50 Current College Football Coaches Most Likely to Never Win a Title

At the start of every season, coaches around the nation begin to get their plans together, adjust their depth chart and prepare for the upcoming season.

Whether it is realistic or not, coaches also come into the season with the goal of winning a national title. For some coaches like Les Miles, Nick Saban, Bob Stoops, Lane Kiffin and Chip Kelly, this is a goal that is within their reach and could very well happen.

While the dream may be the same for all coaches, their realities are much different. Here is a look at 50 coaches that will dream about a title but never experience the reality. 

Air Force: Troy Calhoun

Troy Calhoun is a great coach and is doing a great job with the Air Force but as long as he remains there he will not win a national title.

Arizona State: Todd Graham

Granted Todd Graham is a decent coach but he has shown he won't stick around long enough to build a winner. With his lack of commitment to a school, big recruits will steer clear of him and the program he is with.

Arkansas: John L Smith

While John L Smith has a great cast around him to win a title this year, he is not the same caliber of coach as Nick Sabin or Les Miles, two coaches that he'll go up again this year

Arkansas State: Gus Malzahn

After having success with Auburn Gus Malzahn has moved on to Arkansas State but has cornered himself into a position that will stop him from winning a title.

Army: Rich Ellerson

On top of being the coach of army Rich Ellerson is already on the hot seat and likely on his way out. If he does get fired from Army, he is unlikely to see another head coaching spot for a while.

Ball State: Pete Lembo

Despite just taking over at Ball State last year, Pete Lembo is a small time coach that would need to do some fairly impressive things with the Cardinals just to get noticed. While he may do a good job, it will not be enough to land him a big time position. 

Baylor: Art Briles

Art Briles had his run last year with Robert Griffin III and still could not land a national title. With his once in a generation player gone, Briles best shot of winning a title is long gone. 

Boise State: Chris Petersen

While the college football world is evolving, Chris Petersen and the Broncos are refusing to make the jump that could land them in a national title game. By not moving to a BCS conference, Boise State continues to be on the outside looking in and so will Petersen.

Boston College: Frank Spaziani

After three years at Boston College, Frank Spaziani and the Eagles record has continued to get worse and worse. Spaziani was a good assistant coach but is over his head as the front man of this program.

Buffalo: Jeff Quinn

Jeff Quinn has excepted a position that will likely kill his career, being the head coach at Buffalo. After two seasons, Quinn is 5-19 and is not going anywhere fast.

Cal: Jeff Tedford

On top of being on the hot seat, Jeff Tedford is in a recruiting hotbed and has yet to get even close to a national title. With all of the advantages he has at Cal, Tedford has shown that a title is out of reach.

Colorado: Jon Embree

While getting a shot at being a head coach is generally all a person wants, having your first job be with Colorado in the first year in the Pac-12 was not ideal for Jon Embree.

The Buffaloes went 3-9 last year and year two under Embree is likely going to be a repeat.

Connecticut: Paul Pasqualoni

After leaving Syracuse, Paul Pasqualoni went to the NFL for a decade and probably should have stayed there. Now with Connecticut, Pasqualoni has inherited a program nowhere near being a title contender.

Duke: David Cutcliffe

After leading Duke to a five win season in 2009, David Cutcliffe missed his chance to move on to a bigger job. Now that Cutcliffe has stayed for two more 3-9 seasons, the head man is not on any coaching radar. 

Fresno State: Tim DeRuyter

Getting the Fresno State job was a big move for Time DeRuyter and while he may do a good job for the Bulldogs, he doesn't have the talent or the schedule to go to a title game. 

Hawaii: Norm Chow

After waiting all this time to take a head coaching spot, Norm Chow finally made the move and will be the new head man for Hawaii. 

Chow is a great football mind but runs into the problem of being at a small program that lacks depth and national championship talent. 

Idaho: Robb Akey

If Boise State is not heading to a national title game then Idaho is certainly not. While Robb Akey has done some good work for the Vandals, he took a huge step back last year and will only be holding a crystal football in his dreams. 

Indiana: Kevin Wilson

Kevin Wilson is in an unenviable spot being the head coach at Indiana. Last year the Hoosiers looked awful going 1-11 and as long as Wilson is there, the only recognition he will get is for how bad his teams are. 

Iowa State: Paul Rhoads

Paul Rhoads has won some big games with Iowa State but that is not a program that has a national title in their future. With teams like Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and more in the same conference, the Cyclones just do not have what it takes. 

Kansas: Charlie Weis

Charlie Weis had his best chance to win a title when he was given the keys to the Notre Dame program. Once he failed miserably there, Weis stayed out of the head coaching spot until now. 

If Weis couldn't make it work with Notre Dame, it sure isn't happening with Kansas. 

Kentucky: Joker Phillips

While Joker Phillips seems to be a good young coach, he is in a no win situation. By being the head coach at Kentucky and playing SEC teams every week, Phillips is fighting an uphill battle that will never be won with the Wildcats.

Louisiana Monroe: Todd Berry

While coaching at Louisiana Monroe is challenging enough, Todd Berry is truly behind the eight ball because across town at Louisiana Lafayette, Mark Hudspeth is helping his program grow and is outshining Berry. 

Maryland: Randy Edsall

Last year was a disaster for Randy Edsall and Maryland. The new head coach was coming off of a Big East title with Connecticut but fell flat with the Terps going 2-10. While he may have only had one year with Maryland, he is already getting close to the hot seat.

Minnesota: Jerry Kill

Jerry Kill may have a new perspective on life since his health scare last year but that isn't going to change the on field reality. Kill is a decent coach but Minnesota is near the bottom of the Big 10 totem pole and a title is not going to happen for Kill or the Gophers.

Mississippi State: Dan Mullen

Dan Mullen is doing a good job at Mississippi State but may have already reached his ceiling with the program. With teams like Alabama, LSU and Arkansas all in the same conference, the Bulldogs will need a huge effort to ever earn Mullen a title. 

Missouri: Gary Pinkel

Gary Pinkel and Missouri are moving to the SEC this year and life is about to get much more difficult for the head coach. While competition was stiff in the Big 12, the SEC is a step up and will prevent Pinkel from ever reaching a title game let alone win one. 

Navy: Ken Niumatalolo

Like the other service academy coaches, Ken Niumatalolo does a great job but is not at a program that will see a national championship. The other issue for Niumatalolo is that he has seen his time slip as of late and may start to see some pressure to win now. 

NC State: Tom O'Brien

Tom O'Brien has been the head man at two rather small programs and while with both Boston College and now NC State, he has come nowhere near a title. After failing to get the job done with Russell Wilson, O'Brien is looking at never seeing himself lift a crystal ball. 

Nevada: Chris Ault

Since 1976, Chris Ault has been committed to the Nevada football program and the only thing that will stop him is retirement. Ault has done a great job but is certainly never going to win a title with the Wolf Pack. 

Notre Dame: Brian Kelly

While some may not agree with this, Brian Kelly is just not the man to get the job done in South Bend. Kelly has done a great job wherever he has gone but the head man has yet to prove he can win with some of the nations best talent.

Ole Miss: Hugh Freeze

Hugh Freeze is taking over at Ole Miss and certainly has his hands full. While the head coach will likely not win a title, his best chance is to make Ole Miss relevant again and then move to a bigger job. 

Oregon State: Mike Riley

When the team just down the road is Oregon, you know that you are already in trouble when trying to compete. Mike Riley finds himself in that exact situation and what makes things worse is with the struggles the Beavers have had in the past two season, Riley is starting to feel some pressure from the program. 

Pitt: Paul Chryst

Paul Chryst has stepped into the head role with Pitt but is not someone who will be winning a national title, especially with the Panthers. Chryst's role is going to be helping this team transition and maybe even compete for a Big East title but that would be the best case scenario for this program.

Purdue: Danny Hope

Danny Hope has been the head coach at Eastern Washington and has now been at Purdue for the past three seasons. While the level of competition is certainly different, Hope hasn't been able to elevate the Boilermakers play and could be on his way out. 

Rice: David Bailiff

In 2008, David Bailiff led Rice to a 10-3 season and a bowl victory. Since that season, things have gone downhill and the opportunity that Bailiff had to move forward in his career may be gone for now.

Rutgers: Kyle Flood

After Greg Schiano bolted for Tampa Bay, Kyle Flood was named the new head coach of Rutgers for this coming season. Flood will certainly have big shoes to fill but even Schiano couldn't get this program to the level of a national title contender. 

San Jose State: Mike MacIntyre

Despite helping San Jose State improve by four games from 2010 to 2011, Mike MacIntyre is still not in a position to make the dream of a national title become a reality. MacIntyre is a solid coach but will likely struggle with inconsistencies with the Spartans and be unable to move forward to a bigger program. 

SMU: June Jones

While June Jones has done a lot for SMU football, the Mustangs are a program that will never get back to the top of the college football world. If Jones wants a title on his resume his best chance will be leaving for a bigger program.

South Alabama: Joey Jones

Since 2008, Joey Jones has been the head coach of one of the newest members of FBS football. While at South Alabama Jones has done a good job but he is about to see what it is like to coach at the highest collegiate level and do so with one of the worst teams in the nation.

South Florida: Skip Holtz

Skip Holtz doesn't appear to have the same pedigree as his father. While he has a strong team in the Big East, it is the worst BCS conference in the nation and Holtz had some struggles handling early success last year.

Stanford: David Shaw

David Shaw's best chance for a national title now plays for the Indianapolis Colts. While he only had one year with Andrew Luck, Shaw failed to capitalize with one of the best quarterbacks in decades and will now see what life is like without Luck under center.

Syracuse: Doug Marrone

2010's 8-5 record was the best year Doug Marrone has had at Syracuse. While Marrone is a decent coach, he doesn't appear to have the team or the track record that would lead you to believe he can win a title. 

Tennessee: Derek Dooley

Derek Dooley has not lived up to the expectations that had been set out for him at Tennessee and is likely facing a do or die season with the Vols. If Dooley underperforms again, he will likely be fired and have to take a step back. 

UCLA: Jim Mora

Before Jim Mora even coaches one game for UCLA, I am going to say that he is not going to get the job done at the collegiate level. UCLA has been a mess for a while now and for this to be his first college job, Mora will get off on the wrong foot and not come close to a national title. 

Utah: Kyle Whittingham

Now that Utah is in the Pac-12, they no longer have to defend their strength of schedule but now have to compete with some of the nations best teams. While Whittingham is a good coach for the Utes, they are not going to be able to surpass teams like USC and Oregon to get to the national title game. 

Virginia Tech: Frank Beamer

With all of the success that Frank Beamer has had at Virginia Tech, winning the big one has eluded him. At this point, Beamer has had the talent to win a national title but his teams have lost games at inopportune times. While Beamer is a great coach it appears a title is not going to happen.

Wake Forest: Jim Grobe

Jim Grobe appears to be committed to Wake Forest and while he has helped the program grow, he is not going to win a national title with the Demon Deacons. If Grobe is able to make a move up to a bigger program, he may get it done but it appears that is not going to happen.

Washington: Steve Sarkisian

Many believed that by bringing Steve Sarkisian on board at Washington that the Huskies would be able to turn the corner. While the offense is heading in the right direction, the defense is still miserable and if things don't change, Sarkisian may go back to being a coordinator. 

Washington State: Mike Leach

Mike Leach not winning a title has less to do with his coaching ability and more to do with his personality. Leach can be interesting to work with and have as your head coach which will likely keep him out of a big time program so unless he builds up a program like Washington State, a title is unlikely.

Wisconsin: Bret Bielema

Bret Bielema has done a good job at Wisconsin and has led them to two straight Rose Bowl appearances but has failed to close the deal on a win. Bielema has had difficulty winning these big games and now that Russell Wilson is in the NFL, his best chance may have gone out the window.