by Kyle Golik
In the wake of the news that Nick Saban is retiring, I thought it apt to see where he ranks among the best of all time. Here are my Top 10 coaches ever.
Note: This is only Football Bowl Subdivision head coaches. You will not see Eddie Robinson of Grambling, John Gagliardi of St. John’s, or Larry Kehres of Mount Union.
#10 Barry Switzer
Switzer was one of the cockiest and most confident head coaches to ever roam the sidelines. The Arkansas native was like a professional wrestling heel. He loved nothing more than talking about how he was going to beat you and then do just that. That confidence fueled him, especially with incidents like “The Tacos” on Nebraska’s Bob Devaney Show. Switzer’s Sooners always responded in the biggest moments, with a .662 winning percentage against ranked opponents. During his tenure at Oklahoma, Switzer won three national and 12 Big Eight titles.
#9 Woody Hayes
Hayes is remembered for dominating the Big Ten and the nation with his “three yards and a cloud of dust” mentality. Everyone knew Hayes’ game plan. But the Buckeyes executed never failed, and during Hayes’ tenure at Ohio State, they won five national championships and 13 Big Ten championships.
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#8 Amos Alonzo Stagg
Stagg is the “Grand Old Man” of football being the sport’s leading innovator in its infancy everything from the lateral to padded goalposts. Stagg won seven Big Ten Conference titles before Chicago decided not to play big-time football any longer and focus on the Manhattan Project.
#7 Knute Rockne
Beano Cook, in the Rites of Autumn documentary, referred to Rockne as the “Thomas Jefferson” of college football. He was a brilliant tactician who was one of the greatest visionaries the sport has ever known. Cook told the story of the building of Notre Dame Stadium and Rockne told the Fathers that they would need room for parking. The Fathers who didn’t have the forward-thinking Rockne possessed said no one drove but Rockne said they would, and boy was he right. Under Rockne, Notre Dame kept winning. with five undefeated seasons and four national titles. Every coach chases Rockne’s .881 winning percentage mark, the highest in college football history.
#6 Bud Wilkinson
When Jim Tatum took the Maryland job following the 1946 season, he wanted to take an offensive genius with him to coordinate his attack. Oklahoma knew of Wilkinson’s ability and promoted him to head coach before Tatum could swipe him. Wilkinson quickly transformed the Oklahoma program first leading the Sooners to a 31-game unbeaten streak from 1948-50. That in itself would be historic for many, but that would become second fiddle to his FBS record streak by Oklahoma of 47 unbeaten games from 1953-57. Wilkinson led Oklahoma to three national championships and 14 Big 8 Championships.
#5 Urban Meyer
Very few coaches ever did a better job on the biggest stage against Nick Saban than Urban Meyer. While each won two games against the other, Meyer won two of the biggest contests, in the 2008 SEC Championship Game and 2014 Sugar Bowl, the latter of which was a College Football Playoff Semifinal matchup. Meyer went undefeated at Utah, and won national championships, three in all, between Florida in the SEC and Ohio State in the Big Ten. At Ohio State, Meyer won over 90% of his games including never losing to Michigan as an Ohio State head coach.
#4 Bobby Bowden
Anyone, anywhere, anytime. That was the mantra of Bobby Bowden who turned Florida State from a failing football program to a national power that reeled off a record 14 consecutive Top 4 finishes in the AP Poll. Bowden suffered heartbreak along the way, too, most notably a long inability to beat Miami (and often because of woes in the kicking game.) Bowden never lost his resolve, however, and was able to keep Florida State near the top of the polls. It would be a wide left against Nebraska in the Orange Bowl that gave him his first national championship and an epic performance by Peter Warrick in the 2000 Sugar Bowl that capped the first wire-to-wire No. 1 national championship in the modern era.
#3 Joe Paterno
Paterno was the first coach to win the five major bowl games: Fiesta, Orange, Cotton, Sugar, and Rose, and was the only coach to win the America Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Coach of the Year five times, Walter Camp Coach of the Year three times, and one of two coaches (alongside Bill Snyder of Kansas State) to win the Bobby Dodd Coach of the Year twice. At the time of Paterno’s termination in regards to the Jerry Sandusky scandal, Paterno was the all-time leader in career wins (409), bowl wins (24), and ranked wins (86 – since passed by Nick Saban).
#2 Paul “Bear” Bryant
Former Houston Oiler head coach Bum Phillips said of “Bear” Bryant, “He could take his’n and beat your’n, and he could take your’n and beat his’n.” Bryant, at the time of his retirement, won the most games (323), national championships (six), and bowl games (15). Bryant won no matter the system, whether it was a single platoon or multiple platoons, whether it was using the “T-Formation,” “I-Formation,” or wishbone attacks. Bryant’s Alabama teams helped segregate the SEC and ushered in a new era of Alabama football, where the Crimson Tide won three national championships between 1973 and 1979.
#1 Nick Saban
Saban is the game’s ultimate big game-winner, his seven national championships are the most of all time as are his 104 wins against ranked opponents, and nine wins against No. 1 ranked teams. Saban’s “process” helped LSU realize the football-rich state it had and won the program’s first national championship since 1958 in 2003. Returning to the college game after a brief stint with the Miami Dolphins became Saban’s opus as the Crimson Tide won 87.4% of their games and six national championships.
