Ranking the Top 10 Coaches with Which to Start a College Football Program
It is a very difficult task to rank the best college football coaches, so I'm going to try to do it with this question in mind:
If you were starting a college football program from scratch, who would you want to coach the team?
I will take into account win-loss records, past experience resurrecting a program, recruiting ability and innovation into this ranking.
It was nearly impossible to trim the list down to 10, but I would feel pretty confident with any one of these coaches pacing the sideline for my team.
Honorable Mention
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Trying to trim down the list of great coaches to 10 is a tall order, and there were plenty who just missed the cut.
I thought of several coaches who could have easily cracked the top 10.
Mississippi State's Dan Mullen has turned the Bulldogs into one of the best teams in the nation, and he inherited an MSU team that was in shambles.
Hugh Freeze also got some consideration due to his unparalleled recruiting prowess, and he has done great things at Ole Miss.
Bob Stoops just missed out on the top 10 due to his consistency, but I don't think he has enough flair to take a program from nothing to prominence.
Or I could have gone with Mike Leach, who has not had the success on the national stage that the other candidates have, but whose air-raid schemes are proven to work at every level. He could transform a stagnant offense into a productive one in no time.
Without further ado, here is my list. Enjoy, and please comment, I'm sure there will be tons of disagreements!
10. Steve Sarkisian
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Steve Sarkisian was one of college football's best young offensive minds when he coached quarterbacks at USC from 2001 to 2003. After he went to the NFL for one season as the Raiders quarterbacks coach, he returned to USC as the offensive coordinator and associate head coach.
When he took the head coaching position at the University of Washington, nobody knew what to expect. It didn't take long for him to resurrect a Washington program that went 0-12 the year before he got there. In his first season leading the Huskies, they went 5-7 and defeated USC, who was ranked No. 3 in the nation at the time.
Sarkisian's Washington squads continued to improve, and in only five short years in Washington, they were already a legitimate Pac-12 contender.
He is still one of the brightest offensive coaches in the country, and since the Trojans' sanctions are over, the potential is unlimited. Sarkisian is likely going to bring USC back to prominence, and he has proven to be very good at turning programs around.
He inherited a USC team that fell out of contention under Lane Kiffin, but under Sarkisian, they are already making strides. They defeated Stanford in a close Pac-12 battle, and they could very easily be undefeated had they not lost very close games to Boston College and Arizona State.
If he can turn around a team that was previously winless in such a short amount of time, he could thrive in any coaching environment.
9. Kevin Sumlin
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When Texas A&M left the Big 12 for the SEC, most thought that the Aggies were going to be very overmatched, at least for the first couple of years. However, they underestimated the greatness of Kevin Sumlin.
A former Purdue linebacker, Sumlin took away any doubts. He oversaw many record-setting offenses at Houston, and he proved that his schemes work in the SEC as well.
Sumlin turned Johnny Manziel from a little-known redshirt freshman into a Heisman Trophy winner and a first-round draft pick, and Kenny Hill has done an outstanding job this year in his first season as the starting quarterback.
His offenses continue to churn out big yards and put up points, and he has the necessary disciplinary skills to get a new team ready to play at a high level. If any top-tier schools have a job opening in the near future, you can bet that Sumlin will be toward the top of most candidate lists.
He is like magic for quarterbacks and offenses, and if his schemes can be productive in the SEC, they can be productive anywhere.
But his coaching ability might only be his second-best trait. He is one of the best recruiters in the country, raking in the eighth-best class in the nation in 2013 and the fourth-best in 2014, according to ESPN Recruiting Nation. He found a way to sway top-tier prep prospects like Myles Garrett, Speedy Noil and Ricky Seals-Jones, among others, to Texas A&M.
As long as he is recruiting great athletes to fit into his spread offense, Sumlin is going to be successful.
8. Art Briles
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Before he made it to the college ranks, Art Briles was a very successful Texas high school football coach. He made a name for himself at Stephenville High School, when he changed his offense from the wishbone to the spread.
It is that kind of offensive innovation that makes Briles one of the best coaches in college football. He oversaw a couple of successful teams at the University of Houston that produced NFL quarterback Kevin Kolb, and then made the move to Baylor to revive a program that was stagnant for decades.
The Bears ranked second in the nation in total offense in 2012, then led the nation in yards and points per game in 2013. This year, they are first in points per game.
They are nearly unstoppable. They are loaded with weapons on the offensive side of the ball, and that has a lot to do with the phenomenal recruiting Briles has been able to do. Baylor has brought in a Top 30 class every year since 2012, according to ESPN Recruiting Nation, due in part to the high-octane offense.
Like Sumlin, it seems that every Briles-coached team has a terrific quarterback that consistently leads the nation in yardage. That kind of offensive productivity is what people like to see, and he would be a stellar candidate to start a program from scratch.
7. Jim Harbaugh
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This might come as a surprise to some people reading this, but it really shouldn't. Jim Harbaugh has had success everywhere he has been, especially starting in 2007, when he took over a Stanford program that had been labeled a loser for years.
He quickly turned them into competitors, even stunning No. 2-ranked USC in his first year, which was statistically the largest upset in college football history at the time.
Harbaugh, a former Michigan and NFL quarterback, groomed Andrew Luck into a professional superstar, and also produced NFL star Richard Sherman and Jaguars running back Toby Gerhart, among others. His efforts also resulted in winning the Woody Hayes Coach of the Year Award, given annually to the best coach in college football.
After leading Stanford to a 12-1 season and its first BCS victory in school history, Harbaugh bolted to the NFL to coach the 49ers. He continued his winning ways at the professional level, leading San Francisco to the NFC Championship Game in his first three years there, the first coach in NFL history to do that.
Harbaugh also showed he can develop quarterbacks at the highest level. He resurrected Alex Smith's career in 2011, and then made Colin Kaepernick into one of the game's most explosive signal-callers.
According to Fox Sports' Jay Glazer (h/t CBS Sports' Josh Katzowitz), he is also rumored to be in his last season at the helm of the 49ers, and it is a possibility that he returns to the college level. If he was to take over a program, he would find a way to win. He has shown a tremendous ability to groom quarterbacks, which would only help his recruiting.
6. Jimbo Fisher
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JaMarcus Russell, Christian Ponder, EJ Manuel and Jameis Winston. The list of premier college quarterbacks Jimbo Fisher has mentored goes on. Fisher, who took over for Bobby Bowden after the 2009 season, has turned Florida State into one of the best teams in the country.
His two biggest assets are his quarterback grooming abilities and his recruiting prowess. The Seminoles have recorded a top-10 class in each of his seasons at the helm, including the best class in 2012, according to ESPN.com.
The current Seminoles roster is absolutely loaded with talent on both sides of the ball, and with Fisher's ability to evaluate talent, Florida State is in good hands as long as Fisher is the head man.
FSU is 31-2 in the past three years, including last year's 14-0 national-championship team. Fisher has the 'Noles in position to once again have a shot at a national title this year as well as in the future.
5. Gus Malzahn
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Not long removed from coaching high school football in Arkansas, Gus Malzahn and his dynamic offensive ideas are already well known. After winning multiple state championships at the prep level, he made stops at Arkansas, Tulsa and Auburn before getting his first head coaching job at Arkansas State.
Malzahn went 9-3 in one season at Arkansas State before getting hired to return to Auburn. Only three years prior, he called the plays for Cam Newton when Auburn won the BCS National Championship in 2010.
No matter where he has been, Malzahn's offenses have been among the best in the nation. In his one season at Tulsa in 2007, the Golden Hurricanes led the nation in total yards per game, beating the nearest competitor by nearly 800 yards. Also in 2007, Malzahn managed to have a very balanced attack.
That Tulsa team became the first in college football history to have a 5,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard rusher, and three 1,000-yard receivers in the same season.
In his first season as the head coach at Auburn, he oversaw one of the greatest turnarounds in history. Only one year after the Tigers were winless in SEC play, Malzahn turned Nick Marshall, a converted defensive back, into one of the most productive quarterbacks in the nation.
They were only a few plays away from winning the national title, and as long as Malzahn is coaching, you can be sure that his offenses will be efficient. He is known for his innovation, meaning that defenses are always going to have a hard time keeping up.
4. Pete Carroll
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In the heart of Pete Carroll's tenure at USC, his Trojans may have been the most dominant team in college football history. They won 34 games in a row from 2003-2005, winning the national title in 2004 and nearly winning it all again the very next year.
Carroll's time at USC was absolutely stellar in almost every aspect. He went 97-19 in his 10 years at the helm, but some of those wins were taken away due to NCAA sanctions. Carroll was also phenomenal at putting players in the NFL. Fifty-three players who played for Carroll at USC were drafted in the NFL draft, including 14 first-round selections.
Carson Palmer, Matt Leinart and Reggie Bush each won the Heisman Trophy under Carroll, and he always found a way to get his players to play at their best in the most important games. Carroll led the Trojans to six BCS bowl victories and a 25-1 record in November.
Even though Carroll is not the youngest of coaches, he bonds very well with his players. He was the first college football coach on social media, and he was also very skilled at sweet-talking recruits in their living rooms.
According to 247Sports, Carroll brought in four top-five recruiting classes in his time at Southern Cal, and if he ever decided to return to the college game, he would catapult right to the top of any best-coaches list.
However, USC is still trying to rebound from NCAA sanctions that were handed out in 2010. The biggest infraction was Reggie Bush receiving improper benefits from various boosters, but the sanctions should not overshadow how potent Carroll's USC teams were.
3. Urban Meyer
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Urban Meyer has enjoyed success wherever he has been. Way back in 2001, he inherited a Bowling Green team that went 2-9 the year before. Meyer needed only one offseason to turn them around, recording a 17-6 record in his two seasons there.
Then he led the Utah Utes to an undefeated season and a Fiesta Bowl victory in 2004, only his second year at Utah. The Utes were the first real BCS "buster," as that Fiesta Bowl win over Pittsburgh was the first team from a non-automatic-qualifying conference to make it to a BCS game.
Meyer's success continued at Florida, where he led the Gators to a 65-15 record and two national championships in six seasons. He then decided to retire from coaching to spend more time with his family.
After taking one year off, Meyer accepted an offer to coach Ohio State. The Buckeyes won the first 24 games coached by Meyer and were expected to make a run at the inaugural College Football Playoff before star quarterback Braxton Miller injured his throwing shoulder in preseason practice.
They are still playing good football despite a freshman quarterback starting, and that is a testament to Meyer's coaching ability. He has already swayed several highly touted recruits to Columbus in his short stint, and in my opinion he is one of the top three coaches in the NCAA.
2. Nick Saban
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Most people would expect Nick Saban to be first on any list regarding the best coaches in college football, and he is indeed the best. He has done amazing things at Alabama, going 78-16 since he took over the program in 2007.
He has an NFL background, spending four years under Bill Belichick as his defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns in the early 1990s.
Saban's first major college football job came in 1995, when he left the Browns in favor of Michigan State. It was a tough process, but Saban slowly but surely turned around a Spartans program that hadn't had a winning season since 1990.
Greener pastures awaited, though. Saban got his first taste of the SEC in 2000, when he took the LSU job. He won early and often there, winning at least eight games in each of his five seasons, including the 2003 BCS National Championship.
He spent two years back in the NFL as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins but then accepted the Alabama job in 2007. Since then, Alabama has blossomed into the premier powerhouse of today's college football landscape.
Like most coaches who have experienced outstanding success in college, Saban is a relentless recruiter. Even South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier, who has taken shots at Saban in the past because of the SC-Bama rivalry, is respectful of Saban's recruiting mastery.
At the SEC media days, Spurrier summed it up perfectly:
"I think they've had the five number one recruiting classes out of the last six years, which has got to make him the greatest recruiter in the history of college football.
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Most people would put Saban in the No. 1 slot, but I chose to go a different direction.
1. Chip Kelly
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For all of you Nick Saban fans out there, y'all are definitely not going to like this pick. Overall, I would have to agree that Saban is the better college coach. He has sustained success for a longer amount of time and has won more championships.
But if I were starting a program from scratch, Chip Kelly would be my first call due to his approach to coaching. He is arguably the most influential offensive mind in football. Kelly was the first coach to make the "zone-read" option famous at Oregon, and now all levels of football are incorporating Kelly's principles into their offenses.
Saban is consistent, but Kelly has flash. He is always on the cutting edge of technology, football philosophies and everything else. He felt the read option would utilize his plethora of weapons at Oregon, so he started using it. He is revered for his gutsy play-calling, for his trick plays and for going for it on fourth down.
In today's ultra-competitive college football game, you need a little flair to get kids interested in your program and excited to play for you. True, Saban has a better history as a recruiter, but could Kelly have recruited as well had he been in the hotbed that is the Southeast? Oregon has some phenomenal facilities, but it is still far away from most of the great athletes.
Nonetheless, Kelly went into California and stole several recruits from USC, UCLA and Stanford, most notably De'Anthony Thomas, who picked the Ducks over USC.
And on the field, Kelly was simply awesome. He led Oregon to a BCS bowl in all four of his seasons as the head coach, winning two.
Kelly has since moved to the NFL, where his offensive schemes transferred favorably. He's turning Nick Foles into a superstar, and the Eagles will be as competitive as long as Kelly is calling the plays.
