Best College Football Coaching Staffs Heading into 2015 Season
There are many great head coaches in college football. There are many great coordinators, too. And there are many great position coaches doing the dirty work beneath them.
But only a few teams in college football balance greatness at all three levels, on both sides of the ball. Most teams have some cracks or, at the very least, some unproven coaches off promotions.
The six coaching staffs that follow are both well-rounded and experienced. Staffs like those of Clemson and Michigan State were considered, but after the Tigers lost offensive coordinator Chad Morris and the Spartans lost defensive coordinator Pat Narduzzi, there were too many unknowns to include them. Both teams promoted co-coordinators from within as replacements.
Recruiting acumen was considered, but not as much as on-field expertise. The best staffs recruit blue-chip talent, but they also maximize it. They turn recruiting stars into wins.
Sound off below and let us know what you think.
Alabama
1 of 6
Head Coach
Nick Saban is still Nick Saban, even though he's now gone—gasp—two whole years without a national championship. The Crimson Tide are 84-11 the past seven seasons with three national titles and three trips to the Sugar Bowl (all of which, weirdly, were losses).
Offensive Staff
- OC Lane Kiffin
- QB Lane Kiffin
- RB Burton Burns
- WR Billy Napier
- TE Bobby Williams
- OL Mario Cristobal
Lane Kiffin was a Broyles Award finalist and flirted with the San Francisco 49ers, but he decided to return to college—a move Marc Torrence of Bleacher Report called Saban's biggest commitment of the year. Billy Napier pops up in rumors every season but has thus far remained in Tuscaloosa, and former Florida International head coach Mario Cristobal does superb work with the offensive line.
Defensive Staff
- DC Kirby Smart
- DL Bo Davis
- LB Kirby Smart
- OLB Tosh Lupoi
- DB Mel Tucker
Kirby Smart still there? The defense will be fine. Smart is better coaching linebackers than defensive backs anyway, so the loss of Kevin Steele and Lance Anderson might be a blessing. Mel Tucker was a train wreck as defensive coordinator of the Chicago Bears, but in college (LSU, 2000; Ohio State, 2001-04) he has always done fine, and newly promoted Tosh Lupoi, Alabama's Xbox-playing recruiting wizard, is a good young coach to keep around.
Auburn
2 of 6
Head Coach
- Gus Malzahn
Auburn took a step back last season, but that doesn't discount the work Gus Malzahn did in 2013, when in one year he turned a 3-9 team into the national runner-up. Even in 2014, the Tigers won at Kansas State and Ole Miss, led by two scores in the second half at Alabama and beat LSU 41-7. It's not like Malzahn fell off a cliff.
Offensive Staff
- OC Rhett Lashlee
- QB Rhett Lashlee
- RB Tim Horton
- WR Dameyune Craig
- TE Scott Fountain
- OL J.B. Grimes
Rhett Lashlee played quarterback under Malzahn at Shiloh Christian High School and has since become his protege. Malzahn and Lashlee's tempo, however, wouldn't work without assistants such as J.B. Grimes, who in the last two years has built the best offensive line in the country, and running backs coach Tim Horton, who helped turn Tre Mason and Cameron Artis-Payne into household names.
Defensive Staff
- DC Will Muschamp
- DL Rodney Garner
- LB Lance Thompson
- DB Travaris Robinson
Will Muschamp has always been a great coordinator. Even as the head coach at Florida—something he was decisively less great at—he always built strong defenses. "[I] knew that's who I wanted and who we needed," Malzahn said at Muschamp's introductory press conference. It helps that secondary coach Travaris Robinson, an Auburn graduate, followed Muschamp from Florida to the Plains and that Lance Thompson, formerly of Alabama, flipped to the opposite rival.
Michigan
3 of 6
Head Coach
- Jim Harbaugh
Relative to expectations, what Jim Harbaugh did at Stanford was as good as what Nick Saban did at LSU. By any metric, what Harbaugh did with the San Francisco 49ers was better than what Saban did with the Miami Dolphins. Is there any reason to think he can't turn Michigan into the new Alabama (i.e., the old Michigan)? If there is, I don't see it.
Offensive Staff
- OC Tim Drevno
- QB Jedd Fisch
- RB Tyrone Wheatley
- WR Jedd Fisch
- TE Jay Harbaugh
- OL Tim Drevno
Tim Drevno followed Harbaugh from San Diego to Stanford to San Francisco before last year coaching USC's offensive line. He is the perfect choice to rebuild Michigan's trenches. Jedd Fisch comes over after two years as the offensive coordinator of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and running backs coach Tyrone Wheatley, one of the best players in Michigan history, is a proven member of the Doug Marrone coaching tree. There's a lot of NFL experience on this sideline.
Defensive Staff
- DC D.J. Durkin
- DL Greg Mattison
- LB D.J. Durkin
- DB Greg Jackson
- DB Mike Zordich
Greg Mattison is a veteran defensive coordinator and one of the only assistants who impressed during the Brady Hoke era. Michigan convinced him to take a demotion, from coordinator to defensive line coach, and brought in D.J. Durkin from Florida. Conservatively, that gives Michigan two of the 20 best defensive coordinators from last season. The rest of this defensive staff is window dressing; any group with Mattison and Durkin will be fine.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Ohio State
4 of 6
Head Coach
Is Urban Meyer the best head coach in college football? At this point, yes, he is. He won his third national title in 2014-15, and he did it with a third-string quarterback. The only other person with a claim to the throne, Nick Saban, lost to Ohio State in the Sugar Bowl.
Offensive Staff
- OC Tim Beck
- OC Ed Warinner
- QB Tim Beck
- RB Stan Drayton
- WR Zach Smith
- TE Tim Hinton
- OL Ed Warinner
Ohio State lost Broyles Award winner and literal genius Tom Herman to the head coaching vacancy at Houston, replacing him with former Nebraska offensive coordinator Tim Beck. The drop-off from Herman to Beck is obvious, but it allowed the Buckeyes to promote offensive line coach Ed Warriner to co-offensive coordinator and keep him in Columbus for at least another season. As long as he and Meyer are working together, this offense will be fine.
Defensive Staff
- DC Chris Ash
- DC Luke Fickell
- DL Larry Johnson
- LB Luke Fickell
- CB Kerry Coombs
- S Chris Ash
Ohio State made two of the best hires in the country last offseason, poaching defensive back specialist Chris Ash away from Arkansas and defensive line guru Larry Johnson away from Penn State. Together they worked with Luke Fickell to reinvent a defense that was reeling at the end of 2013. Underclassmen such as Joey Bosa, Vonn Bell and Darron Lee emerged as superstars, and the defense, which struggled in spots during the regular season, played its best on the big stage.
TCU
5 of 6
Head Coach
- Gary Patterson
Gary Patterson has been at this a long time: not just the coaching, but the winning. His Horned Frogs went 12-1 last season, the seventh time in 10 years they have won at least 11 games. This one was obviously sweeter, as it came against the Big 12 instead of the Mountain West, but Patterson is not a one-year wonder.
Offensive Staff
- OC Sonny Cumbie
- OC Doug Meacham
- QB Sonny Cumbie
- RB Curtis Luper
- IWR Doug Meacham
- OWR Rusty Burns
- OL Jarrett Anderson
TCU finished No. 106 in total offense and No. 88 in scoring offense two seasons ago. Then it hired Sonny Cumbie and Doug Meacham, two progressive, spread-oriented offensive coordinators, and finished top five in both of those categories. The new-age TCU offense kept its old-school physical mentality, thanks in large part to offensive line coach Jarrett Anderson, who has been with the Horned Frogs for 17 seasons. Somehow, they made all the pieces fit.
Defensive Staff
- DC Dick Bumpas
- DL Dick Bumpas
- LB DeMontie Cross
- S Chad Glasgow
TCU has a hire left to make after cornerbacks coach Kenny Perry became the co-defensive coordinator at Kansas. But no matter whom it adds, this defense will be fine as long as Dick Bumpas joins Patterson on the sideline. Bumpas and his 4-2-5 alignment have found equal success against pro-style and uptempo offenses the past 11 seasons. Safeties coach Chad Glasgow, who has spent 13 of the past 14 years at TCU, has played a big role in that, as well.
Texas A&M
6 of 6
Head Coach
- Kevin Sumlin
Kevin Sumlin's worst year at Texas A&M saw his team peak at No. 6 in the Associated Press rankings, finish with eight wins and beat Auburn on the road with a true freshman quarterback making his first SEC start. When that's your worst year, you're doing something right. All three of Sumlin's A&M teams have reached No. 6 in the AP poll.
Offensive Staff
- OC Jake Spavital
- QB Jake Spavital
- RB Clarence Mckinney
- WR Aaron Moorehead
- TE Jeff Banks
- OL Dave Christensen
Jake Spavital has learned under Gus Malzahn, Dana Hologorsen and Kevin Sumlin, and it won't be long before the next generation of offensive coaches finds success for having learned under Spavital. But an already-rich offensive staff grew richer when A&M hired Dave Christensen, the longtime Missouri offensive coordinator who has since served as head coach at Wyoming and offensive coordinator at Utah. He brings another proven mind to this brain trust.
Defensive Staff
- DC John Chavis
- DL Terry Price
- LB Mark Hagen
- DB Terry Joseph
Texas A&M has deep-rooted defensive problems that no one person can fix. If any one person could do it, however, John Chavis would be the guy. Chavis comes by way of LSU and Tennessee, where he served under Les Miles and Phillip Fulmer, respectively, and is rightfully considered one of the top defensive minds in the country. No matter how the staff fills out around him, he will get the most out of his players.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
