Pac-12 Football: Ranking the Best Coaching Jobs to This Point in the 2014 Season
The Pac-12 Conference may be lacking in experienced head coaches, but you'd be hard-pressed to find a more energetic, innovative group of leaders in any other league throughout college football.
Before the season, coming up with a list of coaches for the hot seat was a difficult exercise, and now it's a near-impossible task given the success every team has had at some point during the 2014 season. Who has impressed you the most?,
Without giving away too much, any coach whose team has more than one loss just can't make a case for inclusion on this list. On the other hand, those whose teams haven't lost yet—three such individuals—will definitely have a place here.
So who will the other two spots go to? Should they go to coaches overachieving with teams lacking in talent, or perhaps to the guy who's grinded through the most early-season adversity? And where do major victories factor in to the equation?
Let's take a look at the best Pac-12 coaching jobs through the first month of the 2014 college football season.
All stats via cfbstats.com
5) David Shaw, Stanford
1 of 5
Since we're kicking things off with David Shaw and the Stanford Cardinal, we should first explain why Shaw and his staff get the nod over teams like Washington, USC and Utah. Both Chris Petersen and Steve Sarkisian have done some nice things so far in 2014, but we're only a few days removed from Stanford winning on the road in Seattle.
But USC won at Stanford! That's true, but USC also has an extremely embarrassing loss on the road to Boston College, which just was beaten by Colorado State. That sort of nullifies the nice win in Palo Alto, even if the standings say otherwise. Utah, well, lost at home to Washington State. That can't happen.
In any case, feel free to state your case, Huskies, Trojans, Utes and fans of every other team not on the list, but we're rolling with Shaw because of the defense. Despite losing players like Trent Murphy and Shayne Skov, the Cardinal defense is flat-out balling.
Through four games, the Cardinal have pitched a pair of shutouts and have allowed 26 points total. For those who flunked math before you even got to high school, that's 6.5 points per game to go along with fewer than 200 yards allowed per contest.
The offense still has some kinks to work out, as the running game is not yet a well-oiled machine and the offensive line play has been surprisingly underwhelming. But Shaw appears to have things rolling after the hiccup against USC, and despite upcoming road trips to ASU, UCLA and Oregon, you can bet the Cardinal will remain in the thick of things for the remainder of the season.
4) Sonny Dykes, Cal
2 of 5
There are a number of factors to consider when coming up with an early list of the best coaching performances in the Pac-12, and overall strength of a team should be near the top. But coaching is also about getting the most out of your team and showing improvement.
Ah, and that's where Sonny Dykes and Cal enter the conversation. Last season, the Bears won just one game, a squeaker at home against Portland State. Things were different almost immediately in 2014, as quarterback Jared Goff and Co. jumped out to a big lead at Northwestern before hanging on for a win. The Wildcats, while nothing special themselves, did just knock off Penn State.
The Bears then thumped Sacramento State like a good team should, and if not for a desperation Hail Mary conversion from Arizona, Cal would be sitting pretty at 4-0.
Things to like: quarterback Jared Goff, relatively fast starts and the ability not to fold under pressure.
Things we still dislike: defense, especially of the Hail Mary kind.
In 2013, Cal averaged just 23 points per game while giving up over 46. So far in 2014, the Bears have scored more than 47 per game and given up fewer than 35. That second number is awful and should ideally be somewhere between 20 and 25 for Cal to be a real contender, but you can see the improvement.
It wouldn't shock anyone to see the Bears limp to four or five wins even with three already in tow, but this team is light years ahead of where it was a year ago. For that, Sonny Dykes and his staff should be recognized, and it shows that his players haven't even thought about quitting on him.
3) Jim Mora, UCLA
3 of 5
Without a thorough beatdown of Arizona State on Saturday, Jim Mora and UCLA would not have made the list. Week 1 saw a lackluster performance at Virginia in which the defense bailed the whole team out with three scores.
That began to look better as the Cavaliers proved to be much stronger than the two-win team from a year ago. Unfortunately, the Bruins did themselves no favors by slipping past Memphis at home in unconvincing fashion.
A close shave against Texas could be excused due to the absence of quarterback Brett Hundley for a large portion of the game, and the entrance of Jerry Neuheisel seemed to ignite the fire. The son of Rick Neuheisel (but you already knew that part) came in and threw a game-winning touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter. Never mind the fact that the Longhorns are mediocre at best. It was a clutch, gritty effort from a team with national championship aspirations.
A slow start at Arizona State ultimately meant little, as the Bruins defense once again came through in the waning moments of the first half with a pick-six before the offense took over in the final two quarters.
It hasn't been perfect, and had a better team caught UCLA in its first few games, the Bruins would almost certainly have a loss. But Jim Mora traversed the rough waters and made it to the other side, now with just a home date against Utah standing in the way of a monster showdown with Oregon.
Because UCLA has shown improvement and is starting to look like a real force, Jim Mora earns a spot on the list of best coaching performances thus far.
2) Mark Helfrich, Oregon
4 of 5
There's only one reason Mark Helfrich is ahead of Jim Mora here. It's not the ho-hum victory over South Dakota in Week 1, nor the yawn-inspiring victory against Wyoming in Week 3. And no, it's definitely not the four-quarter thriller in Pullman against Washington State, however clutch Marcus Mariota and the offense may have been.
It's the convincing win over Michigan State on Sept. 6, which announced the Ducks as title contenders and Mariota as a leading Heisman Trophy candidate. All the Spartans have done since is pound opponents into the ground with ease, and yet the normally awe-inspiring defense was shredded by Mariota.
The Ducks defense, which has received a fair amount of criticism in recent weeks, allowed just three points to Michigan State in the second half. The best part? Oregon had absolutely no momentum going into halftime.
The offensive line was getting pushed around and Connor Cook was slinging the rock around efficiently and as often as he pleased. The Ducks even began the third quarter with a pair of three-and-outs. But the defense, perhaps feeding off the crowd, flexed its muscles and played a dominant half of football.
For Helfrich to be able to stay patient, not panic and get his team ready to give that kind of effort in the second half was remarkable. It was the biggest victory of his young coaching career, and it showed that he has what it takes to lead a team that has hopes of winning a national title.
1) Rich Rodriguez, Arizona
5 of 5
This spot was destined to go to Mark Helfrich or Jim Mora, the coaches leading the two best teams in the conference. Upon further review, it's hard not to be impressed with what Rich Rodriguez has been able to put together thus far for Arizona.
He lost his starting quarterback and his top running back from a year ago and the offense looks even better. Anu Solomon is everything Rodriguez could want in a signal-caller in his offense, and Nick Wilson, while obviously not the complete back Ka'Deem Carey was (yet), has the speed and shiftiness to make defenders miss in space and be a threat wherever he gets the ball.
Admittedly, Arizona hasn't looked dominant at all. Close wins over UTSA and Nevada were followed up with a last-second prayer heave against Cal that ended up in the arms of Austin Hill, who was waiting in the end zone. In fact, you could probably argue that the Wildcats should be 4-0 given the schedule to date.
We'll find out everything we need to know on Thursday when Rodriguez and Co. travel to Autzen to face the Oregon Ducks in front of the nation. But the offense is rolling and it's hard to imagine the Wildcats not continuing to get better and better this year and beyond.
Will Rodriguez maintain the top spot here for the rest of the season? Probably not, as that would likely mean a win over Oregon or UCLA and remaining in contention for the top spot in the South Division. But what he's done with the young Wildcats is special, and the future is bright.
.jpg?w=600 "Most Exciting NFL Camp Battles ⚔️")
.jpg?w=600 "Mahomes May Return For OTAs")