News Article: SI's Top 10 coaches of all time

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,735
287
54
Any list that includes Tom Osborne on as a top ten football coach is a list that isn't worth a damn.

Barry Switzer has a higher winning pct than Osborne (by one point, but it's still higher), just as many national titles....and oh yeah, beat Osborne like a drum, winning 12 of 17 head-to-head matches.


Here's your REAL list, folks:


1) Nick Saban
2) Paul Bryant



MAJOR BIG GAP


3) Urban Meyer
4) Bobby Bowden
5) Eddie Robinson
6) Knute Rockne
7) Bud Wilkinson
8) Woody Hayes
9) Joe Paterno (like it or not, the dude won over 400 games)
10) Barry Switzer
 
Last edited:

92tide

TideFans Legend
May 9, 2000
58,154
44,877
287
54
East Point, Ga, USA
Any list that includes Tom Osborne on as a top ten football coach is a list that isn't worth a damn.

Barry Switzer has a higher winning pct than Osborne (by one point, but it's still higher), just as many national titles....and oh yeah, beat Osborne like a drum, winning 12 of 17 head-to-head matches.


Here's your REAL list, folks:


1) Nick Saban
2) Paul Bryant



MAJOR BIG GAP


3) Urban Meyer
4) Bobby Bowden
5) Eddie Robinson
6) Knute Rockne
7) Bud Wilkinson
8) Woody Hayes
9) Joe Paterno (like it or not, the dude won over 400 games)
10) Barry Switzer



10)
i think the pants convinced a lot of folks

 

deliveryman35

Hall of Fame
Jul 26, 2003
12,998
1,194
287
55
Gadsden, AL
Any list that includes Tom Osborne on as a top ten football coach is a list that isn't worth a damn.

Barry Switzer has a higher winning pct than Osborne (by one point, but it's still higher), just as many national titles....and oh yeah, beat Osborne like a drum, winning 12 of 17 head-to-head matches.


Here's your REAL list, folks:


1) Nick Saban
2) Paul Bryant



MAJOR BIG GAP


3) Urban Meyer
4) Bobby Bowden
5) Eddie Robinson
6) Knute Rockne
7) Bud Wilkinson
8) Woody Hayes
9) Joe Paterno (like it or not, the dude won over 400 games)
10) Barry Switzer
To me, win percentage is worth more than longevity. Frank Leahy deserves to be on that list more than Woody Hayes or Eddie Robinson.
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,502
46,845
187
Urban Meyer is not a top 10 all time coach, maybe in the top 10 since 2005.
3 championships, two different schools, with two different coaching staffs, in the best 2 conferences in college football. Add the 13-2 bowl record and the 187-32 W/L record and there are not 9 better - even if you squint and look at the stats sideways.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,735
287
54
To me, win percentage is worth more than longevity. Frank Leahy deserves to be on that list more than Woody Hayes or Eddie Robinson.
I concur with the winning pct, but the more important barometer is context.

Frank Leahy coached during the WW2 era when teams were decimated by players going off to war (this affected Notre Dame, as a religious school, and Army, who was training the "leaders of tomorrow", less than other schools).

Leahy (and other white coaches) had so many advantages over Eddie Robinson that it isn't even mildly amusing.
I'm not going to say he was a bad coach but in context his record isn't so impressive.

Robinson still won over 70% of his games, and he progressed through numerous eras. You'd think that once integration opened up the opportunities so that Robinson could no longer corner a large share of the black talent that he'd sink like a rock, but he was still winning 9 and 10 games late in his career (though he held on too long as a lot of them do).

He also had the wins record for 26 years. AA Stagg might have held it for 23 years, but he also lost nearly 40% of his games and was coaching at 95 years old.


On the flip side, I appreciate you reminding us not to just get focused on the "what we've seen" aspect, either.

One could argue that Clark Shaugnessy is as important a figure in CFB as anyone else. Most folks today don't even know the name.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,735
287
54
Or possibly the white belt and shoes. Urban Meyer is not a top 10 all time coach, maybe in the top 10 since 2005.

I respectfully disagree.


Third all-time winning pct and fully in the modern era (.854)
3 national titles, all won head-to-head against the other "best" team
National titles at 2 schools (very difficult)
took over a team on probation and went 54-4
Won 2 national titles in the SEC during the most dominant conference era of all-time
2-2 all-time against the greatest coach of all-time....and had to beat him on his way to 2 of his 3 national titles


Meyer's LOWEST winning pct......was not at Ohio State or Florida but in his first two years at Bowling Green.

I can get why folks might want to quibble with third all-time, but he's on the list without question.
 

RollTide_HTTR

Hall of Fame
Feb 22, 2017
8,774
6,540
187
Not to start a controversy but I'm genuinely curious. What does everyone think Dabo has to do to make this list? Obviously, coach a lot more games and win more titles but how many more titles/years of winning do you all think he needs?
 

B1GTide

TideFans Legend
Apr 13, 2012
45,502
46,845
187
Not to start a controversy but I'm genuinely curious. What does everyone think Dabo has to do to make this list? Obviously, coach a lot more games and win more titles but how many more titles/years of winning do you all think he needs?
Just keep doing what he is doing. Another 10 years with another championship or two and he makes the list, IMO.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,735
287
54
Not to start a controversy but I'm genuinely curious. What does everyone think Dabo has to do to make this list? Obviously, coach a lot more games and win more titles but how many more titles/years of winning do you all think he needs?
I think 3 titles at least gets you into the "let's consider him" phase.

However, he's going to have to win for a long time, too.

Ten years where he has nine double digit wins and another title probably.


The number of coaches with at least 3 national titles is pretty small:

Saban 6
Bryant 6
Bernie Bierman 5
Woody Hayes 5
Frank Leahy 4
John McKay 4
Urban Meyer 3
Barry Switzer 3
Tom Osborne 3
Darrell Royal, 3
Bud Wilkinson, 3
Pop Warner, 3
Knute Rockne, 3
Walter Camp, 3

Probably the only two guys that folks under 50 haven't at least heard of (if they're big fans) are Leahy and Bierman.
Those names right there are legendary to put it mildly.

Any clown can win one - Bobby Ross, Larry Coker, Gene Chizik, Johnny Majors, Lloyd Carr

A rare clown can win two - Dennis Erickson

There are no clowns that have won three.
 

PA Tide Fan

All-American
Dec 11, 2014
4,442
3,058
187
Lancaster, PA
Not to start a controversy but I'm genuinely curious. What does everyone think Dabo has to do to make this list? Obviously, coach a lot more games and win more titles but how many more titles/years of winning do you all think he needs?
Seems like the coaches on the list have to have either a) 200+wins or b) have an 80% or better winning percentage. Right now Dabo has neither. He has 116 wins and his winning percentage is .795. So however long it takes him to get to 200 wins or close to that with a higher winning percentage.

I'm not so sure that the really old time coaches such as Amos Alonzo Stagg and Pop Warner should even be on the list since football in the modern era is so much different and complicated than it was in the early years.
 

selmaborntidefan

TideFans Legend
Mar 31, 2000
36,432
29,735
287
54
Seems like the coaches on the list have to have either a) 200+wins or b) have an 80% or better winning percentage. Right now Dabo has neither. He has 116 wins and his winning percentage is .795. So however long it takes him to get to 200 wins or close to that with a higher winning percentage.

I'm not so sure that the really old time coaches such as Amos Alonzo Stagg and Pop Warner should even be on the list since football in the modern era is so much different and complicated than it was in the early years.
I go back and forth on that because there are arguments either way.


I'm very hesitant to give their STATISTICS a lot of credence, particularly since in some cases you're looking at an entirely different setup.

If a coach invented a formation that is standard use today, isn't he "better" than his contemporaries whose claim to fame is "we won more games"?

Or is he not? Or how do we evaluate that?

How much credit should we give Tom Osborne for slipping into a job where Bob Devaney did all the work and he just continued it?
On the other hand, we've had coach after coach leave and get succeeded by complete disasters, too, so we obviously have to give him SOME credit.

These are what make this evaluating stuff difficult. I can tolerate and respect disagreement on these things provided the logic or foundation is sound.

But choosing Tom Osborne over Barry Switzer in a top ten list of coaches is absurd on ALL levels.
When one guy ties or exceeds the other guy in all categories and beats him 12 of 17 times, how can one possibly say Osborne is better?


Dabo's argument is strengthened by his record against Saban and Meyer.
 

New Posts

Latest threads

TideFans.shop : 2024 Madness!

TideFans.shop - Get YOUR Bama Gear HERE!”></a>
<br />

<!--/ END TideFans.shop & item link \-->
<p style= Purchases made through our TideFans.shop and Amazon.com links may result in a commission being paid to TideFans.