College Football: Ranking the Big 12 Coaches
The Sporting News answered that question after ranking the coaches in the Big 12 and the coaches in college football.
The Big 12 coaches stacked up like this, with their overall ranking in parentheses.
1. Bob Stoops (5)- No arguments here, easily one of the best in college football. And honestly, Stoops should be third behind Nick Saban and Urban Meyer.
2. Gary Patterson (7)- He’s a great coach, but he is a fringe top ten coach to me and ranks 11th in my eyes.
3. Mike Gundy (10)- Gundy should be bumped down a few spots, because putting him in the top ten is slightly overrating him. 12-15 sounds perfect.
4. Bill Synder (11)- I know I might get killed for this, but Snyder is definitely one of the top ten coaches in college football and has revived Kansas State twice. He needs to be ranked 7th or 8th.
5. Mack Brown (16)- He’s taken quite a tumble over the past two years, but nobody can deny that his track record at Texas is incredible. People make a case for him being higher or lower than 16, but I’d like to think that he’s in the right spot at 16th.
6. Charlie Weis (40)- That’s a big drop-off from 16 to 40, and there are quite a bit of people who think Weis is worse than Art Briles from Baylor (ranked 41st). A lot of it has to do with his time at Notre Dame, but I don’t see how he can be blamed for what went down over there. It isn’t like the program has been taking off without him either, and people can’t forget how much of an offensive genius Weis is- especially with quarterbacks. He’s already changed the culture in Lawrence and the team’s ability to recruit, but his ranking is definitely subject to change this season.
7. Art Briles (41)- The main reason why many feel that Briles should be ranked in the top 40 has to do with what he has done to turn around the Baylor program. I actually agree that Briles should be ranked higher than Weis, but it doesn’t come at Weis’s expense. Briles is the better coach for his turnaround at Baylor, but those that believe he should be in the top 30 need to rethink things. A spot at 36th seems logical, while Weis is fine at 40; there’s no need to bump him outside of the top 50.
8. Dana Holgorsen (44)- The West Virginia coach is a guy who I am high on, and I think he ends up winning over people by season’s end. WVU’s success can’t be completely attributed to Geno Smith and Tavon Austin on offense, because Holgorsen has had a lot to do with the development of this team. Don’t be surprised to see him jump ten spots by season’s end. To be honest, he’s already a top 40 coach.
9. Paul Rhoads (48)- It’s tough to get a proper gauge on Paul Rhoades at times, because he has created so much excitement among Iowa State fans, and yet it’s too early to tell. I think he should be ranked a few spots higher, but 48th seems right to me.
10. Tommy Tuberville (50)- The fact that the worst Big 12 coach is in the top 50 says a lot about this conference’s quality of coaches. There are some who believe that Tuberville should be ranked lower, but there needs to be more respect for the Red Raiders head coach. He’s got a great track record, and the rebuilding process at the university is a monumental task. He could drop from the top 50, but I don’t see how he isn’t a top 50 coach at this point.
I don’t have any big picture disagreements with the rankings from the Sporting News, and my main disagreements have to do with nit-picking places among coaches overall. The Big 12 has easily the best coaches in the nation, because all of them either have great track records or are currently doing a good job rebuilding or winning at their school.
Below is my ranking of the coaches in the Big 12, and feel free to add yours in the comment’s section, as well as any comments on the Sporting News’s overall rankings. Do you think the Big 12 has the best coaches in college football?
1. Bob Stoops
2. Bill Snyder
3. Gary Patterson
4. Mike Gundy
5. Mack Brown
6. Art Briles
7. Dana Holgorsen
8. Charlie Weis (By default, since I moved up Holgorsen. Doesn’t mean I don’t like Weis, it’s just that it’s too early for me to put him over Holgorsen; I want to see the results after five actual games.)
9. Paul Rhoads
10. Tommy Tuberville
Yeah, the coaches in the Big 12 are terrific, there is no doubt about it. I mean, I hate having to move down a coach in the rankings.