Power Ranking Top 10 College Football Jobs
Last winter, a truly rare event unfolded on college football’s coaching carousel. Normally, the carousel is reserved for programs which have fallen on hard times, places that aren’t normally considered among the game’s blue bloods.
Oh, sure, no program is immune from change. However, having Florida and Michigan both open at the same time created a rare dynamic for job seekers and those looking to fill openings. It isn’t often that two marquee programs are filling openings at the same time, but it happened last winter, with Florida tabbing Jim McElwain and Michigan snagging Jim Harbaugh in hopes of a revival.
It brought up interesting questions: What are the best jobs in college football, and what makes those jobs truly special? Is it support (be it financial or emotional from fans)? Is it the facilities? Recruiting base and location? Tradition? Or a little of all the above?
Here’s a look at the top 10 jobs in college football. Keep in mind that these rankings don’t necessarily lean exclusively on a program’s current state. It’s what the program has been, what it is and what it can be.
Financial figures are taken from the most recent athletic department revenue stats .
10. Oregon
1 of 10
Twenty years ago, including Oregon on a list like this would have been preposterous. It’s amazing what money can do, though: Nike founder Phil Knight is Oregon’s most generous fan, having donated a reported $300 million to the university’s academic and athletic programs.
A healthy amount has gone to the football program, which is one of the nation’s richest. Two years ago, the Ducks dedicated the gleaming $68 million Hatfield-Dowlin Complex, which is regarded as one of the nation’s best football complexes and practice facilities.
And love it or hate it, Nike’s marketing muscle makes Oregon ubiquitous in college football. The Ducks are impossible to ignore and successful on the field, with seven Pac-10/Pac-12 titles and a pair of national runner-up finishes since 1994.
Autzen Stadium is one of the nation’s most intimidating environments, and both Chip Kelly and Mark Helfrich have proved they can coach and recruit with the nation’s elite programs.
All of that makes Oregon one of the nation’s top destinations for coaches and players alike.
9. Michigan
2 of 10
Jim Harbaugh’s reputation and pedigree meant that he had his choice of college football coaching destinations. The fact that Harbaugh chose to come home to Michigan was a huge coup for the Wolverines but also speaks to the power of UM as one of college football’s top jobs.
Michigan Stadium, also known as The Big House, is just that: big. The stadium’s official capacity is 107,601, the second-largest stadium in college football. Michigan fans are loyal, too: More than 100,000 have attended every home game dating back to November 8, 1975.
Michigan is a national brand, and its visibility only figures to improve with Harbaugh in charge. Harbaugh has shown that he isn’t afraid to compete with SEC schools and recruit nationally, expanding the Wolverines’ footprint well beyond the Midwest.
Last year, Michigan’s athletic department pulled in $157.8 million, third-best nationally. That's just another reason that Michigan is a special job in college football circles.
8. Florida
3 of 10
Let’s get one thing straight, right off the top: Florida is down right now.
The end of Urban Meyer’s tenure and Will Muschamp’s ugly four-year stint pushed the Gators into the middle of the SEC’s pack, with just a 37-26 record over the last five seasons. Muschamp left a bit of a mess for new coach Jim McElwain to clean up, with a depleted roster (particularly on the offensive side) and facilities that need updating (something Florida officials are addressing).
However, the Florida job does have some serious positives.
Florida is smack in the middle of perhaps the nation’s most fertile recruiting ground and boasts a passionate SEC fanbase. Last year, Florida pulled in athletic revenues of $124.6 million, ninth-best nationally, which only figures to grow as the SEC Network matures and McElwain turns around the program, as expected.
And if he doesn’t? There will be a strong line of candidates willing to give the program a shot with its impressive blend of geography, passion and resources.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
7. Georgia
4 of 10
It’s hard to believe that 35 years have passed since Georgia won its last national championship. In 15 seasons at Georgia, Mark Richt is 136-48 with a pair of SEC championships and six SEC East titles.
However, take a longer look at Georgia, and it’s hard to understand why the Bulldogs haven’t had even more success.
They play in one of college football’s best stadiums, the 92,746-seat Sanford Stadium, which ranks as the ninth-biggest stadium in the FBS. The rest of Georgia’s facilities are similarly impressive, and UGA is the flagship institution for one of the nation’s most gridiron-mad states, one full of talented recruits.
Last year, Georgia pulled in $103.4 million as an athletic department, No. 19 nationally, and like its SEC brethren, UGA will benefit from the ESPN-backed SEC Network.
Georgia hasn’t had the success its fans seek, but that just magnifies its potential as one of college football’s best destinations.
6. LSU
5 of 10
Sure, Les Miles eats grass on the sidelines, says interesting things and makes crazy yet effective play calls. But none of that would matter if he didn’t win.
Miles has done so, and at an impressive clip. Entering this season, Miles is 103-29 with a national title and a pair of SEC titles in 11 seasons at LSU. He, along with Nick Saban, turned the Tigers from sleeping giants into national giants, period.
LSU plays in one of college football’s most intimidating environments, the 102,321-seat Tiger Stadium, and boasts one of the game’s most rabid fanbases. LSU’s athletic department rakes in the money, too, pulling in $133.6 million last year.
The Tigers also have an excellent recruiting base as the only Power Five program in Louisiana. They’re also capable of recruiting strongly throughout the Southeast and in Texas.
There’s a lot to like about this giant of a program that’s finally come to life.
5. Notre Dame
6 of 10
Twenty-seven years have passed since Notre Dame last won a national championship, a statistic that seems hard to believe given the Fighting Irish’s influence over college football and rich tradition that includes eight Associated Press national titles.
Even without a recent national title, Notre Dame remains one of the nation’s premier programs.
Notre Dame Stadium seats 80,795 and is currently undergoing a $400 million renovation that will add luxury boxes and increase capacity to 85,000. And it’s hard to imagine a more tradition-rich stadium, with Touchdown Jesus looming over its outer walls and the lore of Knute Rockne and all of Notre Dame’s legendary coaches and players contained within.
Notre Dame also is unique among national programs thanks to its exclusive deal with NBC, which has broadcast all of its home games nationally since 1991. The Irish have a national fanbase, recruit nationally and play a national schedule which also includes a five-game slate against ACC programs.
The job has its challenges, but coaching Notre Dame remains among the nation’s best posts.
4. Southern California
7 of 10
Steve Sarkisian had the right idea. You never want to be the guy who replaces “the guy.” You want to be the guy who replaces the guy who replaces “the guy.” So in that sense, Sarkisian got it right when he jumped from Washington to Southern California following the 2013 season.
Sarkisian was an assistant for Pete Carroll’s hugely successful run as the Trojans’ coach, but Lane Kiffin found that replacing Carroll (and managing a serious NCAA probation) wasn’t easy and was fired midway through 2013.
Sarkisian inherited an excellent situation. The Trojans are shaking off probation’s effects and showing why they are one of college football’s premier programs. The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum seats 93,607, and USC has excellent facilities to show recruits.
It’s hard to beat playing in the nation’s second-largest media market, Los Angeles, with perfect Southern California weather, and USC regularly dips into one of the nation’s best talent hotbeds to sign stellar recruiting classes. If Sark isn’t the man to turn around the Trojans, they’ll have no shortage of eager candidates.
This is a great job.
3. Texas
8 of 10
There’s no getting around it: 2014 was an ugly year for Texas football.
First-year coach Charlie Strong was forced to clean up the malaise left at the end of Mack Brown’s tenure, kicking nine players off the Longhorn roster while attempting to create a culture of accountability.
The results on the field were predictably mediocre. Texas finished 6-7 after taking a Texas Bowl pasting at former Southwest Conference rival Arkansas’ hands, and here’s guessing that UT fans won’t be particularly patient with Strong in 2015, either.
That said, Texas remains one of the nation’s premier jobs.
The Longhorns are situated right in the middle of one of the nation’s premier recruiting hotbeds. While programs across the country recruit Texas, it’s hard for them to compete with UT’s tradition and facilities. Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium seats 100,119 fans, the ninth-largest stadium in America, and Texas has an advantage no other program in America has: the Longhorn Network.
The partnership with ESPN, a 20-year contract, paid Texas a minimum of $10.9 million, plus a 3 percent annual increase, beginning in 2011-12. That means the Longhorns made at least $11.9 million from LHN in 2014-15 and will receive 70 percent of the annual profits once ESPN makes back its initial investment of $295 million, according to USA Today's Ty Duffy.
Last year, Texas pulled in overall revenues of $161 million, and those numbers just figure to rise. Texas isn’t currently among college football’s elite programs on the field, but the job is the total package.
2. Alabama
9 of 10
In 2006, Alabama found itself in a major funk. Fourteen years (and multiple NCAA probations) had passed since the Crimson Tide’s last national title, and the failed tenures of Mike DuBose, Dennis Franchione, Mike Price and Mike Shula had left the Tide rolling in nothing but ridicule.
Nick Saban changed that, and quickly.
In his third season, Alabama won its first national championship since 1992, and two more have followed, restoring the proud tradition created by coach Paul “Bear” Bryant.
Saban appears very happy at Alabama: Despite multiple rumors about his flirtation with Texas, including in a recent unauthorized biography, he said that he's perfectly pleased with the Tide, via D.C. Reeves of the Tuscaloosa News:
"I have an agent (Jimmy Sexton), which most coaches have, and when somebody is interested in you, they call your agent, which they did. “The agent calls you, and you tell the agent 'I'm interested' or 'I'm not interested.' So (Sexton) called me about 15 times about Texas, and every time he called I said I'm not interested in talking to them, and I never will be. That's the story. He did his job, I did my job.
"
Bryant-Denny Stadium has expanded to hold 101,821 fans and has consistently filled its seats with raucous, enthusiastic supporters. Alabama’s facilities are among the very best in the nation, and Saban is the nation’s highest-paid coach at $7.1 million annually. The Tide’s athletic department made $153 million in the 2014-15 academic year, fourth-best nationally.
Combine revenue, facilities, fans and tradition, and you have one of the nation’s premier coaching jobs by any measure.
1. Ohio State
10 of 10
When Urban Meyer ended his short sabbatical from coaching in 2011, his arrival at Ohio State was hardly surprising. The Ohio native knew the program well and how special it could be.
Sure, the Buckeyes were on NCAA probation for issues related to Jim Tressel’s tenure, but the program’s excellent facilities and across-the-board strength were serious pluses.
Ohio Stadium seats 104,944 fans as the nation’s fifth-largest stadium, and last year the Buckeyes athletic department pulled in $145.2 million in revenue, also fifth-best nationally.
Ohio isn’t the recruiting hotbed it once was compared to Florida, Texas or California, but the Buckeyes recruit nationally, and Meyer has made them nationally relevant again. 2014’s national title run made sure of that.
Whenever Meyer leaves, the Buckeyes will have their pick of qualified candidates. This is a gem of a job.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
