College Football: The 10 Greatest Crunch Time Coaches in the Last 25 Years

Overall, the college football scene has been dominated by a select few coaches over the past few years. Jim Tressel, Urban Meyer, and Bob Stoops are a few that come to mind right away.

Here is my list of the top crunch time coaches in the last 25 years. 

James Evens serves as a National Featured Columnist for college football and basketball, as well as the FC for the Purdue Boilermakers.    Follow him on Twitter or like him on Facebook.

10. Frank Beamer

Frank Beamer has been with Virginia Tech since 1987 and has gotten the job done. He has turned the program into one of the best in the ACC and continues to help the program grow.

He is great to have late in games and is a decent game manager.

Beamer has been able to recruit some great talent to Virginia Tech, and has been a foundation for the school to lean upon in tough times such as the massacre. 

9. Joe Paterno

Joe Paterno is basically old as dirt, and he knows what he is doing. Some say he even might have coached Jesus himself. Okay he may not be that old.

Joe Pa is an excellent game manager and can make some great decisions come crunch time.

Lets face it, he has coached long enough to have experienced the majority of situations that he will face in games and would be a great resource to have on the sideline. 

8. Bobby Bowden

Bobby Bowden is a legend from Florida State. 

Although he hung up the headsets, he still needed to be on this list and for good reason.

Bowden seemed to always come up with huge victories for the Seminoles and even led them to a national title in the 1990s.

Bowden got it done when it mattered along with great recruiting, and keeping Florida State what it is today. 

7. Chris Petersen

Chris Petersen is a new breed of coach, and although some won't agree he belongs on this list he does.

Petersen has done something that many have tried to do, but have not succeeded. He took a mid-major and created a major.

People fear Boise State, and who wants to play on the smurf turf.

With the record he has at Boise State it is tough to say that he does not deserve to be on here. He is a terrific game manager and knows how to win. 

6. Mack Brown

Mack Brown is the coach at Texas University and is regarded as one of the best in the nation. There are not many other coaches you would want on your sideline at the end of a close one that Brown.

The Longhorns have something really special in Brown who is able to recruit and win, and has proven to be one of the best under the crunch. 

Mack is definitely a coach that knows how to win, just ask USC. 

5. Pete Carroll

Pete Caroll is no longer a coach in college football and was caught up in some serious recruiting and pay to pay scandles, but still was a great coach during crunch time.

Regradless of his violations, he is a coach that you want on the sidelines.

The Saint's know all about that after being ousted by his Seahawks. 

4. Bob Stoops

Bob Stoops is the coach for Oklahoma and knows how to get it done when the game is on the line. He is able to use his superior coaching ability to win close games when it counts.

This is what puts him near the top of this prestigious list. 

3. Urban Meyer

Although he is no longer in coaching, Urban Meyer was one of the most clutch coaches of all time. He was able to coach his team to victory it seemed almost every single time.

Meyer will be back in coaching, and whoever lands him will be a very lucky program.

He is one of the best coaching minds right now, he still has it and it's a shame he is not in coaching right now. 

2. Nick Saban

Nick Saban is the mind behind Alabama football. Saban has ran a great program over the few years at Alabama, and ran a very successful one at LSU as well.

Saban seems to always get it done come crunch time.

If it's a close game, never count out Bama, they always seem to come out on top, partly to do with their great coach. 

1. Jim Tressel

Although all of the turmoil has went down at Ohio State, and say what you want about his ethics, Tressel was one heck of a football coach.

He knew how to win, and he knew how to win against the opponents that really mattered. 

Tressel seemed to always get it done in big games and was ready to go in crunch time. 

Although he isn't coaching right now, he is still in my opinion the best coach in crunch time of the past 25 years.