nick Saban
Dabo Swinney
Lincoln Riley
Chris Peterson
Kirby Smart
James Franklin
Jimbo Fisher
David Shaw
Gary Patterson
Dan Mullen

One could argue (I would) that 3-10 really don't matter and any of these (and 20 others) could be at any one of those spots.

The top two, IMHO, are far and away the best - in coaching, in getting assistant coaches who understand and can execute their plans and systems, in recruiting, in "coach'in 'em up", in preparation, in leadership, and in all the off-field things that are necessary to be a successful D1 coach (I don't use the term FBS).

The Ols · Apr 30, 2019

Agree with all but Franklin...jury's still out for me on him...Telling his coaches that they need hot wives still isn't sitting well here...

BamaNation said:
Nick Saban

Dabo Swinney

Lincoln Riley

Chris Peterson

Kirby Smart

James Franklin

Jimbo Fisher

David Shaw

Gary Patterson

Dan Mullen

One could argue (I would) that 3-10 really don't matter and any of these (and 20 others) could be at any one of those spots.

The top two, IMHO, are far and away the best - in coaching, in getting assistant coaches who understand and can execute their plans and systems, in recruiting, in "coach'in 'em up", in preparation, in leadership, and in all the off-field things that are necessary to be a successful D1 coach (I don't use the term FBS).

BamaMoon · Apr 30, 2019

In the other thread I said it was CNS and Dabo and then everybody else, including Jimbo and the other guys who have won one title.

Let's be real, if we had to hire a coach right now and Dabo said "no," would you want to hire Jimbo, Miles or Brown just because they had a title?

selmaborntidefan · Apr 30, 2019

BamaMoon said:
In the other thread I said it was CNS and Dabo and then everybody else, including Jimbo and the other guys who have won one title.

Let's be real, if we had to hire a coach right now and Dabo said "no," would you want to hire Jimbo, Miles or Brown just because they had a title?

No, I'd insist on Gene Chizik.......what coach knows more about beating Auburn....??????

BamaNation · Apr 30, 2019

BamaMoon said:
In the other thread I said it was CNS and Dabo and then everybody else, including Jimbo and the other guys who have won one title.

Let's be real, if we had to hire a coach right now and Dabo said "no," would you want to hire Jimbo, Miles or Brown just because they had a title?

I would probably say "Yes" to Jimbo but no to all the others. Jimbo can coach. He has amazing resources at hand at TAMU and would have similar resources at Bama. He can recruit, he knows the state of Alabama well from his 10+ years at Samford & Awburn, and will be uber successful.

81usaf92 · Apr 30, 2019

Off the top of my head

1 saban
2. Dabo
3. Peterson
4. Jimbo
5. Riley
6. Mullen
7. Gus
8. Kirby
9. Pruitt
10. Neal Brown

BamaMoon · Apr 30, 2019

BamaNation said:
I would probably say "Yes" to Jimbo but no to all the others. Jimbo can coach. He has amazing resources at hand at TAMU and would have similar resources at Bama. He can recruit, he knows the state of Alabama well from his 10+ years at Samford & Awburn, and will be uber successful.

Yeah, of the guys who have won one NC, he's the only one I'd feel comfortable with, but for me he wouldn't be an automatic "yes." If JP has a few good years at UT I'd pick him over any of those guys but that's probably because I like him more than Jimbo.

BamaMoon · Apr 30, 2019

81usaf92 said:
Off the top of my head

1 saban
2. Dabo
3. Peterson
4. Jimbo
5. Riley
6. Mullen
7. Gus
8. Kirby
9. Pruitt
10. Neal Brown

Gus? Really?

Like your list, otherwise.

81usaf92 · Apr 30, 2019

BamaMoon said:
Gus? Really?

Like your list, otherwise.

Honestly Gus is a pretty good coach. I think his annoying personality and his offensive style has clouded his overall coaching abilities amongst Alabama fans. Since he has came to Auburn he is one of 3 coaches that has beaten Alabama twice in a minimum of 4 games, and he has won 2 SECW titles along with one SEC title. If we are talking NOW, I really don’t know how he isn’t on a top 10 list.

As for me putting him ahead of Kirby I really think it’s more that I favor a guy who achieve me more with less than one that achieve less with more.

RTR91 · Apr 30, 2019

81usaf92 said:
Honestly Gus is a pretty good coach. I think his annoying personality and his offensive style has clouded his overall coaching abilities amongst Alabama fans. Since he has came to Auburn he is one of 3 coaches that has beaten Alabama twice in a minimum of 4 games, and he has won 2 SECW titles along with one SEC title. If we are talking NOW, I really don’t know how he isn’t on a top 10 list.

As for me putting him ahead of Kirby I really think it’s more that I favor a guy who achieve me more with less than one that achieve less with more.

He also averages five losses a season over the last five seasons. Took him two of the most unbelievable plays to not have 3+ losses in 2013, too.

Hear about it pretty much every week on sports radio in Montgomery.

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BamaNation · Apr 30, 2019

Pruitt has to prove himself over the long term before he's even in the top 50 IMHO. He can get there but it's a long haul with lots of coaching & recruiting scenarios to come. Even if he were to win 10+ this year, let's see what he does over the next 5-10 years before we put him at the top or proclaim him heir apparent!

Also, the premise was "... if we had to hire a coach right now and Dabo said "no"

Also part 2: I think the Alabama job is now a more CEO-like position. To me, that necessarily knocks out guys who have on-field success but haven't proven they can handle the off-field requirements. I keep reflecting back to Dubose. I think he could have been capable of the on-field stuff but failed miserably checking all the boxes necessary for off-the-field ... including high personal morals.

BamaMoon · Apr 30, 2019

RTR91 said:
He also averages five losses a season over the last five seasons. Took him two of the most unbelievable plays to not have 3+ losses in 2013, too.

Hear about it pretty much every week on sports radio in Montgomery.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Yep, he's ridden his "offensive genius" rep far beyond its reality with his 3-5 basic plays.

But the proof is in the pudding and he just loses way too many games.

BamaMoon · Apr 30, 2019

BamaNation said:
Pruitt has to prove himself over the long term before he's even in the top 50 IMHO. He can get there but it's a long haul with lots of coaching & recruiting scenarios to come. Even if he were to win 10+ this year, let's see what he does over the next 5-10 years before we put him at the top or proclaim him heir apparent!

Also, the premise was "... if we had to hire a coach right now and Dabo said "no"

Well, for sure, I hope it's like 10 years before we find out AND then I hope Dabo won't say "no" and then if he does somebody like JP has proven himself.

81usaf92 · Apr 30, 2019

RTR91 said:
He also averages five losses a season over the last five seasons. Took him two of the most unbelievable plays to not have 3+ losses in 2013, too.

Hear about it pretty much every week on sports radio in Montgomery.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Again who are you putting over him?

Shaw and Patterson? Guys that play in far weaker conferences and subdivisions and have still found a way to be irrelevant

Harbaugh? Maybe but harbaugh has done less than Gus in a comparable subdivision

I think Gus is Boom or average, but when he is boom it’s nearly impossible to beat them.

GrayTide · Apr 30, 2019

1. Nick Saban
2. Dabo Swinney
3. Lincoln Riley
4. Jimbo Fisher
5. Kirby Smart
6. Chris Peterson
7. Gary Patterson
8. Dan Mullen
9. Tom Herman
10.David Shaw

RTR91 · Apr 30, 2019

81usaf92 said:
Again who are you putting over him?

Shaw and Patterson? Guys that play in far weaker conferences and subdivisions and have still found a way to be irrelevant

Harbaugh? Maybe but harbaugh has done less than Gus in a comparable subdivision

I think Gus is Boom or average, but when he is boom it’s nearly impossible to beat them.

I get it. When you think about comparing him to a single coach to decide, it becomes harder than just a blanket statement.

Another issue brought up on a consistent basis down here is his lack of player development. With the recruiting classes he has, he should do better than 5 losses a year.

When you say “when he is boom it’s nearly impossible to beat them,” what years are you referencing?

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81usaf92 · Apr 30, 2019

RTR91 said:
I get it. When you think about comparing him to a single coach to decide, it becomes harder than just a blanket statement.

Another issue brought up on a consistent basis down here is his lack of player development. With the recruiting classes he has, he should do better than 5 losses a year.

When you say “when he is boom it’s nearly impossible to beat them,” what years are you referencing?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

13 and 17.

I think Patterson and Shaw are the same thing but they don’t go up against near as big competition as Gus does when they are having their “average” seasons. I just think if you were giving me a choice between 10 possible candidates to fill a new team out of active coaches I would find it difficult not to include Gus amongst them. If we are going to parade around the idea of the SEC being one of the toughest conferences you have to entertain the idea of what if would be like if Gus and Auburn were not in the SEC but in the PAC 12 or wherever and Patterson/TCU, Shaw/Stanford, and whoever were.

B1GTide · Apr 30, 2019

I like BN's list. With Miles coaching again, he would make my list. He didn't forget how to coach - he just couldn't get past Saban.

DzynKingRTR · Apr 30, 2019

B1GTide said:
I like BN's list. With Miles coaching again, he would make my list. He didn't forget how to coach - he just couldn't get past Saban.

The funny thing about Les getting fired was, he was doing the exact same things as coach only he was losing the games he had been winning. His quirkiness and boneheaded late game calls were fine when he was winning them. When he started losing them L8U wanted him fired.

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

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