The Best in The Business

Is there any doubt after the past two years that the SEC is the best conference in college football?  There is even less doubt that it is the best coached conference.  Five coaches (Urban Meyer of Florida, Les Miles of LSU, Phil Fulmer of Tennessee, Steve Spurrier of South Carolina, and Nick Saban of Alabama) have won national championships.  Tommy Tuberville compiled an undefeated season.  And we have not even gotten into the Houston Nutt's and the Bobby Patrino's have we?  And then there is Bobby Johnson of Vanderbilt, turning the program from a doormat to a competitor, and is near ending Vandy's 25 year bowl-less streak.  Not to mention Rich Brooks, the man responsible for rebuilding both Oregon and Kentucky.  So who's on top?

1. Urban Meyer, Florida.  This guy has done wonders.  Not only has he proven that he can win at smaller programs like Bowling Green State and Utah, but he won the national title at Florida, produced the only sophmore Heisman winner ever, and has a case for another national title this year.  The man can recruit and coach better than anybody else in the conference right now.

2. Mark Richt, Georgia.  He has captured two of the last five SEC titles, and has a Sugar Bowl title to his name.  The only thing he hasn't done is win an NCAA Championship, which will come very soon.

3. Steve Spurrier, South Carolina.  Spurrier was the best coach in the SEC in the 90s, but at South Carolina he hasn't had a terrible amount of success.  Though he is raising the level of that program, he is not winning as much as he used to in the SEC, and has lost a little bit of the market share.

4. Les Miles, LSU.  He coached LSU to a blowout win in the national championship game last year, did he not?  Yeah, he makes a lot of questionable decisions, but they've payed off so far.

5. Tommy Tuberville, Auburn.  He led Auburn to and undefeated season, upended Florida two years in a row, giving Urban Meyer his first loss at the Swamp, and has his Auburn team poised to make a run at an SEC West title next year.

6. Bobby Johnson, Vanderbilt.  Call me crazy, but this guy can coach.  Who else could make Vanderbilt's defense the 16th best in the country.  Not only is Vanderbilt a contender for a bowl bid, having been on the cusp each of the past three years, but he has out-coached and beaten every team in the SEC East except Florida.  The last coach to do that was Art Guepe in the 60s.  He also won two SOCON titles at Furman and led them to the national championship game in 2001.

7. Phil Fulmer, Tennessee.  He has settled for mediocrity the past couple of years, and we will see how he fares without David Cutcliffe next year.  But, the Vols did win ten games last season, as well as the Outback Bowl.  And, he won a national title there in 1998.

8. Nick Saban, Alabama.  He would be much higher on the list if he had done any better than Mike Shula did last year.  A 7-6 record, especially after doing terribly in the later part of his return season to the SEC didn't do much for him.  Still, he is a national champion and can coach.  And pulling in the nation's top recruiting class isn't too bad either.

9. Bobby Petrino, Arkansas.  I really can't stand this guy and his insincere motives, but he is still a heck of a ball coach.  Although the NFL thing didn't work out too well, he compiled a 41-9 record at Louisville, which included an Orange Bowl victory.

10. Rich Brooks, Kentucky.  He rebuilt Kentucky and Oregon, and has led UK to two bowl victories in as many years.  Defeated eventual National Champion LSU last year.

11. Houston Nutt, Ole Miss.  This guy is a good coach, and I hate to put him all the way down here, but he never won an SEC championship and didn't do a whole lot without Darren McFadden. 

12. Sly Croom, Mississippi State.  Again, this guy is a very good coach, but he has only had one winning season in four years as a head coach.  He's good, but in the SEC, there isn't a whole lot of difference between first and last.

These coaches are so even, that they could almost be placed in any order.