Shocked it isn't just a list of SEC schools. Leaving out the Steelers is sad, every reason they list for the Packers applies to Pittsburgh. Also, tying the Buckeyes to TSUN is just wrong. http://m.espn.go.com/ncf/story?storyId=8733842
PHONE'S RINGING -- IT'S URBAN ON THE LINE
•Football Schedule•Basketball Schedule•Forum•About•Contact
11W Poll
Buckshots
Buckshots Block
-
Bielema Proposes Rule Change to Slow Down No-Huddle Offenses
"Woah, slow down, buddy. Let's savor that first down for a while."
-
Gene Smith Named to NCAA Council of Athletic Directors
Group will meet regularly with NCAA president Mark Emmert.
-
Matt Hayes' Ten 2013 Season Storylines That Don't Involve The SEC
1. Ohio State-Michigan.
-
Wilson Recaps Ohio State Visit
2014 cornerback Quincy Wilson talks about his recent visit to Ohio State.
-
VIDEO: Rich Rodriguez Makes a Fine Sheriff
No words. Okay, maybe just a few.
-
Ohio State's "Be the Best Man" Doctrine
Who knew Urban Meyer had rules for his players?
Recent Blog Posts
- The Time Traveler: Analysis of Anger
- Gee, by the numbers
- Heritage and Tradition Revisited
- Would you let your kids go to scum?
- Field of Dreams, Buckeye Football, and Father's Day
- Johns Hopkins to the Big Ten from JHU President Ronald Daniels
- Meanwhile, at Penn State...
- I always thought the SEC was a Conference.... Has it morphed into something before unseen?
- Gordon Gee is Ohio State's Joe Paterno
- Perkins officially leaving OSU
Active in the Forum
- Quick Bits 6/18 (Demetrius Knox names a leader)
- 11W Community Interview Questions For Sean Nuernberger
- Curtis Samuel Update
- Top 3 coaches not named Saban or Meyer
- Update on 2014 QB Situation
- Rich Rod LMAO
- Odd/Interesting Historical Facts
- Derrick Green development
- Thad Offers #2 National 2015 Player
- B1G APR Scores
- NBA Finals
- Knox: "UCLA is Leader"
- The Shoe #1 stadium in the B1G
- Ohio State misses out on a pair of transfers?
- Aaron Hernandez's home searched after killing
Want to say hello?
We love hearing from you! Whether you want to work with us, discuss advertising opportunities, or pass us a hot tip, you're more than welcome to drop us a line.
Dreadful list. And the exclusion of the Steelers is ludicrous.
I will say that tsun and Ohio State are indeed tied together, though. We're better when we're better together.
I agree 100% about the Steelers! There's a reason they have had 3 coaches in like 40 years.
Also how is OSU and TTUN tied? When scUM looked for a coach after Carr, Rodriguez was their third or forth choice and when Dick Rod's time was up, Harbaugh said no, Miles said no, Hoke was their 3rd choice again. And remember all the excuses scUM fans made about Carr "leaving the cupboards bare" when defending Dick Rod?
Ohio State went out and got Urban F Meyer after Tressel was gone! The best coach on the market and OSUs first choice! Ohio State is clearly a better coaching destination than AA.
I hate the Steelers almost as much as ttun but have to admit that they must be on this list.
I saw this list earlier and I don't like anything about it. First off I would never compare NFL jobs with college jobs, but that is just me.
Yes there are two Buckeyes in Ann arbor on this site!
Is it just me or does being a college coach seem like a much more exhilarating career. Tradition, prestige, recruiting kids that want to play for an institution rather than for money, developing character in young men, and teaching life lessons. All of this, versus battling the salary cap. I'll go CFB.
Huh? College coaches literally do none of those things.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
This India Pale Ale says you need to explain if you want me to follow.
Highwire, sometimes your comments crack me the f up, and usually when I don't think you're even trying to be funny.
Do you not believe that this man changed many lives? No offense intended, but I'm not convinced that you ever played the game. Of course, this is not a requirement, but it certainly helps when commenting on this topic. Cynicism can be a hell of a lot of fun, but it doesn't get you anywhere.
If I say something that you disagree with, feel free to respond to the comment that you have found undesirable. This is Woody, you don't downvote him.
Not positive here, but I'm going to guess the DV came from you saying you're convinced he never played the game. Commenting policy specifically mentions that in things not to do
Sorry Urban, Woody is still my favorite
I did not know that. Thanks Triv!
Well I have, not at high levels of sport-certainly never approaching anything where a coach at a major program would give me a look but again, that has little to do with this.
Today's coaches aren't yester years coaches. Nick Saban gets kids to Bama because they will win a ton of games, be on TV, and go to the NFL. I'm sure guys have a great relationship with their coach but the college game today is a launchpad to the NFL simple as that. Sorry to be cynical, but the idea that football coaches are 'shapers of men' is pretty foolish and arcane too. They are football coaches. Not father figures. If a kid sees a coach and keeps his nose clean to stay on the field, then that's gravy but these guys today are paid exorbitant amounts of money to do exactly one thing-win football games.
The romanticized notion of a college coach is something that has gone by the wayside. Its also foolish to assume NFL coaches do it just for the money. Do you think there is a greater feeling for a coach than raising the Lombardi over his head?
"Tradition, prestige, recruiting kids that want to play for an institution rather than for money, developing character in young men, and teaching life lessons. All of this, versus battling the salary cap. I'll go CFB."
NFL teams are ripe with tradition. Green Bay, San Francisco, Dallas, New York, Pittsburgh.
As for the recruiting kids thing-they don't want to play for an institution more than they want to play in the NFL. I mean some kids might-guys who grow up Buckeye fans dream of playing for OSU but if you are good enough to play at OSU, you are good enough to play elsewhere and are good enough to have a shot at the ultimate goal-the NFL.
Developing Character? Again-that is a sidecar. If it happens, cool, but if Urban Meyer were to recruite a boatload of talented players-some of whom have character flaws, and he were to impart some sort of new found sense of self respect and these troubled kids turn into Academic All Americans but his teams lose 6 games a year, Urban Meyer gets axed, regardless of what sort of kids the program cranks out into the world after college.
4-6 seconds from point A to point B and when you get to point B, be pissed off
I think that notion is held high here because of the perception that JT was such a person. However, after reading the MoC stuff today, and knowing about the guys from Tatgate and the stuff that happened after that as well with the jobs and charity, this stuff ran rampant through the program the entire time he was here. I'm not saying he wasn't a good person and that he didn't teach guys valuable lessons, but guys like Laurinitis and Jenkins were great people because they were great people. They didn't need their coach make them great men. Zach Boren and Johnny Simon never needed guys like Tressel and Urban to mold them.
Don't take my comments to mean that JT didn't teach the kids some lessons a long the way. As much as we demonize Saban, he's beloved by his players and they believe he's a great guy too. I agree with Brewsters, these guys are brought to schools and players come to play for them and get to the NFL. Tress was good at selling the university to the kids, and espeically the parents, but Urban is even better. Both knew what it takes to get them here. Urban gushes about the seniors, and loved Tim Tebow, and tells players that he had a dream that God wanted them to play for him etc. They are great salesmen and they win ballgames.
Houston Texans?
I don't know, either. There are six or seven jobs I'd take before that one. You have a choice to coach for the Rooneys or McNair, and you take McNair? Bizarre.
How many times did tsun get turned down before getting jabba!
Lol at LSU being placed ahead of OSU/UM. Also USC/Oklahoma>Florida.
I don't know man. I mean Les Miles (a Michigan Man) prefered LSU over Michigan twice. And Louisiana is on par with Ohio for recruiting talent. I mean LSU gets the majority of their players from there and they do quite well for themselves.
I don't neccesarily agree with the placement, but you could see how a reasonable person would do that.
He didn't. He was screwed over by Bill Martin, he'd have left LSU at the drop of a (mad) hat.
In 2011, he was firmly entrenched as the head coach of a perennial contender; it's a really hard thing to drop it all and rebuild your alma mater--especially when your current employer is offering you a raise to stay. Bob Stoops faced a similar dilemma with Notre Dame. The guy's a Catholic from Youngstown, you don't think he'd have wanted a chance to be the savior of a historic program?
Many in the MClub assigned blame to Mary Sue Coleman for not intervening. So, Martin was replaced with a true blue, Michigan Man, in Dave Brandon. Of course, both he and Les Miles played for Bo, in the early - to mid-seventies, during "The War" years.
And many in the MClub still pine for Miles. Losing to Alabama, 41-14, hurt Hoke. Then, there's Meyer. Few of them believed Hoke would beat Meyer this year and he proved them right. And they expected a B1G Championship. But, Hoke failed to deliver. Hoke's position with the Michigan faihful-powerful is tenuous. He had better win that bowl.
If Hoke doesn't hold serve against Meyer, in 2013, he will be in serious trouble. If Hoke loses to Meyer in 2014, he will be out.
Miles to Michigan is the M Club's "Sword of Damocles." I believe it will be wielded. Then, "The War" will resume.
I follow the logic and completely see your argument, but I don't think he's in peril as early as 2014. Maybe 2015 or '16, but that's a very short leash.
You may be right, though. I certainly hope we get to find out.
Why wouldn't LSU or Florida be considered better jobs right now than Ohio State or Michigan? They have ridiculously passionate fans, they have elite facilities, and they've won multiple titles in the BCS era. When Urban had Florida rolling, which wasn't that long ago, Florida was considered to be the premier athletic department in America. Their football team won 2 titles in 3 years, and their basketball team won back to back titles.
Are they both jobs that are better than Ohio State or Michigan? Maybe not better, but they are on the same level. There are probably about 10 jobs in college football that would all be significantly better than the rest of the jobs out there. How do you really rate which would be better between elite schools though?
OSU and UM have much more tradition than LSU and they are both higher valued Universities. Currently LSU is thriving but there is no way they have the same standing nationally as OSU and UM.
Although I can be swayed a little bit on UM. Currently based on winning LSU is killing UM. IF a future coach had the choice between the two, he would obviously pick the team he would have a better chance of winning with.
but that is not the same story for OSU. OSU's winning is at the very least on par with LSU over the past decade (despite titles) and recruits will flock to either one in a heart beat. It may not be a huge difference but OSU should definitely be ranked higher than LSU.
I just think the article is about the best jobs in football right now. Would LSU really rank below Ohio State Right now???? Tradition is fine and dandy, but it's not like LSU is totally devoid of tradition. They have over 730 wins all time and 3 national titles. Right now, though, with facilities, rabid fan base, perhaps the most electric atmosphere to play in in college football(really who doesn't want to watch a game at Death Valley at night? ) proximity to fertile recruiting grounds, and being part of one of the richest conferences in America, how does Ohio State rank ahead of them? I'd argue it's the same job. What's better about being the head man at Ohio State? I'm not talking about what program has more historical significance.
USC, Texas, Oklahoma, Bama, Florida, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Oregon, and LSU are basically teh same job. Extremely popular, rabid fans, huge brands, coaches make a fortune, really easy to recruit kids to.
Yeah, I get the Packers, Texas, ND, and 'Bama; the rest of this list is complete shite.
With that said, my Top Ten:
I put Alabama closer to 10, and behind ND and USC. History of violations is significant and brings the luster of the football program down some despite Saban's magic there.
I tried to weight the list by a combination of historical prowess, current (last decade) performance, facilities, booster commitment to the Athletic Department, and recruiting grounds. I like 'Bama where they are since there on top of the world right now; I mean, you could argue that the job's been a perennial top-20 job since Bryant left. I see Saban doing there--on a lesser scale--what Kelly seems to be doing at ND, restoring the lustre of a sleeping giant.
And it's a good list. I'm not arguing for the sake of arguing, and I certainly see your points. The truth is, you can interchange a lot of these places without being "wrong". I think the overall top 10 is pretty good, with some suggestions seen above (I like William putting Oklahoma in there) and it looks like most can agree on probably 7 or 8 of them, regardless of where they fall within that top 10.
My sentiments exactly. Top Tens are always hard because of whom gets left out, and just how arbitrarily speculative they are.
I really struggled with Oklahoma, they probably merit inclusion in there--number nine or ten (possibly could displace UF)--my problem is that they constantly play second fiddle to UT, and that really mars their prestige in my opinion, they'd easily be top-ten without it.
Hmmmm. Not sure I'm on board with that one. I think OU has an identity independent of UT. Texas is bigger overall, but I don't think OU plays second fiddle to them, like MSU does to Michigan or something like that. And while it's been streaky over the last couple decades, the rivalry is reasonably split in terms of outcomes.
So in the last decade Ohio State has been to 3(should be 4) NC games, 8(should be 9) BCS games, won 7 BigTen titles(should be 8), had 3 undefeated regular seasons, and a heisman trophy winner. But yeah, ND and M*chigan are better/the same. Right.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
C'mon bro, Michigan is good...this is just a down year...or fifty.
Greatest 8-4 year EVER!
COLLEGE JOBS = PRO JOBS. LOL. Makes no sense to list them together. Completely different animals.
4. Notre Dame. ROTFLMAO!!! I'll trust Urban Meyer's judgment here. Nothing at all has really changed since Urban had his pick between ND and Florida. He himself has stated he was also a ND fan growing up. Being catholic and all and with strong Midwestern roots, and freaking being at ND as an assistant no less, you'd think that if the jobs were even remotely comparable Meyer would have went to ND. HE DIDN'T. 'NUFF SAID.
Kelly should get credit for taking advantage of the resources ND still has going for it and maximizing his team's performance, but ND is still a program downtrending and that's not likely to ever recover as long as they continue to insist that they are above everyone else and don't join a conference. They are an anachronism that can occasionally still feed off of past glory and rouse the national interest when the stars align just right every 5-6 years for a good season. A perennial top ten program they are not. About the best they can hope for is to finally get there arrogant asses into the B10. They'll continue to degrade until they stabilize into a regional middle-tier above average program but they'll at least be financially healthy.
8. Michigan. DERP. See ND above. They have many of the same problems but are at least willing to hypocritically claim they are one thing and then completely sellout that claim in order to stay competitive as a football program. And that can only work if they are able to leech talent out of Ohio away from Ohio State. It's not a sustainable model in the long term for a top football program. Urban may well be the death of them as a national power.
WHICH IS WHY OHIO STATE ABSOLUTELY IS NOT TIED TO UM FOR SUCCESS.
Not sure where Ohio State should place among the other schools on the list, but I am positive the Ohio State job is significantly better than Notre Dame and Michigan.
I think you're way off base with ND. (Full disclosure, I'm a ND fan - my dad went there)
I just can't see how a team rising in recruiting and in the National Championship Game is downtrending. Like him or not, Kelly is doing a pretty good job of coaching there. I'm not saying they'll be playing for it all every year, but I doubt this is a flash in the pan.
I'm talking about trends over 30 year periods. Let's see where they are in 5 years. A good coach (and I did mention Kelly is doing a very good job) can overcome the trend for a time, but in the long run I don't see any factors that lead to ND growing stronger as a program. The fact is the culture and society in which ND established their winning tradition is largely fragmented and is no longer aligned with the culture of elite high school football players. The very thing that ND thinks makes them special is the very thing that will continue to marginalize them as a football program. And they absolutely insist they will never change. Which is the path to becoming the University of Chicago, not continuing to be a strong football program that is a "top" job.
At some point, they're going to have to make some Michigan type compromises, just to stem the tide of mediocrity. But even that isn't going to maintain them as a consistent top ten program. Or a top ten destination college head coaching job.
M*chigan wanted Harbaugh, and Miles, and was turned down by both(Miles twice). After Ohio State lost one of the 5 best coaches in the country went out and got another top 5 coach. Oh E!SPiN, why must you troll us so much? :/
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
no respect to anyone, but most of us are buckeye fans here and I don't think we're qualified to objectively rank our coaching job.
I think we are the #2 job behind Texas. But I'm extremely biased and so are all of you.
I am not biased, and no respect to you too.
No respect? How rude.
"YOLO" = I'm about to do something extremely ignorant/stupid & I need an excuse to do it.
lol, it was late. obviously typo is obvious.
Hmmm... Strange, I almost expected to see Arkansas on that list. :)
What a cop out on tOSU / Mich tie...they had to offer several coaches then settle on a career sub .500 guy...OSU lands one of the few 2 time NC champ coaches ever and the best 1-2 active college coaches...all in a low point/scandal period. Everyone know Ohio has way better high school talent right here and is in a major city with more to do than Ann Arbor. Coaches will always look at Ohio State as the better job.
D. Anthony
I don't know how Pittsburgh isn't the best job in football though. This is their 3rd coach in how many years? They are monument to stability in a league full of organizations like the Bengals, Browns, Cardinals, and Raiders. It's really quite a surprise if they don't make the playoffs.