College Football 2011: Al Golden and the Best Coaches in Bad Situations

Football is a game of hierarchies.

Great football teams usually have the best coaches, and the other teams fight over scraps like rabid dogs. An amazing change has occurred, though. Since recruiting limits placed on college football teams since the 1990s, more players are willing to explore other options than the powerhouses.

In the long run, that means the ostracized schools have a chance to be noticed. The less prestigious programs have a chance at success. And, with better players, come high quality coaches.

Now, not every coach is going to defy physics and make a doormat win a national title. But many men have turned a school's culture around by winning when they weren't expected to. These elect are among the best coaches in our sport, and deserve recognition for their solid success.

Because so many coaches have been able to light a fire in programs (if only for a season or two), this list will include coaches that have been the head coaches on teams on the FBS level only. In addition, each coach must at least be entering his third year as a coach on the FBS level. FBS coaches with prior accomplishments in I-AA (like UNLV head man Bobby Hauck) cannot have their achievements put in perspective. Overall, how well the man does in major college ball with lackluster teams will decide if he's worthy of being called a right man in the wrong place.

Miami's Al Golden

Golden had this look when the Miami scandal came out.

Despite being in the wrong place at the wrong time, the Hurricanes were cunning. They've hired a great face of success for their program. While any shot at a national title may be pushed back five years due to recruiting violations, Golden is of a great breed.

Why? He brought a Big East-reject team (wow, think about how bad you have to be to get kicked out of the Big East) in Temple to almost unprecedented heights.

While at the wheel for the Owls, Golden took the team back to its first bowl in 30 years. After starting off his head coaching career with a thud (10-26 his first three years), Temple had a 17-8 record over his final two seasons. In 2010, Temple even upset eventual Big East co-champ and Fiesta bowl team Connecticut.

This author thinks Golden should have waited a bit longer at Temple. Maybe he could have soon been coaching for his alma mater Penn State.

Maryland's Randy Edsall

And this is Randy Edsall's look from when he got his dream job.

Most college coaches consider Notre Dame, Florida, or Ohio State their fantasy stop. Randy Edsall finds his in Maryland, a program that had its heyday in the early 1950s.

Terps fans should not complain too much about losing Mike Leach as a possible head coach. Though his play calling is as bland as Ralph Friegden's, Randy Edsall has a resume that surpasses Leach.

Edsall's pedigree highlights taking UConn—a mediocre Atlantic-10 Conference team—to success as both an Independent and Big East Conference team. Despite inheriting the weak program and the transitions, he left UConn with a winning record, five bowl game appearances, and two shared Big East championships.

Oh, yeah. He got UConn to its first BCS bowl ever. Talk about rags to riches.

Who knows what he can accomplish in College Park.

Duke's David Cutcliffe

Continuing with the ACC, our next stop has a really solid coach digging a program out of a very deep ditch.

That's right, Duke.

David Cutcliffe has been underrated, in my opinion, as a top-notch coach.

Ole Miss fans will agree. He took the Rebels to five bowl games, and had five consecutive winning seasons. They posted a 10 win season in 2003—the first 10 win season in over three decades. Remember, he was in the SEC West. A coach that succeeds in the SEC can achieve anywhere.

After being fired due to disagreements with the athletic director, Cutcliffe eventually settled at Duke. His record there (12-24, 5-19 ACC) is not stellar, but it's a massive improvement from the black hole that was Duke football under his predecessor, Ted Roof (6-45, 3-33 ACC). In 2009, the Blue Devils actually were 1st in the ACC Coastal halfway through the season, before falling to a 5-7 record, and beat an ACC opponent on the road for the first time since 2003 (they have beat two more ACC road opponents since).

Lastly, he tutored the Manning quarterbacks. Hard to trump that.

Virginia's Mike London

What does whipper snapper Mike London have in common with grandpa Larry Coker?

Each won national titles in their first years as head coaches.

Before London took the reins from UVA alumnus Al Groh, he won FCS Richmond's first national title—in any sport.

London has a canny charisma as a coach, since the Cavaliers have actually hauled in a Top 25 recruiting class since his arrival. So last year's 4-8 record will improve over time.

Virginia has had success before, in other sports. Al Groh and George Welsh have made Virginia a winning team, but London has the youth and recruiting to make them a college football power.

It helps that three other teams in the ACC Coastal—North Carolina, Miami and Georgia Tech—have each recently suffered NCAA penalties.

The moral of this story: All winners wear sunglasses.

Baylor's Art Briles

Art Briles has turned the clock back to the good ole' days. At two doormats.

The offensive mastermind brought Houston its first 10 win season in 15 years. In 2006, he also brought the Cougars their first outright conference title since 1978.

Baylor has a Heisman candidate, quarterback Robert Griffin III, who torched the nation's best defense for the past three Falls. Just like Duke, the Bears led the Big 12 South—albeit for a week. Baylor also had a winning season. Baylor had a winning season. And they might have one this year. The dude's knack for the game cannot be denied.

The Bears may be left hanging in the Era of the Superconferences, but with a coach like this and easy scheduling, a bowl game may become an expectation in Waco.

Iowa State's Paul Rhoads

Back to the faces.

Momma, this boy likes his trophy.

To be specific, Coach Rhoads is clutching the Insight Bowl Trophy. Adopting a 5-19 team from future Auburn superstar Gene Chizik, he somehow led the Cyclones to a winning season.The bowl victory over Minnesota was the first bowl win in five years.

Iowa State overcame many obstacles in Year One. A victory against Kent State ended a 17-game losing streak at opponents' stadiums. Iowa State fans saw their 11 game losing streak on the conference road come to a close. In October that year, the Cyclones knocked off Nebraska at Lincoln for the first time in 32 years!

Success followed into Rhoads' second season. For the first time in school history, ISU beat the Texas Longhorns at Austin. It was the school's fourth victory against a ranked road team ever. A gutsy two-point conversion prevented ISU from beating a Top 10 Cornhuskers team in overtime. Despite the 5-7 finish that year, Rhoads had the Cyclones competing with their peers.

This season was to be an expected down year.  After avoiding a near upset to Northern Iowa, the Cyclones displayed Rhoads' grit again. Junior quarterback Steele Jantz threw four touchdowns as ISU took down the Iowa Hawkeyes in triple overtime.

Final fact: He actually has a winning record in Ames. Trust me, Rhoads will be at an elite school fighting for national titles in a decade.

Kansas's Turner Gill

From 1999 to 2005, the Buffalo Bulls were the laughing stock of college football. An abysmal record of 10-69 did not help. In just four years, Turner Gill led Buffalo to a 20-30 record. He doubled the team's total victories in half the time of predecessor's Craig Curbis and Jim Hofher. The turn around featured an 18-20 finish on Gill's final three season schedules.

Buffalo won a MAC Championship in 2008, when the Bulls upset 12^th ranked Ball State. The Bulls finished  8-6, appearing in a bowl game! Though there was a downturn the next year, the team still garnered a respectable (for them) 5-7 record.

Some saw Gill as the coach that would take Kansas to the next level. Like Mark Mangino, the former quarterback specialized in offensive strategy. Todd Reesing isn’t there, and the Jayhawks tanked to a 3-9 record. Being a Tom Osborne protégé, he can bring Kansas back to their glory days under Mangino.

But…I wouldn’t say they’ll get better than the basketball team.

Kansas State's Bill Snyder

If Buffalo was the laughing stock of urbanized college football, then Kansas State was the jester of the countryside. KSU, located in the small town of Manhattan (sounds ironic), was eventually turned around in the 1990s by Bill Snyder. The Wildcats even named their stadium after the famed head coach, whom Oklahoma’s Barry Switzer called the “Coach of the Century.”

It’s true that Snyder’s run of six 11 win seasons in seven years is over, and, by the mid-2000s, Wildcat nation was in decline. But, after he left, the program fell apart. So the Prodigal Son returned. Kansas State hasn’t had many huge victories since, but they have been contenders against nearly every opponent.

Thanks to him, the worst team in college football history can talk about which bowl game they might play when Winter comes.

Minnesota's Jerry Kill

He kind of looks like a Gopher.

But seriously, it’s hard to find someone who has overcome so many personal battles.

Not only has Jerry Kill survived cancer, he’s able to handle coaching duties with his epileptic condition.

The newly inaugurated Golden Gophers coach has a career littered with success. Kill took a 2-10 Northern Illinois uniform to a 10 win season in four years. One should compare his record from the FCS level up to Minnesota to Brian Kelly’s resume. Each has had similar success at every stop—stunning.

Now what’s our sturdy friend going to do? Turn a long-dormant (like 1930s) national power and get them to beat FCS teams, post in-conference W’s, and make bowl games a regular occurrence.

Minnesota pulled in quite the big fish. Think of him as a fresh dose of Glen Mason.

SMU's June Jones

Coach Jones has helped create the best quarterbacks in history. Up here, Jones (in his Hawaii days) goes over game play with record-setting quarterback Timmy Chang.

Think Graham Harrell has thrown for the most yards ever? Nope; that distinction belongs to Timmy Chang.

The brainchild of June Jones is the Run-and-Shoot Offense. With its effectiveness being greater than Mike Leach's Air Raid, that makes Jones a quintessential coach already.

Hawaii saw a complete reanimation under Jones; in his first year, the Warriors went from zero to nine wins. That same year, Hawaii tied for the WAC title.

Jones was never fired from Hawaii, but departed after the athletic department was not willing to raise funds. Either way, he left a top 10 team that went undefeated in the regular season, had a Heisman trophy contender at quarterback and a BCS bowl game appearance.

He responded by taking SMU from a 1-11 record to a Holiday Bowl blowout victory over Nevada. SMU reached the Conference USA title game last year. So even if the whole conference realignment leaves the SEC and Pac-16 scrambling for elite recruits, things are only getting brighter for the Mustangs.

Ohio and Frank Solich

We've gone excavating for this fossil!

Frank Solich was a household name in College Football when the Backstreet Boys topped the charts.

Yep, that long ago.

Nebraska did go through a slump with Frank Solich, but he won the most games for a Cornhusker coach in his first six seasons (58). So why did Nebraska Nation deify Bob Devaney and Tom Osborne yet give Solich the shaft.

A subpar 7-7 performance (NU's worst since the late 1960s) got him fired, but redemption came in the Buckeye state.

The Ohio Bobcats have gone to three bowls since 2005, and have finished 1st in the MAC East. Ohio's 2009 senior class finished with the most wins dating back to the 1970s.

A winning record at a downtrodden program isn't that shabby.

Western Michigan's Bill Cubit

Ever heard of the Broncos?

Not Boise State. And not Denver.

Western Michigan is already behind Michigan State and college football's stronghold in Ann Arbor.

Despite losing to arch rival Central Michigan all the time, Cubit made a 1-10 team go 7-4. In easily the most unpredictable conference next to the SEC,

The guy's closing in on 60, and some say his health could be in danger, but any success at Western Michigan is worth some applause.

The icing on the cake includes victories over BCS teams Virginia, Iowa and Illinois.