College Football: The 10 Coaches You Want Leading Your Team in the Final Minute
There's nothing in college football, or in any level of football for that matter, quite like a last-minute drive to win the game.
From quarterbacks rushing their teams up to the line of scrimmage and receivers making tip-toe catches along the sidelines to offensive linemen making key blocks to spring running backs for long jaunts, a game-winning drive requires nearly perfect orchestration on the part of all 11 players on the field.
Of course, none of said players would be able to act in concert without a wise and knowledgeable maestro—in this case, a great head coach.
There are many quality coaches in the college game who can put together effective 60-minute game plans and prepare their teams for both the battles of individual contests amidst the long war that is the football season.
But there are only a select few with the experience, the feel for the game and the instincts to calmly and effectively guide a pack of 18-to-22-year-olds down the length of a football field, with thousands of pairs of eyes watching intently, with the game on the line in crunch time.
Here are the 10 best of that bunch.
Chris Petersen, Boise State
1 of 10The list begins with the least experienced of the 10 coaches included herein.
In only five seasons at the helm of the Boise State program, Chris Petersen has demonstrated himself to be a master of late-game preparation.
Granted, Petersen's Broncos failed to seal the deal in the final moments of regulation AND overtime in a gut-wrenching loss at Nevada in 2010. However, the Kellen Moore and company were in perfect position to win after getting the ball back with 13 seconds left and promptly picking up 53 yards on a deep pass play to wide receiver Titus Young.
Though that bit of late-game magic ultimately came up short, it's not nearly enough to knock Petersen off this list.
In fact, Petersen's teams could choke in the final minutes of games for the next five years, and he'd still be in this category, thanks to his mind-bogglingly bold calls to give Boise State its first BCS bowl win over a heavily-favored Oklahoma team in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
First, a 50-yard "hook-and-lateral" pass play on 4th-and-18 to tie the game with seven seconds left in regulation.
Then, an option pass play in overtime on 4th-and-2, followed up, after a touchdown, by a two-point conversion on a "Statue of Liberty" play to win the game, 43-42.
Not bad...for one game.
Bob Stoops, Oklahoma
2 of 10
Though Bob Stoops' team was on the wrong end of that Boise State barrage, he has proven himself to be more than capable of preparing his Sooners for crunch time over the course of his 12 seasons in Norman.
As good as his career record of 129-31 may be, it's not as though Stoops has always managed to get his teams at Oklahoma to blow out its opponents.
Though such has happened on many an occasion.
Stoops has been blessed to have quite a few offensive players under his tutelage to spark clutch drives, including Heisman Trophy winners Jason White and Sam Bradford along with Adrian Peterson and Mark Clayton, among others.
One may point to the losses Stoops' teams have sustained in big games, with five defeats in BCS games among them.
But, then again, it takes more than a few clutch performances to get to that many huge bowl games in the first place.
Mack Brown, Texas
3 of 10Across the Red River, Mack Brown has established himself as something of an end-game tactician at Texas.
As impressive as Brown's overall resume may be, with 219 wins (133 at Texas) and three BCS bowl victories, his Longhorns have given him some incredible heart-stopping wins that few will ever forget.
UT fans will recall two games in particular during the 2009 season—a 16-13 win over the Sooners in the Red River Rivalry game and a 13-12 shocker against Nebraska in the Big 12 Championship—though both may bring into question Brown's ability to prepare teams for success down the stretch.
The 2006 Rose Bowl Game serves as much better proof, as Vince Young led the 'Horns to a touchdown on 4th-and-5 with 19 seconds left to give Texas a 41-38 win and Brown his first BCS National Championship.
.jpg?w=256 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
Bobby Petrino, Arkansas
4 of 10
At Texas' old Southwest Conference rival resides another coach who knows what to do in the clutch.
Bobby Petrino has seen his fair share of close games as the head coach at Arkansas and Louisville before that.
Petrino's offensive wizardry allowed his Razorbacks to overcome Mississippi State in double overtime and nearly upend Alabama this past season alone, not to mention an impressive victory over LSU to close the season and earn Arkansas a trip to the Sugar Bowl.
Petrino's ability to make great calls down the stretch extends back to his days at Louisville, where he, with the help of excellent quarterbacks like Stefan LeFors and Brian Brohm, guided the Cardinals to many a thrilling win.
And even without Ryan Mallett, Petrino should be able to keep that legacy going at Arkansas in the future.
Les Miles, LSU
5 of 10
Though Les Miles' Tigers fell in a close game to Bobby Petrino's Razorbacks in 2010, Miles still holds something of an advantage in "clutchness" as a coach.
Miles' legacy as a great crunch-time coach dates back to his days at Oklahoma State, when he led his Cowboys to huge upset wins over highly-ranked Oklahoma teams in 2003 and 2004, the first of which coming by a final score of 16-13.
After moving to LSU, Miles established himself as something of an unconventional play-caller, especially down the stretch. Though Miles' risks didn't always pay off, as in 2007 with close losses to Kentucky and Arkansas, they have often paid dividends, as when the Tigers finished that same season as BCS National Champions after accruing narrow victories over Alabama, Auburn, Tennessee and Florida, all of whom were ranked at the time.
As such, Miles has had more than enough success coaching in crunch time to merit his inclusion on this list and appears primed to lead the Tigers into national title contention once again in 2011.
Nick Saban, Alabama
6 of 10Before Les Miles became a great fourth-quarter coach at LSU, Nick Saban was establishing himself as an endgame mastermind in Baton Rouge.
As betrayed as some Bayou Bengals fans may have felt as a result of Saban's sudden departure for the NFL at the end of 2004, few can hate him too much when reflecting on the Bluegrass Miracle in 2002.
For those of you who aren't familiar with the play, check out the video above, in which LSU quarterback Marcus Randall chucks the ball downfield twice in the closing seconds, with the second throw resulting in a miraculous catch and run to the end zone to win the game.
Since moving on to Alabama, Saban has been responsible for a number of other close wins, including an overtime thriller against LSU in 2008 and a nail-biter over AUburn in the 2009 Iron Bowl as part of the Crimson Tide's perfect national championship season.
And while this past season's choke job against the in-state rival Tigers may not speak well of Saban as a final-minute tactician, his most notable closing exploits still stand in support of his ability to lead a team in crunch time.
Steve Spurrier, South Carolina
7 of 10
In terms of pure play-calling creativity, as well as actual on-field success, few coaches in the college game today can match the mojo of Steve Spurrier.
Spurrier has yet to replicate at South Carolina what he accomplished at Florida, though he may very well in the near future, but that fact does little to diminish his knowledge with regard to winning games in high-pressure situations.
Long known for his gamesmanship and offensive-minded coaching style, Spurrier made an immediate impact when he arrived in Columbia, leading the Gamecocks to close wins over Tennessee and Arkansas in 2005, in-state rival Clemson in 2006 and Georgia in 2007, with plenty of blowouts scattered about.
With his first SEC East title at South Carolina under his belt, Spurrier looks poised to lead the 'Cocks through yet another season filled with closely-contested games, during which he can remind everyone why he is, indeed, the "Ol' Ball Coach."
Brian Kelly, Notre Dame
8 of 10
Unlike Steve Spurrier, Brian Kelly only recently came into the college football spotlight, as the head coach at Notre Dame but has something of a history of seeing his teams through to success in end-of-game situations.
Kelly's Bearcats had some rather close calls in his last two seasons at Cincinnati, during which he led the team to a combined record of 23-3. In 2008, Cincy managed to sneak past West Virginia, Louisville and Pittsburgh to win the Big East and earn a spot in the Orange Bowl. In 2009, the 'Cats crawled by Connecticut and West Virginia before staging a second-half comeback from 21 points down against Pittsburgh to clinch the conference crown and a date with Florida in the Sugar Bowl.
Kelly parlayed that success into his current position at Notre Dame, where the Irish will look to improve on a successful 8-5 season, including the school's first win over arch rival USC since 2001.
Jim Tressel, Ohio State
9 of 10Assuming Brian Kelly's Irish establish a strong record against Michigan going forward, he would still have a ways to go to surpass Jim Tressel among anti-Wolverine lore.
Aside from that, few coaches in the college game today have as much successful experience with pulling out close games as Tressel.
Tressel was witness to seven nail-biting wins in 2002 alone, when his Buckeyes became the first team to ever finish the season with a 14-0 record and claimed the BCS National Championship by virtue of a thrilling double-overtime victory against Miami in the Fiesta Bowl.
Since then, Ohio State football has come out on top in big games year-after-year, including six in 2003, though the Buckeyes have yet to claim a second national title for Tressel.
That being said, when it comes to winning, and doing so in the clutch, few coaches, if any, in the last 10 years can measure up to what Tressel has accomplished in Columbus.
Joe Paterno, Penn State
10 of 10
Okay, so maybe Joe Paterno doesn't exactly scream "clutch," but the guy has been around the college game more than long enough to know exactly what to do when the clock is ticking down, and his team is in need of a big play.
After all, "JoePa" is the winningest coach in FBS history, with 401 victories and two national titles to his name, and, in 45 years at Penn State, has seen just about everything that can happen on a football field in the closing minutes of a game.
Now, at the ripe old age of 84, some may not trust his judgment or his memory—purely for stereotypical reasons, of course—but there's not doubt that Paterno can still coach with the best of them, and there are few people out there who know more about preparing young men to make big plays at the end of games than he does.
Even if he is nearly older than time itself.
.jpg?w=480 "Ohio State Team Doctor")
