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My top 5:

Chris Peterson - Nobody in the country is a better coach. He takes less talent and gets more out of them than anyone in the business. He builds programs and cultures from the bottom up and keeps them at the top.

Dabo Swinney - Many of the qualities that Peterson has are also in Swinney. He took a football program that hasnt won a NC in 35 years and built it into a national power and won a NC. He does more with less like Peterson.

Gary Patterson - Before Patterson TCU wasnt even on the radar in college football, now he has built a program in Texas that is probably one of the top 3 in the state year in and out. He doesnt get all the talent that the Longhorns and A&M do but still works them over.

David Shaw - Smart and innovative, he took Harbaughs blueprint and tweeked a few things but kept the formula working at a place that isnt easy to recruit, due to high academic standards. Churning out NFL talent year after year is the mark of a guy that knows people and product.

Jim Harbaugh - Cant stand the guy but there is no doubt he has a formula for winning. He does it everywhere and builds things that have been left to scrap. San Diego, Stanford, 49ers and now rebuilding Michigan to a power house is very impressive after what Hoke left him with.

That's a pretty good list. Although I have to admit I had to google David Shaw.

Oh. I see where you're going now. I thought you meant the top 5 potential hires, not the top 5 already there.

Big names to look for in the potential hire arena, in no particular order:

1. Mike Canales, OC, Utah State. He's LONG overdue for a HC slot. A great offensive mind.

2. Angus McClure, DL Coach, UCLA. Really more of an offensive guy, but a great recruiter.

3. Jon Osterhout, HC, American River College (Sacramento, CA). A McClure protégé.

4. John Fassel, Interim HC, Los Angeles Rams. If the Rams don't remove the interim tag, I expect a return to the college ranks might be in the cards for the former New Mexico-Highlands (D-II) HC. A Canales protégé from our days together at Pacific, Fassel knows much more about the game than the special teams he's coached since joining the Ravens after leaving Highlands. Fassel had a hand in the development of potential HOFers Sebastian Janikowski and Shane Lechler.

Not hires, your top 5 list of coaches already coaching in college football.

I know, Alpha. I didn't have a response to the top 5 already in place, though I'd put the guy at EWU over any of the 5 you mentioned. I'll freely admit, though, that that's entirely due to my philosophy, flawed as you might believe it might be (perhaps with good reason, who knows?) that FCS > FBS....

1. Tom Herman
2. Nick Saban
3. Urban Meyer
4. Chris Petersen
5. Dabo

Art Briles would be #1 or #2 here before the roof came crashing in on him.

1. Lane Kiffin
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ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:My top 5:

Chris Peterson - Nobody in the country is a better coach. He takes less talent and gets more out of them than anyone in the business. He builds programs and cultures from the bottom up and keeps them at the top.

Dabo Swinney - Many of the qualities that Peterson has are also in Swinney. He took a football program that hasnt won a NC in 35 years and built it into a national power and won a NC. He does more with less like Peterson.

Gary Patterson - Before Patterson TCU wasnt even on the radar in college football, now he has built a program in Texas that is probably one of the top 3 in the state year in and out. He doesnt get all the talent that the Longhorns and A&M do but still works them over.

David Shaw - Smart and innovative, he took Harbaughs blueprint and tweeked a few things but kept the formula working at a place that isnt easy to recruit, due to high academic standards. Churning out NFL talent year after year is the mark of a guy that knows people and product.

Jim Harbaugh - Cant stand the guy but there is no doubt he has a formula for winning. He does it everywhere and builds things that have been left to scrap. San Diego, Stanford, 49ers and now rebuilding Michigan to a power house is very impressive after what Hoke left him with.

Good list but I think Pwns is right, you might not like them but Saban and Meyer belong on the list. I would drop Shaw and probably Patterson (and I love the way he coaches). It's too early for Herman though.

UNI88 wrote:

ALPHAGRIZ1 wrote:My top 5:

Chris Peterson - Nobody in the country is a better coach. He takes less talent and gets more out of them than anyone in the business. He builds programs and cultures from the bottom up and keeps them at the top.

Dabo Swinney - Many of the qualities that Peterson has are also in Swinney. He took a football program that hasnt won a NC in 35 years and built it into a national power and won a NC. He does more with less like Peterson.

Gary Patterson - Before Patterson TCU wasnt even on the radar in college football, now he has built a program in Texas that is probably one of the top 3 in the state year in and out. He doesnt get all the talent that the Longhorns and A&M do but still works them over.

David Shaw - Smart and innovative, he took Harbaughs blueprint and tweeked a few things but kept the formula working at a place that isnt easy to recruit, due to high academic standards. Churning out NFL talent year after year is the mark of a guy that knows people and product.

Jim Harbaugh - Cant stand the guy but there is no doubt he has a formula for winning. He does it everywhere and builds things that have been left to scrap. San Diego, Stanford, 49ers and now rebuilding Michigan to a power house is very impressive after what Hoke left him with.

Good list but I think Pwns is right, you might not like them but Saban and Meyer belong on the list. I would drop Shaw and probably Patterson (and I love the way he coaches). It's too early for Herman though.

Briles is my number 2 coach, didnt have him on the list since he currently isnt coaching.

Added Shaw in his place Meyer would be my next coach on the list and Saban might crack my top 25. He is all hype and little substance IMO. Saban has inherited all big programs and had to turn them around a slight bit.....not impressed. Its my list I can do what I want.

Grizalltheway wrote:1. Lane Kiffin
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We'll see about this now that he has taken over the dumpster fire at FAU.

TheDancinMonarch wrote:

Grizalltheway wrote:1. Lane Kiffin
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.
.
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We'll see about this now that he has taken over the dumpster fire at FAU.

Well, it was a joke, but sure, I guess we will!

As much as I hate to say it I think both Nick Saban and Urban Meyer are better college Head Coaches than anyone on the list at the start of this thread except maybe Sweeny. That's because part of being a college head coach is recruiting.

When you say that a coach does more with less talent that's an automatic problem because in college it's the head coach's job to assemble talent. Now, I know that's not really fair if you're talking about the coach at a FBS school that's not in the power 5. But if a coach is in the Power 5 and you're saying he's good because he does well with a relatively low talent level...well...you see what I'm getting at.

And yes I know you have an advantage in that regard if you're at Ohio State or Alabama. But, still, both Saban and Meyer have really turned it up at those schools in terms of assembling talent.

Well, you can scratch one of mine off the list. Utah State OC Mike Canales has been named QBs Coach at Tennessee....