Ranking the Best Coaching Trees in College Football
Does Urban Meyer have a better coaching tree than Nick Saban simply because it's got more branches?
Though there are a bunch of ways to quantify the most deeply rooted coaching lineage, is quantity really better than quality?
Take a look at the following trees, power ranked by the combined winning percentage of the branches as opposed to the number of limbs.
To qualify, coaches must be active FBS head coaches with at least three active FBS coaches in their tree. So, this is not a matter of long-ago history, but what’s happening right now. The stats include head coaching experience at any level of college football.
These are college football’s kingmakers.
17. Larry Coker
1 of 17
Active Branches: Todd Berry (Louisiana-Monroe), Curtis Johnson (Tulane) and Mark Stoops (Kentucky)
Combined Winning Percentage: 31.5
Larry Coker, currently the head coach at UTSA, was the big cheese at Miami (Fla.) from 2001-06. During this time, he had Mark Stoops (2001-03, defensive backs), Curtis Johnson (2001-05, wide receivers) and Todd Berry (2006, quarterbacks) on his staff.
Berry was the head man at FCS Illinois State from 1996-99, moved on to the head job at Army from 2000-03 and has been at the helm at ULM since 2014. Johnson has been at Tulane since 2012, and Stoops took the Kentucky job in 2013.
No active coach on Coker’s tree is above the .500 mark as a college head coach.
16. Mike Gundy
2 of 17
Active Branches: Todd Monken (Southern Miss), Dana Holgorsen (West Virginia), Tim Beckman (Illinois) and Larry Fedora (North Carolina)
Combined Winning Percentage: 50.6
Mike Gundy has been the head coach at Oklahoma State since 2005. Larry Fedora was his offensive coordinator from 2005-07, Tim Beckman was his defensive coordinator from 2007-08, Dana Holgorsen was the OC in 2010 and Todd Monken served in that same capacity from 2011-12.
Monken took over at Southern Miss in 2013 and Holgorsen at West Virginia in 2011. Beckman was at Toledo from 2009-11 before moving to Illinois in 2012, while Fedora was at Southern Miss from 2008-11 before landing at North Carolina in 2012.
Fedora and Holgorsen both have winning records as a head coach, Monken and Beckman do not.
15. Kevin Sumlin
3 of 17
Active Branches: David Beaty (Kansas), Brian Polian (Nevada), Kliff Kingsbury (Texas Tech) and Dana Holgorsen (West Virginia)
Combined Winning Percentage: 51
Sumlin was the head guy at Houston from 2008-11 before taking over at Texas A&M in 2012. While at Houston, Dana Holgorsen served as his offensive coordinator from 2008-09, a job Kliff Kingsbury took over from 2010-11.
Kingsbury followed Sumlin to A&M for the 2012 season, where he was joined by Brian Polian, who coached special teams. David Beaty also joined the staff in 2012, where he coached wide receivers.
Beaty just got the head job at Kansas at the end of this season, Polian has been at Nevada since 2013 and Kingsbury took over at Texas Tech in 2013.
The only coach on Sumlin’s tree with a winning record is Holgorsen, who is 28-22 (56 percent).
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14. Bret Bielema
4 of 17
Active Branches: Charlie Partridge (FAU), Paul Chryst (Wisconsin) and Dave Doeren (N.C. State)
Combined Winning Percentage: 54.5
Bret Bielema’s first stint as a head coach came at Wisconsin from 2006-12. He took over at Arkansas in 2013.
Dave Doeren was Bielema’s defensive coordinator at Wisconsin from 2006-10, Paul Chryst was his offensive coordinator from 2006-11 and Charlie Partridge was an assistant on the same staff from 2008-12.
Partridge got the Florida Atlantic job in 2014, Chryst just took the Wisconsin job after three seasons at the helm at Pitt and Doeren made a run at Northern Illinois from 2011-12 before taking over at North Carolina State in 2013.
Bielema’s most successful limb to date is Doeren’s 23-4 mark at Northern Illinois.
13. Urban Meyer
5 of 17
Active Branches: Tom Herman (Houston), Steve Addazio (Boston College), Dan McCarney (North Texas), Charlie Strong (Texas), Dan Mullen (Mississippi State), Doc Holliday (Marshall), Gary Andersen (Oregon State), Kyle Whittingham (Utah) and Tim Beckman (Illinois)
Combined Winning Percentage: 54.7
Urban Meyer has far and away the biggest tree, but it’s not the most successful. He was the head guy at Bowling Green from 2001-02, moved to Utah from 2003-04, took over at Florida from 2005-10 and moved on to Ohio State in 2012.
Tim Beckman was the defensive coordinator at Bowling Green under Meyer in 2001-02, Kyle Whittingham was his DC at Utah from 2003-04 and Gary Andersen was a defensive line coach at Utah in 2004.
Doc Holliday (associate head coach, 2005-07), Dan Mullen (OC, 2005-08), Charlie Strong (DC, 2005-09), Dan McCarney (defensive line, 2008-10) and Steve Addazio (offensive line/OC, 2005-10) were all on Meyer’s staff during his tenure at Florida.
Tom Herman served as Meyer’s OC at Ohio State from 2012-14.
Whittingham has been the head guy at Utah since 2004. Andersen spent one year at FCS Southern Utah (2003) before stints at Utah State (2009-12) and Wisconsin (2013-14). He just took the job at Oregon State.
Holliday has been at Marshall since 2010, Mullen has been at Mississippi State since 2009 and Strong landed at Texas in 2014 after a four-year run at Louisville (2010-13). McCarney was at Iowa State (1995-2006) prior to joining Meyer at Florida and is now the head man at North Texas, where he took over in 2011.
Addazio took the head job at Temple in 2011 and spent two seasons there before landing the Boston College job in 2013. That leaves Herman, who just recently signed on with Houston.
12. Mike Leach
6 of 17
Active Branches: Ruffin McNeill (East Carolina), Dana Holgorsen (West Virginia), Sonny Dykes (Cal) and Art Briles (Baylor)
Combined Winning Percentage: 56.2
Mike Leach has been the head guy at Washington State since 2012. Before that, he spent from 2000-09 as the big cheese at Texas Tech.
At Tech, Leach employed Art Briles (running backs, 2000-02), Sonny Dykes (wide receivers/OC, 2000-06), Dana Holgorsen (OC, 2005-07) and Ruffin McNeill (defensive assistant/DC, 2000-09).
Briles left for Houston in 2003 and moved on to Baylor in 2008. Dykes took over at Louisiana Tech in 2010 and has been at Cal since 2013. McNeill has been the head man at East Carolina since 2010.
Even though these guys aren’t winning a bunch of titles, all of Leach’s branches have winning records with the exception of Dykes’ 6-18 mark in two seasons at Cal.
11. Bob Stoops
7 of 17
Active Branches: Kevin Wilson (Indiana), Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) and Mike Leach (Washington State)
Combined Winning Percentage: 57
Bob Stoops has been the head coach at Oklahoma since 1999. Mike Leach served as Stoops’ OC during his first season in Norman, Kevin Sumlin was an offensive assistant/OC from 2003-07 and Kevin Wilson was an offensive assistant/OC from 2002-10.
Leach was at Texas Tech from 2000-09 before landing at Washington State in 2012. Sumlin was at Houston from 2008-11 and has been at Texas A&M since 2012. Wilson left for the head job at Indiana in 2010.
What hurts Stoops’ ranking is Wilson’s record thus far at Indiana, 14-34 (29.2 percent).
T9. Tommy Tuberville
8 of 17
Active Branches: Neal Brown (Troy), Paul Rhoads (Iowa State) and Bobby Petrino (Louisville)
Combined Winning Percentage: 60.5
Tommy Tuberville has had four head coaching stops: Ole Miss (1995-98), Auburn (1999-2008), Texas Tech (2010-12) and Cincinnati (2013-14).
Bobby Petrino was Tuberville’s OC at Auburn in 2002, Paul Rhoads was his DC at Auburn in 2008 and Neal Brown served as the OC at Texas Tech from 2010-12.
Brown just took the head job at Troy, Rhoads has been the head man at Iowa State since 2009. Petrino has served as the head coach at Louisville (2003-06 and 2014), Arkansas (2008-11) and Western Kentucky (2013).
The only losing branch on Tuberville’s tree is Rhoads, 29-46 (38.7 percent) at Iowa State.
T9. Rich Rodriguez
9 of 17
Active Branches: Scott Shafer (Syracuse), Butch Jones (Tennessee) and Todd Graham (Arizona State)
Combined Winning Percentage:60.5
Rich Rodriguez landed the Arizona job in 2012, previously serving as the head coach at Michigan (2008-10), West Virginia (2001-07), Division II Glenville State College (1990-96) and Division II Salem (1988).
Todd Graham joined Rodriguez as a defensive assistant/DC at West Virginia from 2001-02, Butch Jones was on the Mountaineers staff as an offensive assistant from 2005-06 and Scott Shafer was the DC at Michigan in 2008.
Graham has been the head coach at Rice (2006), Tulsa (2007-10), Pitt (2011) and Arizona State (2012-present). Jones made stops at Central Michigan (2007-09), Cincinnati (2010-12) and Tennessee (2013-present). Shafer took over at Syracuse in 2013. He’s also the only Rodriguez branch with a losing record (10-15 or 40 percent).
8. Dennis Franchione
10 of 17
Active Branches: Gary Patterson (TCU), David Bailiff (Rice) and Jerry Kill (Minnesota)
Combined Winning Percentage: 62.5
After head coaching stints at Division II Pittsburgh State (1985-89), Texas State (then Southwest Texas State, 1990-91), New Mexico (1992-97), TCU (1998-2000), Alabama (2001-02) and Texas A&M (2003-07), Dennis Franchione has been back at Texas State since 2011.
Jerry Kill hooked up with Franchione during his first coaching job, from 1985-87, as the DC at Pittsburgh State. David Bailiff served as a defensive assistant on Coach Fran’s staff at Southwest Texas State from 1990-91 and at New Mexico from 1992-96.
Gary Patterson and Franchione got together all the way back in 1988 when Patterson was the linebackers coach at Pittsburgh State, again at New Mexico in 1996-97 and finally at TCU from 1998-2000 (Patterson was the DC at the last two posts).
Kill has had head coaching stops at Division II Saginaw Valley State (1994-98), Division II Emporia State (1999-00), FCS Southern Illinois (2001-07), Northern Illinois (2008-10) and Minnesota (2011-present).
Bailiff was the head guy at Texas State (2004-06) and took over at Rice in 2007. Patterson has been the head coach at TCU since 2001.
The only sub-.500 branch for Franchione is Bailiff’s 47-53 (47 percent) run at Texas State.
7. Les Miles
11 of 17
Active Branches: Jimbo Fisher (Florida State), Todd Monken (Southern Miss) and Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State).
Combined Winning Percentage: 66.2
Before becoming the head coach at LSU in 2005, Les Miles was at the helm at Oklahoma State from 2001-04.
Mike Gundy was Miles’ OC during his entire tenure at Oklahoma State. Todd Monken was an offensive assistant for the Cowboys from 2002-04 and followed Miles to LSU as an offensive assistant from 2005-06.
Miles inherited Jimbo Fisher as the OC when he took over at LSU in 2005, staying on in the same role through the 2006 season.
Gundy took over at Oklahoma State in 2005, and Fisher has been at the helm at Florida State since 2010.
What hurts Miles’ rank is Monken’s 4-20 mark in two seasons at Southern Miss (16.7 percent).
T5. Brian Kelly
12 of 17
Active Branches: Bob Diaco (Connecticut), Chuck Martin (Miami, Ohio) and Butch Jones (Tennessee)
Combined Winning Percentage: 67.5
Brian Kelly’s coaching express has stopped at Division II Grand Valley State (1991-2003), Central Michigan (2004-06), Cincinnati (2007-09) and Notre Dame (2010-present).
Butch Jones caught up with Kelly during his first season at Central Michigan (2004), where he served as the OC. Chuck Martin was Kelly’s DC at Grand Valley State from 2000-03 and a defensive assistant and then OC at Notre Dame from 2010-13. Bob Diaco hooked up with Kelly three times as a DC: Central Michigan in 2005, Cincinnati in 2009 and Notre Dame from 2010-13.
Martin got the head job at Miami (Ohio) in 2014, and Diaco took over at UConn in 2014.
Kelly’s name will climb if Martin and Diaco can right their respective ships.
T5. Nick Saban
13 of 17
Active Branches: Jim McElwain (Florida), Jimbo Fisher (Florida State), Mark Dantonio (Michigan State) and Brian Polian (Nevada)
Combined Winning Percentage: 67.5
Nick Saban got his first head coaching job at Toledo in 1990. After a brief respite as the DC at NFL Cleveland from 1991-94, Saban took the Michigan State job in 1995 and moved on to LSU in 2000. He tried his hand as an NFL head coach at Miami from 2005-06 and then settled in at Alabama in 2007.
Brian Polian crossed paths with Saban way back in 1997 as a graduate assistant at Michigan State. Mark Dantonio coached defensive backs for the Spartans from 1995-2000, and Jimbo Fisher was the OC at LSU from 2000-06. Jim McElwain served as Saban’s OC at Alabama from 2008-11.
Dantonio was the head coach at Cincinnati from 2001-06 before landing back at Michigan State in 2007. McElwain led Colorado State from 2012-14 and just accepted the head job at Florida.
The only losing limb on the active Saban tree is Polian, 11-14 (44 percent) after two seasons at Nevada.
4. Steve Spurrier
14 of 17
Active Branches: Rick Stockstill (Middle Tennessee), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) and Charlie Strong (Texas)
Combined Winning Percentage: 69.3
Steve Spurrier’s first head job in the college ranks came from 1987-89 at Duke. From there, he moved on to Florida (1990-2001) and South Carolina (2005-present), taking a two-season hiatus with the NFL's Washington Redskins from 2002-03.
Charlie Strong served as a defensive assistant under Spurrier at Florida from 1991-94. Stoops was his DC from 1996-98, and Rick Stockstill coached wide receivers at South Carolina from 2004-05.
Stoops has been at the helm at Oklahoma since 1999. Stockstill took over at Middle Tennessee in 2006.
Spurrier’s tree doesn’t have an active head coach with a losing record.
3. Bob Davie
15 of 17
Active Branches: Steve Addazio (Boston College), Dan Mullen (Mississippi State), Urban Meyer (Ohio State) and Charlie Strong (Texas)
Combined Winning Percentage: 73.2
Before Bob Davie got back into coaching into 2012 as the head coach at New Mexico, he spent from 1997-2001 as the big cheese at Notre Dame.
His staff in South Bend included: Charlie Strong (defensive line, 1997-98), Urban Meyer (wide receivers, 1998-2000), Dan Mullen (graduate assistant, 1999-2000) and Steve Addazio (offensive assistant, 1999-2001).
All of Davie’s active proteges have gone on to winning careers as college head coaches.
2. Todd Graham
16 of 17
Active Branches: Chad Morris (SMU), Gus Malzahn (Auburn) and David Beaty (Kansas)
Combined Winning Percentage: 76.3
The reason Todd Graham is so high in the rankings is that two of his branches just got their first head jobs and the third has a 29-9 mark in three short seasons.
Graham started his journey as a head coach at Rice in 2006. From there, he moved to Tulsa (2007-10), Pitt (2011) and Arizona State (2012-present).
David Beaty was on Graham’s staff at Rice as an offensive assistant, Gus Malzahn was his OC at Tulsa from 2007-08 and Chad Morris served in the same capacity in 2010.
Beaty and Morris were just named the head coaches at Kansas and SMU, respectively, both their first head jobs. Malzahn took over at Arkansas State in 2012 before landing the Auburn job in 2013.
1. Frank Solich
17 of 17
Active Branches: Derek Mason (Vanderbilt), Lance Leipold (Buffalo) and Craig Bohl (Wyoming)
Combined Winning Percentage: 80
What seals the No. 1 spot for Frank Solich is the overwhelming successes two of his branch coaches experienced during long-term stints outside of the FBS ranks.
Solich has been the head guy at Ohio since 2005, but before that spent 1998-2003 leading Nebraska. During that time, he mentored Craig Bohl (1998-2002, defensive assistant/DC) and Lance Leipold (2001-03, assistant).
Derek Mason joined his staff from 2005-06 at Ohio as a wide receivers coach.
Bohl left Nebraska for the head job at FCS North Dakota State, where he racked up a 104-32 record from 2003-13, he took over at Wyoming in 2014. Leipold eventually wound up at Division III Wisconsin-Whitewater, were he led the Warhawks to a 109-6 mark from 2007-14. He just got the head job at Buffalo.
Mason took over at Vanderbilt in 2014, posting a 3-9 mark in his first campaign.
Statistics courtesy of CFBStats and Sports Reference-College Football.
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