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There was so much activity during the opening week of college football that it seems natural to review the best and worst. This article will rate the best and worst coaching performances of week one...

College Football's Good, Bad, and Ugly Coaches from Week One

by BabyTate (Senior Writer)

31

907 reads

Rankings/List

September 01, 2008


There was so much activity during the opening week of college football that it seems natural to review the best and worst.  This article will rate the best and worst coaching performances of week one.

 

The Good

1) Nick Saban: So totally out-coached Tommy Bowden that it was actually pitiful.

 

2) Skip Holtz: A brilliant gameplan to defeat Va Tech proves he is more than Lou's son.

 

3) Rick Neuheisel: He's back—Pete Carroll better get ready for this crafty Bruin.

 

4) David Cutcliffe: Jump-starting the Duke program with exciting play and a big win.

 

5) Jim Harbaugh: Inspirational and great game plan to take out Mike Riley's Beavers.

 

6) Jeff Tedford: Had his Bears ready to take out respected Mark Dantonio's Spartans.

 

7) Steve Spurrier: Lost his QB to injury, stayed with his plan, and wore out N.C. State.

 

8) Derek Dooley: LA Tech coach stakes his claim to glory with win over Mississippi St.

 

9) Gregg Brandon: Falcon Chief out-coached Dave Wannstedt for 60 minutes in upset win.

 

10) Pat Hill: Bulldog Boss took his team 3,000 miles to defeat the vaunted Greg Schiano.

 

11) Les Miles: With Gustav on the way and the upset kings on the field, Miles got it done.

 

12) Kyle Whittingham: Very impressive handling of four million dollar man Rich Rodriguez.

 

The Bad

1) Tommy Bowden: Once again, stakes his claim as the most overrated coach in football.

 

2) Chuck Long: Led his Aztecs to a loss to Cal Poly.  'Nuff said.

 

3) Dave Wannstedt: OK, it's time to go. You just can't figure it out.

 

4) Frank Beamer: May finally have achieved perfect balance of inconsistency.

 

5) Mike Riley: Did not have it between the ears or on the field. Surprisingly bad.

 

The Ugly

1) Mike Sherman: One of the worst coaching jobs in recent history—lost to Arkansas St.

 

2) Sylvester Croom: Hero one minute, bum the next.  That's life in the SEC.

 

3) Rich Rodriguez: Ineptness is not a virtue.  Wolverines expect more than loss to Utah.

 

4) Tom O'Brien: Robot Commando.  His teams die with no emotion.

 

5) Al Groh: Cavalier leader is once again smoked by a real team with a real coach.

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31 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Alex Ferguson 10 months ago

    Nice piece!

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  2. Mitch at sportschatplace.com 10 months ago

    Nice work once again BT. I have to hand it to you, solid use of the Tommy Bowden and pitiful in the same sentence!
    Everything else just so on the mark.

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  3. Doug Kraus 10 months ago

    Good article BT. But seriously, Rich Rodgriguez in the "Ugly" category? I think Michigan might just have themselves a 2-10-1 Cooper on their hands!

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      Rodriguez's performance against the pride of the Bee Hive state was ugly. I think he is at the wrong school, I think O'Brien is at the wrong school, and I believe Ty Willingham is at the wrong school.

      I would like to see Rod go back to West Va., admit that mistakes were made and things said that shouldn't have been said, and tell Stewart he can stay on as the Asst Coach. O'Brien's robots will not work in Raleigh. That is a southern town full of emotionally charged people. He is a Monday morning Hall Monitor at a Friday night dance party. Go away. He needs to take Greg Robinson's job at Syracuse. Bill Stewart would be a perfect fit for NC State by the way. Willingham needs to be at a low pressure job where he can concentrate on academics. If former Clemson Tiger player Bobby Johnson gets to replace the Bowden of the month in Pickens County, I'd like to see Ty at Vanderbilt.

      Ohio State coaching-perfect.

      Thanks for the comment!

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  4. BigReg 10 months ago

    I think you have to put Mark Dantonio in the bad category. His team did not play with the disipline that they played with last year. If they don't have penalty after penalty, they could have beaten Cal. I think that falls squarely on the coach.

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      Mark Dantonio? Former South Carolina Defensive Back? On my list of coaches this week? Not a chance, he will have the Spartans in a New Year's Day game. Lost to a superior Cal squad.

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  5. Kevin Paul 10 months ago

    Don't forget Petrino, they barely snuck by. We might as well toss Fullmer into the UGLY mix too.

    As for Riley, it's going to be interesting to see how they respond next week... they travel to Happy Valley, but have had a few extra days to prepare.

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      I have former Bear Bryant disciple Mike Riley's next journey on my companion piece, "Baby's Losers Week 2". You might check it out. can't go wrong with the statement "The Beavers may feel at home in Beaver Stadium"!

      Fulmer may have topped out. He didn't look prepared to win. Might be time for a change at Rocky Top and Fulmer could be given his just due, just like he did to Johnny Majors. Turn about is fair play. Right Brutus?

      Thanks Kevin.............

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    • Kevin Paul 10 months ago

      I just noticed that I gave Fulmer an extra "L" in his name on my last comment. I guess I'm so used to him having the L's around, that it just happened that way.

      Yep, the Beavs enter the Beav - Happy Valley is going to be jacked up for that game.

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  6. J. Michael Morris 10 months ago

    Too bad Pete Carroll could never completely trust Norm Chow. Now he's gonna have cross-town rival problems from little Ricky.

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  7. Timothy Croley 10 months ago

    BT, like the list here. Great analysis.

    Agree with Kevin that Fulmer once again falls flat on his face. Question to UT: How many times does a Bruin have to completely hand you the game before you decide to take it??? I guess more than four or five.

    It's always a great weekend when the Tide Rolls and the Vols fall.

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      You are the feature on this week's companion piece, "Baby's Losers Week 2". Go check yourself out and let me know what you think.

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  8. Adam 10 months ago

    Wow, Frank Beamer on the bad list huh? I guess being one of 3 schools (USC, Texas, Virginia Tech) with 10 wins in the past 4 years is pretty inconsistent. As well as going to a bowl game the past 15 years, I believe that is true, somewhere around 15. Either way, poor decision, agreed VT played no less than awful but I don't think it's time to blame the coach after the 1st game of the season. Everyone knew this would be a tough game against ECU, as well as a tough season all around.

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      Adam, it's just one week. Not an all-time list.

      Thanks for the information on the short side safety who did such a great job covering the slot men allowing All-American Frank Loria to play centerfield. If Miller had not gotten loose on the one play in the Liberty Bowl I believe the Gobblers could have won. Of course, we'll never know.

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  9. evan m 10 months ago

    Muschamp ftw

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      Do we really have 2 football fans named Evan in the Bleacher Report?

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    • evan m 10 months ago

      possibly but i don't know who the other one is if so.
      Muschamp gets points for disgustedly ripping off his headset with such gusto that he sliced his face open and just going on coaching and yelling at players while his face was bleeding.

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  10. CdRCODY 10 months ago

    Mike Reily "outcoached"? He led a beat up O-line, true freshman running back, inexperienced QB'd offense, and a virtually new Defense into a Conference road game. He's down 16 points with 5:00 to go, because of execution errors ( pick six, and backwards pass for a safety), and he leads his team to within a fumble at the two yardline of being tied. And that's a bad thing? I would argue his ability to hold a young team together, on the road, against a much more experienced team, just continues to prove his ability to consistenly do more with less. One could effectively argue that Harbaugh's gasping attemtp to give away a game that should have been locked away place him squarely in the "outcoached" catagory!

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      I would argue that Mike Riley is one of my favorite coaches of alltime and I couldn't agree with you more. Except, he didn't have them ready, he was looking ahead to Penn State. Gasping attempt is awesome, I'm going to use that from now on !

      It's only a one week gig for the old Bear Bryant player. He'll get them in gear for Paterno this week.

      Who are you Cody? I like the way you argued your side in the Rodriguez piece with those characters. You're a good man, you stop by and keep in touch with me, you can have a succesful future in the community but don't let those type of folks sidetrack you into such lurid arguments, they're only attempting to create reads through controversy. It leads to nowhere. Send me your articles when you write them, I look forward to reading your work.

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  11. Brian Hood 10 months ago

    Tennessee fan here nominating Fulmer for the ugly category...

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      Fulmer just might be on the way down. He just might. It has been several years since he produced a powerhouse. It just could be that the Vols fans are satisfied with where they are and don't want to bother with a change. I don't know, if he loses a couple more he could shake up things.

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  12. Justin Goar 10 months ago

    great stuff BT,

    while i feel bad for croom, this should be the coming out party for La tech coach derick dooley more than a condemnation of croom.

    he and will muschamp will be hot commodities in the coming years.

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  13. Graham Kelly 10 months ago

    I can tell you that here in knoxville people are outraged with Fulmer and OC Dan Clawson, when you got two running backs averaging over 5.5 yards a carry why would you throw it 41 times

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      Clawson has been awesome at Richmond. He will adjust to more running in the SEC. He's your key.

      Proably too much pomp and circumstance. All that Rose Bowl, the trip, the vacation atmosphere. Tennessee probably didn't pay enough attention to the game.

      I stiil think you're gonna steal that Liberty Bowl birth from Carolina when all is said and done.

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  14. J.C. Ayvazi 10 months ago

    More excellence rolling from the fingers of Baby Tate.

    My only suggestions would be adding Fulmer—your Brutus comment in response to Kevin was blindingly accurate—and moving Wannstedt into the ugly category.

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    • BabyTate 10 months ago

      JC, you have been putting so many impressive comments on articles I finally checked out your bio. We must be long lost relatives, we certainly have a lot in common.

      Thanks for the comment and I look forward to hearing more from you! Great picture with the hat!

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