Ranked according to tier...from the article: The Athletic spoke to administrators, agents, coaches, and industry insiders to get a sense of the kind of job that each head coach is doing. Measurables are championships, draft picks, etc. while weighing internal support and resources. Body of work is considered over recent success:
Speaks for himself:
1A - Nick Saban (Alabama)
Every coach in this tier other than Whittingham has made the CFP. Every coach other than Whittingham and Fickell coaches at a blue blood. Three have won national titles. Harbaugh and Kelly have won at multiple programs.
1B - Ryan Day (OSU), Luke Fickell (Cincinnati) , Jimbo Fisher (ATM), Jim Harbaugh (Michigan), Brian Kelly (LSU), Lincoln Riley (USC), Kirby Smart (Georgia), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
Call this the “proven goods” tier. Of the 23 coaches listed in Tier 2, 19 are entering at least their 10th season as head coaches at the FBS level. If you include Mack Brown and Greg Schiano — both of whom are in their second acts at their current schools — then nine of those 19 coaches are entering at least their 10th season at one school.
Brown is the only national title winner among this group, having won it all 17 years ago at Texas. Malzahn made the BCS title game in 2013 with Auburn, and Leach made a push in 2008 at Texas Tech. None of these coaches have made the Playoff, though Chryst (2017), Cristobal (2019), Ferentz (2015), Franklin (2016), Gundy (2021) and Shaw (2015) have come close.
“I might be in the minority, but I think Kirk Ferentz is tremendously underrated,” the agent said. “People take him for granted because he’s been at Iowa for so long. But man, it’s not like that place has the greatest advantages, and he’s about as good and consistent as can be. That being said, I think the guy across the state from him (Matt Campbell) is a f—— rock star.”
Still, the body of work of many in this group deserves recognition. Campbell, Dave Clawson and P.J. Fleck have rebuilt multiple programs. Dana Holgorsen and Lane Kiffin are two of the best offensive minds in the game. Pat Narduzzi and Kalani Sitake have established their respective programs as forces to be reckoned with, with Pitt winning the ACC in 2021 and BYU now Big 12-bound come 2023.
“He showed some resilience,” another agent said of Sitake. “They had a wonderful season with Zach (Wilson) but they were again a really strong team last year. I think they’re going to enter the Big 12 full steam ahead and instantly be one of the contenders.”
Kalani Sitake is 48-29 in six seasons at BYU.
Pat Fitzgerald has become synonymous with Northwestern, winning two Big Ten West titles and helping elevate the campus’ interest in football to the point that the program now boasts one of the nicest practice and operational facilities in the country, with the $270 million Ryan Fieldhouse opening in 2018.
Interestingly enough, the only non-future Power 5 programs represented in this tier are the three military academies, with Troy Calhoun, Jeff Monken and Ken Niumatalolo having all made their marks in long runs at their institutions.
Napier went 40-12 in four years at Louisiana and landed the Florida job, which is probably one of the few programs represented in this tier that is truly capable of winning a national title in the Playoff era. One athletic director described Napier as the “youngest, most complete coach in the business.”
That same AD praised Napier’s SEC East rival, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, who is 59-53 with six consecutive bowl appearances and two ranked finishes at a school that hadn’t previously finished ranked since 1984.
“Mark Stoops is the most underrated coach in the SEC,” the AD said. “He built a program that is not known for being good at football into a pretty good program in the toughest conference in America. He did this without the benefit of having a great in-state recruiting bed like a state of Texas, Florida, Georgia, California. He has a defensive-minded approach but also is smart enough to be able to alter his offensive scheme like he did two years ago bringing in an NFL OC.”
That longevity plays particularly well in a conference that has seen rapid coaching turnover, as 10 of 14 SEC coaches will be entering their first, second or third year at their school in 2022.
“Make no mistake about it, Nick Saban has been on a separate plane for a very long time. But I thought there was a point in time there where the SEC had as good of a lineup of coaches as anyone in the country. I’m not sure about that right now,” the first agent said.“Now you get a guy like (Sam) Pittman or (Eli) Drinkwitz who has been there three years and people are calling them ‘long-tenured coaches.’ In the SEC now, Florida is new, LSU is new. A&M’s guy has been there for four years and he’s got a national championship, but he’s also got more 8-4s than anyone in the country.”
2 - Mack Brown (UNC), Troy Calhoun (Air Force), Matt Campbell (Iowa State), Paul Chryst (Wisconsin), Dave Clawson (Wake Forest), Mario Cristobal (Miami), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), PJ Fleck (Minnesota), James Franklin (PSU), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), Dana Holgersen (Houston), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Mike Leach (Mississippi State), Gus Malzahn (UCF), Jeff Monken (Army), Billy Napier (Florida), Pat Narduzzi (Pitt), Ken Niumatalolo (Navy), Greg Schiano (Rutgers), David Shaw (Stanford), Kalani Sitake (BYU), Mark Stoops (Kentucky)
Speaks for himself:
1A - Nick Saban (Alabama)
Every coach in this tier other than Whittingham has made the CFP. Every coach other than Whittingham and Fickell coaches at a blue blood. Three have won national titles. Harbaugh and Kelly have won at multiple programs.
1B - Ryan Day (OSU), Luke Fickell (Cincinnati) , Jimbo Fisher (ATM), Jim Harbaugh (Michigan), Brian Kelly (LSU), Lincoln Riley (USC), Kirby Smart (Georgia), Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Kyle Whittingham (Utah)
Call this the “proven goods” tier. Of the 23 coaches listed in Tier 2, 19 are entering at least their 10th season as head coaches at the FBS level. If you include Mack Brown and Greg Schiano — both of whom are in their second acts at their current schools — then nine of those 19 coaches are entering at least their 10th season at one school.
Brown is the only national title winner among this group, having won it all 17 years ago at Texas. Malzahn made the BCS title game in 2013 with Auburn, and Leach made a push in 2008 at Texas Tech. None of these coaches have made the Playoff, though Chryst (2017), Cristobal (2019), Ferentz (2015), Franklin (2016), Gundy (2021) and Shaw (2015) have come close.
“I might be in the minority, but I think Kirk Ferentz is tremendously underrated,” the agent said. “People take him for granted because he’s been at Iowa for so long. But man, it’s not like that place has the greatest advantages, and he’s about as good and consistent as can be. That being said, I think the guy across the state from him (Matt Campbell) is a f—— rock star.”
Still, the body of work of many in this group deserves recognition. Campbell, Dave Clawson and P.J. Fleck have rebuilt multiple programs. Dana Holgorsen and Lane Kiffin are two of the best offensive minds in the game. Pat Narduzzi and Kalani Sitake have established their respective programs as forces to be reckoned with, with Pitt winning the ACC in 2021 and BYU now Big 12-bound come 2023.
“He showed some resilience,” another agent said of Sitake. “They had a wonderful season with Zach (Wilson) but they were again a really strong team last year. I think they’re going to enter the Big 12 full steam ahead and instantly be one of the contenders.”
Kalani Sitake is 48-29 in six seasons at BYU.
Pat Fitzgerald has become synonymous with Northwestern, winning two Big Ten West titles and helping elevate the campus’ interest in football to the point that the program now boasts one of the nicest practice and operational facilities in the country, with the $270 million Ryan Fieldhouse opening in 2018.
Interestingly enough, the only non-future Power 5 programs represented in this tier are the three military academies, with Troy Calhoun, Jeff Monken and Ken Niumatalolo having all made their marks in long runs at their institutions.
Napier went 40-12 in four years at Louisiana and landed the Florida job, which is probably one of the few programs represented in this tier that is truly capable of winning a national title in the Playoff era. One athletic director described Napier as the “youngest, most complete coach in the business.”
That same AD praised Napier’s SEC East rival, Kentucky’s Mark Stoops, who is 59-53 with six consecutive bowl appearances and two ranked finishes at a school that hadn’t previously finished ranked since 1984.
“Mark Stoops is the most underrated coach in the SEC,” the AD said. “He built a program that is not known for being good at football into a pretty good program in the toughest conference in America. He did this without the benefit of having a great in-state recruiting bed like a state of Texas, Florida, Georgia, California. He has a defensive-minded approach but also is smart enough to be able to alter his offensive scheme like he did two years ago bringing in an NFL OC.”
That longevity plays particularly well in a conference that has seen rapid coaching turnover, as 10 of 14 SEC coaches will be entering their first, second or third year at their school in 2022.
“Make no mistake about it, Nick Saban has been on a separate plane for a very long time. But I thought there was a point in time there where the SEC had as good of a lineup of coaches as anyone in the country. I’m not sure about that right now,” the first agent said.“Now you get a guy like (Sam) Pittman or (Eli) Drinkwitz who has been there three years and people are calling them ‘long-tenured coaches.’ In the SEC now, Florida is new, LSU is new. A&M’s guy has been there for four years and he’s got a national championship, but he’s also got more 8-4s than anyone in the country.”
2 - Mack Brown (UNC), Troy Calhoun (Air Force), Matt Campbell (Iowa State), Paul Chryst (Wisconsin), Dave Clawson (Wake Forest), Mario Cristobal (Miami), Kirk Ferentz (Iowa), Pat Fitzgerald (Northwestern), PJ Fleck (Minnesota), James Franklin (PSU), Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State), Dana Holgersen (Houston), Lane Kiffin (Ole Miss), Mike Leach (Mississippi State), Gus Malzahn (UCF), Jeff Monken (Army), Billy Napier (Florida), Pat Narduzzi (Pitt), Ken Niumatalolo (Navy), Greg Schiano (Rutgers), David Shaw (Stanford), Kalani Sitake (BYU), Mark Stoops (Kentucky)
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