Best Offensive Coordinators in College Football
Offense gets all the attention in college football, but actually compiling a list of the best offensive coordinators is actually a tad more complicated than you'd think. Basically, there's not one defined set of responsibilities from one OC to another. Everyone does it a little differently.
With few exceptions, we try to stay away from the co-offensive coordinator titles as much as possible. This is a common thing in college football, but it's easier to pin down everything when it's one person running the show. Additionally, the tough part about listing offensive coordinators is that so many head coaches, in essence, hold that position. In many instances, the head coach will call the plays while OCs will draw up game plans.
Some of these things are unavoidable. With that in mind, let's proceed. Selections were made on offensive stats, improvements, accolades and player development.
Honorable Mentions
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Noel Mazzone, UCLA: The Bruins have posted one of the best offenses in the Pac-12 over the past few years, but quarterback Brett Hundley was still seen as a development project when he was drafted into the NFL by the Green Bay Packers.
Josh Henson, Missouri: The Tigers have been more defense-oriented in the SEC, but Henson orchestrated one of the most balanced offenses anywhere in college football in 2013. That year, the Tigers finished third in the SEC in points per game.
Danny Langsdorf, Nebraska: Langsdorf worked with Huskers coach Mike Riley at Oregon State and has an NFL background as well. In 2014, he mentored New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning, who threw for 4,410 yards—the second-highest total in his career.
Doug Nussmeier, Florida: He wasn't able to turn things around at Michigan and will be tasked with another challenge at Florida. However, his previous stops at Alabama and Washington were successful.
Dana Dimel and Del Miller, Kansas State: The Wildcats aren't known for being the most explosive offense, but they wear defenses down every single year with their bruising rushing attack.
Bill Legg, Marshall
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Coaches outside the power conferences tend to get glossed over for these types of accolades. Shoot, we're probably missing out on several others right now. But take comfort in knowing there's at least one who didn't slip past us: Marshall's Bill Legg.
Legg had some prior success at Purdue when he was the co-offensive coordinator in 2006 and '07. In those years, the Boilermakers led the Big Ten in total offense. Purdue also topped the conference in passing offense in '06 and scoring offense in '07.
Legg has done a tremendous job turning around Marshall's offense. The Thundering Herd have seemingly gotten better every year he's been around. In 2012, the Herd led the nation in passing offense. Last season, Marshall finished eighth nationally in rushing offense.
Scott Frost, Oregon
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For another year, there probably won't be a hotter coordinator name than Oregon's Scott Frost. CollegeFootballTalk's JJ Stankevitz had the former Nebraska player linked to his alma mater last year before Mike Riley eventually took the head coaching job.
Frost is only entering his third year as the Ducks offensive coordinator; previously, he served as the team's wide receivers coach. But, he's a member of the Chip Kelly coaching tree, which these days has some legitimacy to it. Oregon has finished in the top five nationally in scoring offense in each of the past two years. Though quarterback Marcus Mariota is gone, Jeff Lockie and Vernon Adams Jr. seem like viable options going forward.
Expect Frost's name to continue to come up in head coaching rumors. Bruce Feldman of Fox Sports previously had Frost on his top offensive coordinator list.
Mike Norvell, Arizona State
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Arizona State head coach Mike Norvell is another one of those younger names whose stock keeps rising year after year.
Norvell is entering his fourth year as the Sun Devils offensive coordinator and has been with head coach Todd Graham at his stops in Tulsa and Pittsburgh. Over the past few seasons, Arizona State has finished among the top three teams in the Pac-12 in scoring offense.
Now without wide receiver Jaelen Strong, it'll be interesting to see how the Sun Devils look in 2015 with a new quarterback, Mike Bercovici, who is more of a traditional dropback passer.
Jake Spavital, Texas A&M
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As far as coaching pedigrees go, Texas A&M offensive coordinator Jake Spavital has one of the most impressive resumes in terms of the people he's coached under. The list of now-head coaches he's worked with includes: Kevin Sumlin, Mike Gundy, Dana Holgorsen, Kliff Kingsbury, Gus Malzahn and Todd Graham.
Spavital worked as A&M's co-offensive coordinator in 2013 when the Aggies led the SEC in points per game and passing offense. The Aggies again led the SEC in passing offense in '14 with Spavital being the lone offensive coordinator.
The Aggies have one of the top young quarterbacks in the SEC returning in Kyle Allen and could have another star in Kyler Murray joining this summer. With a wealth of skill talent, A&M should once again have one of the top offenses in the SEC.
Lane Kiffin, Alabama
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It's a tired thing to have to qualify every Lane Kiffin compliment. He may not be the most popular guy in college football, but the guy can certainly call plays. And he knows it.
In his first year with the Tide, Kiffin led the offense to the highest yards-per-game average in program history—along with several other records. He took quarterback Blake Sims, a former running back, and transformed him into one of the most efficient passers in the country. Additionally, receiver Amari Cooper won the Biletnikoff Award as the nation’s best receiver after catching 124 passes for 1,727 receiving yards, which set school and conference records.
For his efforts, Kiffin was a finalist for the Frank Broyles Award, given to college football's top assistant.
With so many new pieces in place in 2015, this could be Kiffin's biggest coaching job yet.
Rhett Lashlee, Auburn
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Rhett Lashlee has spent the majority of his coaching career alongside Auburn head coach Gus Malzahn. Together, the Tigers have ranked among the top four teams in the SEC in scoring offense in each of the past two years. Auburn also led the SEC in rushing offense in 2013, finishing second in the conference in that category last year.
Lashlee has been connected to head coaching rumors in the past, but he told Joel Erickson of AL.com last December that he was "not looking" to jump ship. This might be a situation in which Lashlee may end up somewhere else as an offensive coordinator first—some place where he's in complete control.
Still, Lashlee is one of the bright young minds in the sport. If Auburn continues its offensive success with quarterback Jeremy Johnson, Lashlee will continue to get consideration from other programs.
Doug Meacham and Sonny Cumbie, TCU
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Sonny Cumbie is only entering his third year as a co-offensive coordinator, while Doug Meacham has served as an OC or co-OC at various levels of football for more than a decade. Together, they were responsible for the resurgence of TCU's offense in 2014.
With Cumbie focusing on quarterbacks and Meacham on inside wide receivers, the Frogs put together one of the most prolific offenses in college football last season. TCU finished second nationally in points per game, and quarterback Trevone Boykin led the Big 12 in total offense.
With almost all of TCU's offense returning for 2015, Meacham and Cumbie should be on several short lists for head coaching jobs in 2016.
Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma
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First-year Oklahoma offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley is another one of those young, up-and-coming offensive names that seem bound for a head coaching job sooner rather than later. He's charged with turning around a Sooners offense that lacked identity under co-offensive coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell.
With a background in the Air Raid under Mike Leach and Ruffin McNeill, Riley led East Carolina to top-25 scoring offenses in three of his five years with the Pirates. ECU also finished among the top 25 passing offenses in four of Riley's five years as OC.
Under Riley's guidance, quarterback Shane Carden and receiver Justin Hardy became record-setting players and one of the top passing duos in college football.
Ben Kercheval is a lead writer for college football. All stats courtesy of cfbstats.com.
