Top 10 Coaches Heading into the Season

[bobbydigius]

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.

Because he is 17 years removed from that chip and he probably would have been in the top 15 discussion if he didn’t go 6-7 this year. He hasn’t won 10 or more since 2009. Jimbo may very well enter that territory but he isn’t there yet.

 

[TemplarCane]

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.

He’s a lifer, and in the family business. His father coached there, and I think Shaw played there as well.

 

[razrcane]

Lol Cmon now bruh..I gotta pull them receipts from those stops?

@Rellyrell how that USC tenure end for that boy Lane?

But **** agree to disagree on ole boy

 

[TallyCane]

Lincoln Riley is a few spots to high

 

[Calinative]

Nick Saban
Kirby Smart
Lincoln Riley
Dabo Swinney
Ryan Day

Like 3 of those guys have been apart of EVERY CFP theres been, so they clearly deserve to be ranked at the top.

Brian Kelly
Mike Gundy
Jim Harbaugh
Mario Cristobal
Lane Kiffin
Kyle Wittingham
Mark Stoops
Dave Aranda
Luke Fickell
Paul Chryst
Kirk Ferentz
Jimbo Fisher
Matt Campbell
Mike Leach
Josh Heupel

 

[razrcane]

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.

Bill Clark would be my #1 if budget was an issue. He’s won everywhere he’s been. Can take his And beat yours and then turn around and take yours and beat his. Can recruit and has proven to do more with less. He’s a ball coach.

 

[Cryptical Envelopment]

He’s a lifer, and in the family business. His father coached there, and I think Shaw played there as well.

Yeah Dad coached at Stanford when David was kid so he grew up there some, and then he attends and played WR for Stanford.

 

[AZHurricane]

Bill Clark would be my #1 if budget was an issue. He’s won everywhere he’s been. Can take his’n and beat your’n and can take your’n and beat his’n. Can recruit and has proven to do more with less. He’s a ball coach.

Corrected for the Bum Phillips vernacular.

 

[Memnon]

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.

Because pressure will increase the more they continue to lose & eventually they’ll have to part ways amicably, but by then it will be very hard to get another high profile job because he didn’t capitalize when he had his moment.

My point was simply that staying at Stanford basically ruined his chances to ever compete & win at a high level.

But if he prefers to stay at Stanford then that’s what’s best for him.

 

[Negro-Wan Kanobi]

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?

Can't dispute your list.

Gundy is a top 5 coach.

And he's a man.

 

[OriginalCanesCanesCanes]

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.

I don’t see racist Kurby as being the power force behind those improvements, his hiring energized the boosters that were already there so that they substantially increased their monetary investment.

With Kurby being hired, the booster base then knew they had a successful coach from the Saban factory, and one who could give them the intelligence, as in a spy, and how to duplicate that in Athens.

But Kurby is dumb as a clump of dirt. They just hook him up to a machine and suck the information out of his diseased brain.

 

[Lazarre]

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.

I’ll take a stab at this for debate purposes lol

For me… Mack is actually close to the top 10. I like him more than Brian Kelly. His time at the end of Texas is still on people mind and he now seems more like Bill Synder in his last years. Jimbo is still recruiting at higher clip and his staff hires have been on point, especially with defense coordinator. Covid year doesn’t count here because we were average (tell a bama fan that championship doesn’t count) but TAMU had a excellent year. He also had Kelly Mond playing good football after people were calling him a bust. Right or wrong, he gets the benefit of getting his *** kicked in the SEC West instead of the ACC.

But in 2022, Jimbo is going into the season with a team with a couple of Top 5 classes and reputations of being a QB guru. Mack is going in as a better version of Herm Edwards.

 

[E1k]

I dont know or care to know about him as a person…but why don’t people respect kirby as a football coach?

I think he’s probably 2nd as far as defensive minds go in college football if not top 3 with saban and venables. Everybody at the elite level “cheats” so why is that held against him when talking elite coaches? Talent is most important but schematically his defenses are what we should hope for. Just a question from what i see on here, im genuinely curious

 

[CDWright40]

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?

Neither list has Mike Norvelllllll so they are clearly bullshiit....

 

[OriginalCanesCanesCanes]

I dont know or care to know about him as a person…but why don’t people respect kirby as a football coach?

I think he’s probably 2nd as far as defensive minds go in college football if not top 3 with saban and venables. Everybody at the elite level “cheats” so why is that held against him when talking elite coaches? Talent is most important but schematically his defenses are what we should hope for. Just a question from what i see on here, im genuinely curious

Tell us about his genius defensive coaching, other than having highly ranked 5 stars 3 deep at every defensive position.

Tell me exactly what kind of genius schemes he runs, how he adapts those schemes situationally, and about his genius schematic designs.

 

[Memnon]

I’ll take a stab at this for debate purposes lol

For me… Mack is actually close to the top 10. I like him more than Brian Kelly. His time at the end of Texas is still on people mind and he now seems more like Bill Synder in his last years. Jimbo is still recruiting at higher clip and his staff hires have been on point, especially with defense coordinator. Covid year doesn’t count here because we were average (tell a bama fan that championship doesn’t count) but TAMU had a excellent year. He also had Kelly Mond playing good football after people were calling him a bust. Right or wrong, he gets the benefit of getting his *** kicked in the SEC West instead of the ACC.

But in 2022, Jimbo is going into the season with a team with a couple of Top 5 classes and reputations of being a QB guru. Mack is going in as a better version of Herm Edwards.

I agree.

I think people view him as a top 5 coach because of recruiting, but 3 seasons with 4 or more losses in his first 4 years puts into perspective how overrated he actually is because despite great recruiting the results haven’t matched with the signing classes.

It’s really his offense, he runs an old antiquated Offense that he used to run in his LSU & Auburn days & it actually neutralizes the talent advantage he has over most teams.

If you gave a guy like Kyle Whittingham a TAMU type roster, he probably wouldn’t lose a game.

 

[Cryptical Envelopment]

Because pressure will increase the more they continue to lose & eventually they’ll have to part ways amicably, but by then it will be very hard to get another high profile job because he didn’t capitalize when he had his moment.

My point was simply that staying at Stanford basically ruined his chances to ever compete & win at a high level.

But if he prefers to stay at Stanford then that’s what’s best for him.

Oh, he will pop back up with a senior laden team every year or so and win enough to fend them all off. Plus as long as you beat Cal lol. But yeah, this year was rough. The rise of the portal probably hurts them badly too as I'll bet a lot of credits don't transfer in to Stanford.

Yeah, he definitely took lifestyle and security over the chance to win it all, but he also made the best financial move, longterm IMO. He makes like $8Mish, and there are some crazy incentives in his contract. Signing, longevity, etc.

Think about how rough coaching is on the family, how's you always have to move around, leave your friends, etc. He's the smart **** who avoided that. Not sure there is a better place to live either as far as coaching a P5 team and getting paid boatloads of money to do it.

 

[cway313]

Leaving Jimbo off completely (even hon mentions) seems laughable. Sorry, I'm in a Noles household and they have convinced me he's not bad at all.

Be your own man sis.

 

[Cryptical Envelopment]

I agree.

I think people view him as a top 5 coach because of recruiting, but 3 seasons with 4 or more losses in his first 4 years puts into perspective how overrated he actually is because despite great recruiting the results haven’t matched with the signing classes.

It’s really his offense, he runs an old antiquated Offense that he used to run in his LSU & Auburn days & it actually neutralizes the talent advantage he has over most teams.

If you gave a guy like Kyle Whittingham a TAMU type roster, he probably wouldn’t lose a game.

I'm really interested in the coordinator matchups in our game with TAMU this year.

 

[bobbydigius]

I agree.

I think people view him as a top 5 coach because of recruiting, but 3 seasons with 4 or more losses in his first 4 years puts into perspective how overrated he actually is because despite great recruiting the results haven’t matched with the signing classes.

It’s really his offense, he runs an old antiquated Offense that he used to run in his LSU & Auburn days & it actually neutralizes the talent advantage he has over most teams.

If you gave a guy like Kyle Whittingham a TAMU type roster, he probably wouldn’t lose a game.

But alas, Kyle doesnt recruit at that level. Last time I checked recruiting is a big part of being a CFB coach and Jimbo is one of the best. Ultimately you are judged on your results and reality is his resume is one of the best in the game. As time goes on and he doesnt produce at the clip he used to, then his reputation will in fact slide. He needs to do something with ATM in the next two years, no doubt.