Ranking College Football Playoff Teams by Their Coaching Staffs
Talent defines college football’s elite programs. Each Saturday afternoon during the fall, the focus is on the field—and the players performing on it. Without elite talent, it is nearly impossible to keep up with the nation’s best teams and reach the game’s highest level.
However, success isn’t as simple as just throwing the football out on the field and letting players pick sides and go at it. First, talent must be acquired. Then, it must be molded, motivated and put in the perfect situations to succeed. That’s not as easy as it sounds. If it were true, the national recruiting rankings would serve as the preseason Top 25 each August, and we know that isn’t always the case.
Coaching matters, and it will certainly matter in the College Football Playoff. The team that emerges victorious in Glendale, Arizona, on Jan. 11 will be the one that peaks at the right time with the proper motivation and the proper utilization of talent. Here’s a look at ranking the College Football Playoff coaching staffs. Staffs were ranked based on the success and track records contained in their current makeups.
4. Michigan State
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Head coach Mark Dantonio has done an excellent job at Michigan State. Over the last four seasons, the Spartans are 36-4, with their only losses coming to Nebraska, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Oregon. Michigan State finally broke through to a nationally elite level this season, outlasting Iowa 16-13 to win the Big Ten title and make the College Football Playoff.
Dantonio couldn’t have brought Michigan State to the national spotlight without help from a good staff. The staff did take a hit following the 2014 season when Pat Narduzzi, regarded as one of the best defensive coordinators in America, left to become Pitt’s head coach. However, Dantonio made a solid hire to fill his spot on the staff in Mark Snyder, who served as Marshall’s head coach from 2005-2009 and also spent time as Texas A&M’s defensive coordinator and Ohio State’s linebackers coach.
Snyder serves as MSU’s linebackers coach and special teams coordinator, and the Spartans wouldn’t be in the playoff without a huge special teams play; namely, the final-play blocked punt that lifted MSU to a stunning victory at Michigan.
However, Dantonio chooses to spread responsibility across his staff. Harlon Barnett and Mike Tressel spent this season as co-defensive coordinators, with the defense ranked No. 26 nationally in total yardage. Barnett coaches defensive backs, while Tressel coaches linebackers. Despite losing NFL first-round pick Trae Waynes, the secondary has been solid again this season, and MSU also ranks seventh nationally in run defense, yielding 113.1 yards per game. Strong linebacker play has been a core of the Spartans’ defensive success.
Dantonio also employs co-offensive coordinators in tight ends coach Jim Bollman and running backs coach Dave Warner. Warner lost a talented back in Jeremy Langford but has filled the void with a trio of backs in Gerald Holmes, Madre London and LJ Scott. Under their watch, Connor Cook has emerged as one of the nation’s top quarterbacks.
And with offensive line coach Mark Staten’s guidance, center Jack Allen and left tackle Jack Conklin were both first-team All-Americans. Michigan State’s staff doesn’t have the star power of other CFP staffs, but there’s no denying that Dantonio and Co. have done an excellent job.
3. Oklahoma
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Following last season, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops realized it was time for changes. The Sooners were a College Football Playoff favorite, but a 40-6 Russell Athletic Bowl loss to Clemson was rock bottom in an 8-5 season.
Stoops made sweeping changes in his staff, and when the dust settled, offensive line coach Bill Bedenbaugh was the only 2014 assistant serving in the same role this season. Four new assistants are on staff. Stoops started by firing co-offensive coordinators Josh Heupel and Jay Norvell. Veteran defensive backs coach Bobby Jack Wright retired, and newly promoted co-defensive coordinator Jerry Montgomery left OU’s staff for a job with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers.
His most important hire paid off big, however. Stoops plucked East Carolina offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley to run an Air Raid-influenced system in Norman, Oklahoma. With transfer quarterback Baker Mayfield at the helm, it has been a huge success. OU averaged 45.8 points per game, No. 3 nationally.
Defensive backs coach Kerry Cooks, outside receivers coach Dennis Simmons and defensive line coach Diron Reynolds are also in their first seasons on the staff. They join a talented group. Stoops’ brother, Mike, spent eight years as Arizona’s head coach before rejoining the staff as defensive coordinator in 2014.
He is regarded as one of the Big 12’s top assistant coaches. Inside receivers coach Cale Gundy has spent 17 years on staff and just finished his first season coaching receivers. He spent 16 years as running backs coach developing the likes of Adrian Peterson, Demarco Murray and Samaje Perine, among others.
Meanwhile, Bob Stoops has established himself as one of college football’s top coaches. He is Oklahoma’s winningest all-time coach and won a BCS national title in 2000, while playing for three more. Under his watch, Oklahoma has won nine Big 12 titles and has won at least eight games for 16 consecutive seasons. While his staff makeup has changed, OU remains a force to be reckoned with under his watch.
2. Clemson
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Seven years ago, Clemson and then-athletic director Terry Don Phillips raised some eyebrows in the college football world when it elevated interim coach Dabo Swinney to its full-time head coach position. Swinney had never spent a day as a coordinator but galvanized the Tigers program with his positive attitude and indomitable spirit. It’s proved to be the right move. Swinney transformed Clemson into a national power.
A formerly underachieving program has won at least 10 games for five consecutive seasons, and this year, the 13-0 Tigers are the top seed in the College Football Playoff as they prepare to face Oklahoma in the Orange Bowl. Swinney has built a very solid and stable staff across the board. One of his best moves was luring defensive coordinator Brent Venables away from Oklahoma following the 2011 season. Venables has transformed a unit that was in shambles after a disastrous 70-33 Orange Bowl loss to West Virginia.
The Tigers were the nation’s top overall defense a year ago, and despite major graduation losses (including defensive end Vic Beasley, a first-round NFL draft pick) they have barely missed a beat this year. Clemson allows 20.2 points per game, No. 18 nationally, and boasts All-Americans in defensive end Shaq Lawson (who has already declared for the NFL draft) and cornerback Mackensie Alexander.
The staff also absorbed a major loss when talented offensive coordinator Chad Morris left to become SMU’s head coach, but Swinney’s move to elevate assistants Tony Elliott and Jeff Scott to co-offensive coordinators has worked well. Clemson averages 38.5 points per game, No. 15 nationally, and sophomore quarterback Deshaun Watson emerged as a star, finishing third in the Heisman Trophy race.
Scott is regarded as one of the nation’s top 25 recruiters, per 247Sports, and he mentored NFL talents like Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins and Martavis Bryant as wide receivers coach, with other standouts like Mike Williams and Artavis Scott, among others, still on the roster.
Defensive tackles coach Dan Brooks is one of the nation’s most respected line coaches, having coached a number of NFL talents including Shaun Ellis, Justin Harrell and John Henderson at Tennessee and Jarvis Jenkins, Brandon Thompson and Grady Jarrett at Clemson. In addition, offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell has a long record of molding physical, productive offensive lines.
From top to bottom, Clemson’s staff can hang with the nation’s best on the field and on the recruiting trail.
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1. Alabama
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Since head coach Nick Saban’s arrival in 2007, Alabama has gained unquestioned status as the gold standard of college football. Saban has won three national titles with Alabama. Between Alabama and LSU, he has four national titles and seven SEC championships. Alabama has made both College Football Playoffs; the second-seeded Crimson Tide will face off with Michigan State in the Cotton Bowl.
Saban likes to talk about “The Process” as a huge reason for his program’s success. His staff plays a big role in that success, and he leads the way. Saban is the nation’s highest-paid coach, earning more than $7 million annually. His hard-driving, disciplined style has produced tremendous results and scores of NFL draft picks. It’s often imitated, but never completely duplicated.
When this season wraps up, Saban will lose one of the most valuable members of his staff. Defensive coordinator Kirby Smart will begin his job as Georgia’s head coach. Under Smart’s watch, Alabama has consistently played hard-nosed, physical defense.
This season, the Crimson Tide are yielding 14.3 points per game, third-best nationally. Safety Rashad Johnson, linebacker Rolando McClain, nose tackle Terrence Cody, linebackers Dont’a Hightower, C.J. Mosley and Reggie Ragland and defensive backs Dre Kirkpatrick and Landon Collins are only a few of the players who’ve excelled in Smart’s defense.
Following turbulent head coaching stints with the NFL’s Oakland Raiders, Tennessee and Southern California, Lane Kiffin has rehabbed his image as Alabama’s offensive coordinator. Under his guidance, both Blake Sims and Jake Coker have excelled as the Tide’s starting quarterback, each winning an SEC championship. Alabama averages 34.1 points per game this season, No. 36 nationally.
As USA Today's Dan Wolken writes, Kiffin is perfectly happy at Alabama.
"I have a great job, and any time there’s any thinking any different, I just remind myself how many people would want to be the offensive coordinator for Nick Saban. Take out the head coaching experience (I had) … If you’d have said you were going to work for Pete Carroll and Nick Saban before you’re 40 years old as their coordinators on very successful teams, you take that in a second.
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Running backs coach Burton Burns is one of the nation’s best backfield coaches. He has coached a pair of Heisman Trophy winners in Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry and molded numerous productive backs, including Trent Richardson, T.J. Yeldon and Eddie Lacy. Along with Smart and offensive line coach Mario Cristobal (who also spent time as Florida International’s head coach), he’s one of the top 25 recruiters in America, per 247Sports.
Cristobal is a widely respected coach who was ranked as the nation’s best recruiter, per 247. That’s a huge factor in Alabama’s success. Saban’s staff recruits and develops players better than any staff in America. They’re clearly the top staff in the College Football Playoff field.
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