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Coaches Rankings—Mountain West and MAC Edition
These rankings are a combination of several factors, including longevity, coaching skills (recruiting, player development, game planning), and impact on winning. For a full explanation of the data that was used for these rankings, see “Behind the Rankings” at the end of these lists.
Because change in winning percentage, as well as experience as a head coach, counts in these ratings, many times, new coaches will “sink to the bottom” as there is no data to use for evaluation purposes.
Mountain West Conference
In the past few years, the Mountain West has become very top heavy, and the three sterling programs (BYU, TCU, and Utah) have demonstrated the skill to be consistently considered potential “BCS Busters.”
The coaching in the conference has likewise been upgraded, with some of the “stale” programs upgrading to younger, more dynamic coaches, like Steve Fairchild and Troy Calhoun. New Mexico and Wyoming got into the act this season and welcome new coaches as well.
1. Gary Patterson, TCU. Though he has never led the Frogs to a BCS berth, they have been close a few times. Likewise, TCU has pulled enough upsets that BCS teams are hesitant to schedule them, and Patterson is the reason why.
He coaches tough, aggressive defenses, which have resulted in a career .730 winning percent. In addition he has won two conference titles with the Frogs (Conference USA in 2002 and the Mountain West in 2005).
2. Bronco Mendenhall, BYU. Mendenhall has led a resurgence of Cougar football and they are winning like they did in the Edwards era. BYU has been a consistent Top 25 program over the last few seasons, finishing ranked in the final polls for the past three seasons.
For five seasons prior to Mendenhall, the Cougars were barely treading water, winning at just a .525 clip. In his four seasons, he is 38-13 (.745) with back-to-back MWC titles in 2006-2007. Over the past three seasons, his Cougars are 22-2 in the Mountain West.
3. Kyle Whittingham, Utah. After 10 seasons as Ute defensive coordinator, Whittingham continues to build the program first brought to prominence by Urban Meyer. His teams have progressively improved each season, capped with last season’s undefeated 13-0 record and a No. 2 finish in the AP poll.
How well his team moves forward from their success will be significant. If Whittingham continues the success, he could easily supplant Patterson as the league’s best coach.
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