Richt, Johnson score high on rankings, not Chizik, Muschamp
Sporting News has Mark Richt (14) just ahead of Paul Johnson (19) among 124 FBS coaches.
The problem with most “rankings” in sports is that there’s a large degree of knee jerk thinking in the thought process. Somebody wins, they deserve a stature. Somebody loses, they’re road kill. A coach wins a BCS title, he’s a sudden visionary.
But The Sporting News just ranked 124 FBS (Division I) coaches in college football and in my view the publication pretty much nailed it. Not so much because Nick Saban of Alabama is No. 1 or Charley Molnar of Massachusetts is No. 124 (UMass has a football team?) but because of the placement of so many others. A few examples:
– Boise State’s Chris Peterson (No. 2) and Texas Christian’s Gary Patterson (No. 7) both received lofty rankings for their success in actual games, not on national signing day. Winning games really is what coaching is all about, is it not?
– Auburn’s Gene Chizik was ranked only 36th nationally and seventh among 14 SEC coaches, despite winning a national championship two years ago. The reason: He has yet to prove he can accomplish something without Cam Newton.
– High rankings were given to often overlooked coaches in the SEC and ACC, specifically Vanderbilt’s James Franklin (fifth in the SEC, 25th overall) and Wake Forest’s Jim Grobe (fourth in the ACC, 31st overall).
As for Georgia’s Mark Richt and Tech’s Paul Johnson, both fared well. Richt ranked fourth among SEC coaches — behind only Saban, Les Miles and Steve Spurrier, all of whom have won BCS titles — and 14th in the nation.
Here’s The Sporting News on Richt:
A crossroads season at Georgia resulted in 10 wins—but nothing the ‘Dawgs weren’t supposed to do. In fact, all four losses were against the four best teams on the schedule, and left everyone wanting more despite another double-digit win season (his seventh in 11 years). Richt signed a contract extension after last season through 2016—hard to argue 4-0 vs. your rivals (Florida, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Auburn)—so UGA is committed to his process.
Johnson ranked second in the SEC behind only Virginia Tech’s Frank Beamer and 19th overall.
Here’s The Sporting News on Johnson:
The best way to describe Johnson’s triple-option offense in the ACC: It works. The Yellow Jackets have led the conference—and ranked in the top four nationally—in rushing in all four of Johnson’s seasons in Atlanta, and in each of the past two years have topped 300 yards per game on the ground. The 2009 league title still looks good, as does Johnson’s 6-0 record vs. Army when he was at Navy.
Among those getting pounded: Florida’s Will Muschamp was ranked only 59th nationally (10th among SEC coaches) and Tennessee’s Derek Dooley finished 99th overall (worst in the SEC, even behind No. 90 Joker Phillips of Kentucky).
Also noteworthy: Among former Falcons head coaches June Jones, now of SMU, ranked 22nd overall and far ahead of Jim Mora, now of UCLA, at 68th.
TSN on Mora:
Mora, who led the Atlanta Falcons to 11 wins and a berth in the NFC championship game, is back at the college level for the first time since 1984, when he was a graduate assistant at Washington. He’s off to a pretty good start at UCLA, having signed a well-regarded initial recruiting class. But we don’t have the sense that he’s suddenly on the road to glory. He could struggle with the adjustment from the pro game.
One flaw in the article: The Sporting News states that Big 12 coaches have the best average ranking (27.2), far ahead of No. 2 SEC (43.3). The problem with that statistic, which TSN admits, is the Big 12 goes only 10 teams deep and the SEC now goes 14 deep.
Here’s a link to the entire list (in four parts).
But here’s a breakdown of SEC and ACC coaches and the overall top 10:
•
Top 10 1. Nick Saban (Alabama) 2. Chris Peterson (Boise State) 3. Urban Meyer (Ohio State) 4. Les Miles (LSU) 5. Bob Stoops (Oklahoma) 6. Chip Kelly (Oregon) 7. Gary Patterson (TCU) 8. Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) 9. Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech) 10. Mike Gundy (Oklahoma State) •SEC coaches 1. Nick Saban (Alabama) 4. Les Miles (LSU) 8. Steve Spurrier (South Carolina) 14. Mark Richt (Georgia) 25. James Franklin (Vanderbilt) 26. Gary Pinkel (Missouri) 36. Gene Chizik (Auburn) 46. Dan Mullen (Mississippi State) 47. Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M) 59. Will Muschamp (Florida) 74. John L. Smith (Arkansas) 77. Hugh Freeze (Mississippi) 90. Joker Phillips (Kentucky) 99. Derek Dooley (Tennessee) •
ACC coaches 9. Frank Beamer (Virginia Tech) 19. Paul Johnson (Georgia Tech) 27. Dabo Swinney (Clemson) 31. Jim Grobe (Wake Forest) 34. Al Golden (Miami) 38. Jimbo Fisher (FSU) 45. Mike London (Virginia) 49. Tom O’Brien (North Carolina State) 53. Larry Fedora (North Carolina) 65. Randy Edsall (Maryland) 67. David Cutcliffe (Duke) 110. Frank Spaziani (Boston College)
•
So what are your thoughts on the list?
By Jeff Schultz
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238 comments Add your comment
Sloppy Track Slogger
May 10th, 2012
5:28 pm
As for USC…they were loaded even without Bush….
5150 UOAD
May 10th, 2012
5:29 pm
pitbull…..you said that is almost a RECRUITING class so ELIMINATE Walk-on/ non-scholarship players from that list.
Sloppy Track Slogger
May 10th, 2012
5:30 pm
Dumb Dawgs
May 10th, 2012
5:28 pm
“THose players were GUYS that Spurrier and Zook left stockpiled”
Contradict much?
” Theives, crooks, druggies, special priviledged and convicts”
SEE:UGA
I am typing this SLOWER so you can read it……The player URBAN MEYER brought in were THEIVES, CROOKS, DRUGGIES, and special priviledged and convicts…..
NO CONTRADICTION THERE………..
Dumb Dawgs
May 10th, 2012
5:33 pm
“As for USC…they were loaded even without Bush”
As was Auburn and Florida when they won it.
Sloppy Track Slogger
May 10th, 2012
5:33 pm
I think if you read my post, you would see that I am NOT any form of UGA fan, I laugh at the morons who think UGA is a “PREMIER” program and anyone who knows football can see that under Richt their win totals have fallen, their conference record against winning teams have fallen, their arrest rate is three times greater, their drug failure rate leads the conference, and their graduation rates have fallen…
Dumb Dawgs
May 10th, 2012
5:34 pm
“I am typing this SLOWER so you can read it……The player URBAN MEYER brought in were THEIVES, CROOKS, DRUGGIES, and special priviledged and convicts…..”
You should use spell check, ma’am. It would help your argument if you could actually spell simple words correctly.
“NO CONTRADICTION THERE”
Sure there is.
Dumb Dawgs
May 10th, 2012
5:35 pm
Sloppy Track Slogger
My apologies. I’m used to getting attacked by UGAG fans and figured you to be another brainless UGAG fan.
Sloppy Track Slogger
May 10th, 2012
5:38 pm
Auburn….but without Newton they do not win the BCS, and UF does not win their second title without Tebow. Two great players. However USC could have won without Bush, Texas could not have won without Young, LSU was a team effort, Alabama was a team effort, at UF and AU, their qb’s carried them. Well UF did have HH..to take some pressure off Tebow…..but on 3rd down they both relied on their QB to get them the next first down without much help from anyone else even in long down and distance situations.
DawgMan
May 10th, 2012
5:38 pm
Ah, criticizing spelling on a blog. The stock in trade of the witless.
Paul in NH
May 10th, 2012
5:42 pm
I don’t understand the comments of “without superstar player so and so, State U would never have won the MNC”.
Guess what – great teams usually have some great players on them.
Ray Goof's Hat
May 10th, 2012
5:47 pm
Percy Harvin, Maurkice Pouncey, Mike Pouncey, Brandon Spikes, Joe Haden, David Nelson, Louis Murphy, Aaron Hernandez, Carlos Dunlap, Marcus Gilbert – and that’s just off the top of my head. Look at how productive those guys have been already in the NFL. That team was much more than just Tebow.
St. Bernard
May 10th, 2012
6:17 pm
Looking at the national top ten, those guys (maybe with the exception of Beamer) all have a killer instinct and are innovators. I love Richt and I’m proud he’s our coach, but he does lack an edge both emotionally and mentaly compared to those guys ahead of him.
Ghost
May 10th, 2012
7:43 pm
Pj @ #19 is way too high. # 2 coach in ACC ?
Ghost
May 10th, 2012
7:53 pm
Just in the ACC in no particular order, Beamer , Fedora, Golden,Fisher, Grobe,London then possibly Johnson.
Nativebird
May 10th, 2012
8:47 pm
CPJ at number 19 is a joke. This guy has relegated my Jackets to irrelevancy in college football….and will until we get a system that can win at the big time level and a coach that can recruit at the big time level. Till then…middle of the pack as far as the eye can see.
JB
May 10th, 2012
9:08 pm
I’ve done my share of bitching about Richt over the last 2-3 years, but if fired, he could pick from several job offers that would come his way. 10 wins and a sunny bowl is a dream for a lot of schools.
JB
May 10th, 2012
9:14 pm
I wouldn’t be to hard on Johnson. If he was at a school that had the athletes of say Georgia on defense, he would be almost unbeatable. Tech’s defense under him is really really bad. It’s an equalizer for whoever Tech plays.
5150 UOAD
May 10th, 2012
9:23 pm
JB but do you think Richt will walk into a situation like he did at UGa? Hell NO he will not. He will not Out talent 80% of the teams he will face if he isn’t at UGa. I can’t see Richt being a 10 win coach at a FBS school.
JB
May 10th, 2012
9:24 pm
5150………..sadly, I agree
Harvester Welle
May 10th, 2012
9:34 pm
With Tech winning the Football-Basketball-Baseball wars 3-2, there’s no doubt that UGA is Tech’s b*tch this year. Nothing to be ashamed of, just relax and enjoy it.
Dawgs!
May 10th, 2012
9:47 pm
chizik won his fluke title only after paying big money to get cam newton. He’ll be stuck in the middle of the SEC west from now on. Muschamp? He can’t coach a lick–Richt will own him for years. Dogs–win the SEC east again in 2012–book it!
Gene
May 10th, 2012
9:51 pm
Richt remains #1 in player arrests and dope suspensions.
P. Bull Terrier
May 10th, 2012
11:19 pm
I don’t understand why so many media types talk about UGA’s 10 wins last season like that is a good thing, then turn around and point out that UGA lost to the 4 best teams on it’s schedule like it’s a bad thing. Obviously you want to win them all, but if you are going to lose a few games, isn’t it better to lose to a good team than a bad team?
If Georgia beat South Carolina last season, but lost to Kentucky, would that somehow make the 10 – 4 record better? The only way I can see that kind of logic making any sense is if Georgia traded a loss against an out of confrence team for a win against LSU in the SEC championship, but otherwise 10-4 is 10-4.
aarh
May 10th, 2012
11:23 pm
I’m A uga fan, & I do think that Chizik is probably a pretty good coach, but he really did only have one really good season so far. Richt was considered to be one of hte very best coaches in the business just a few yrs. back…before they hit that stretch where they underachieved one yr., & then had a couple of bad seasons. Then people talked like they wanted to run him out of town, & like he didn’t know how to coach. I also wouldn’t say that AU hasn’t had talent, bc Chizik has been the only AU coach that I know of that seems to always land one of the top recruiting classes in the nation for as long as I remember. All I’m saying is that lets see how Chizik does over the next few yrs. If he keeps having mediocre or bad seasons, then people will suddenly say that Chizik won w/ Telletubbies talent, & can’t win w/ his. I don’t know if that’s going to happen, but I’m just saying that it can. Just look at T. Bowden. Everyone talked about how great he was when he came in & won at AU in his first yr., but his record got a little worse ea. yr. There really wasn’t much of a chance to improve on perfect. Then when he didn’t win…everyone said that he couldn’t win w/ his own talent, bc he went undefeated w/ Pat Dye’s recruits. One thing about Richt is that at least he’s been at UGA a lot longer, so it’s impossible to know how Chizik will fair over that same time period…at least as of yet.
aarh
May 10th, 2012
11:25 pm
Gene- Yeah, but part of that is bc of UGA having a lot tougher policy when it comes to punishing players on their first offense for violating the drug policy. Don’t think it only happens at UGA. Most schools sweep it under the rug on first offenses.
Randawg
May 11th, 2012
12:00 am
-Sometimes when I am ranting about Richt and Bobo my friends say”well,who would you get in his place?”….My answer is always the same…Chris Peterson,Boise State,the same guy that kicked our butt last year
RED DOG 77
May 11th, 2012
12:28 am
I don’t give a hoot what Steve Spurrier did when he was at Florida………..And you agree Nick Saban at #1 ?………….You’ve got to be kidding me…………For his knowledge of the game, his decentcy, and his loyalty to young men………….Coach Mark Richt not being in the top 5 makes me wonder where people’s heads are at?
Sloppy Track Slogger
May 11th, 2012
12:59 am
RED DOG 77
May 11th, 2012
12:28 am
I don’t give a hoot what Steve Spurrier did when he was at Florida………..And you agree Nick Saban at #1 ?………….You’ve got to be kidding me…………For his knowledge of the game, his decentcy, and his loyalty to young men………….Coach Mark Richt not being in the top 5 makes me wonder where people’s heads are at?
You answered your own question. Not winning the big one is the only variable. Typical UGA logic …good christian man, honest and still losing the big contest…
Score Check
May 11th, 2012
1:13 am
Coach Sick Satan = SCUM
Tweak your knee and he leaves you twisting in the wind
He ranks 124th in morality
5150 UOAD
May 11th, 2012
1:25 am
Score Check…………..hahahaha you keep score like the 5-6 year old baseball league. In other words you just make up the score.
Tell us about Ealey and how he was demoted and basically run out of Athens for Crowell.
Year of the Dawg
May 11th, 2012
6:44 am
kingdaddy I like watching you on that show mudcats !!!!!
Scott Brantley
May 11th, 2012
6:58 am
Thank God that Tim Tebow didn’t sign with Bama. If Mike Shula would have gotten Tebow, he would probably still be our coach. Roll Tide!
14 Titles!!!
May 11th, 2012
7:03 am
Nick’s got another loaded roster, #1 class, going for title #15 in 2012! Top coach in America!!! RTR!!!!
DawgSinceBirth
May 11th, 2012
7:17 am
Columbus Dawg: AMEN, AMEN, AMEN!!! I grew up in Columbus (left in 1986)….You have HIT THE NAIL ON THE HEAD when it comes to Auburn’s fan base and their obvious disregard for FACTS about their program….Glad another Dawg fan KNOWS what I know and have known for years…Don’t let the facts get in the way of a good story….Still mesmerizes me that some “Georgia fans” won’t acknowledge the HATRED toward Auburn they do for some others….Must not have followed the Dawgs very long…or THEY WOULD!!!!! WOW!!!!
Go Dawgs!
GT
May 11th, 2012
8:19 am
Tenn and Florida will get new coaches after this season. Franklin is better than 5th and I bet he ends up at one of these two schools which would be bad news for Richt. Georgia should be a top ten school every year. Watch how many players leave the state this year to play somewhere else. Steve Spurrior as old as he is is 8th in the country, at South Carolina. What a brilliant move to hire him there.
Johnson gets his due somewhere! I think the ACC has got some of the best coaches they have had for a while. Golden at Miami is better than that ranking, and very well may end up at Florida or Tenn. He and Franklin are maybe the best newcomers I see on the east coast and watch Mike London, he may make some noise too. Unlike the SEC good coaching in the ACC does not always equal wins. Wake may have the best coach per pound in the country, being in big cities attack good coaching. Also the ACC gives it’s coaches a margin of error not enjoyed in the SEC, except in Athens.
Buckeye
May 11th, 2012
8:34 am
Is “Win With” RIcht for Gay marriage?
Buckeye
May 11th, 2012
8:35 am
Did Isaiah, The Annointed One II, cut his dreds?
AuburnCreed
May 11th, 2012
8:49 am
Gene Chizik is so bad he has 3 undefeated seasons and two national titles under his belt. We’ll keep Chizik and you guys can keep Saint Mark. We love the Chiz!!!!
Larry Drew
May 11th, 2012
8:57 am
Hey Schultzie,
When are you sending me that raise you talked about?
I will be at home for the next several weeks so let me know if you want to come by.
Thanks
gatorphil
May 11th, 2012
9:10 am
Who knows where Muschamp belongs? 59 could be way too low or even way too high. I’m a teacher and he would get an incomplete from me. Coaches with less than 3 years of head coaching experience shouldn’t be considered, yet. After two years on the job, Larry Coker at Miami looked like the second coming of Knute Rockne and we all know how that turned out.
chazzo
May 11th, 2012
9:11 am
I am not a Richt hater. I am not a down in the mouth fan and don’t bash players.
But, given the history if I had to bet on a prediction at this point:
I wouldn’t be surprised if UGA loses to Missouri and SC early on and drops one to UF, AU, or Tech. Going to ATL would once again be based on SC blowing it. PLEASE prove me wrong, Dawgs!
I’m not saying it’s going to go down that way; I’m saying that I wouldn’t be surprised if it did. Anything but an undefeated regular season and a trip back to ATL is settling for mediocrity. The reporter on Richt’s last season left SC off the list of rivals. I very much want to see the Dawgs beat Spurrier and the Gamecocks.
Gator Mike
May 11th, 2012
9:12 am
I wonder what the list will look like in Feb 2013. What are the credentials of those who make up this silly list?
No argument with Saban at #1 until proven otherwise.
Muschamp will move up the ladder as if he really cares. All he wants to do is win at UF which is what the other coaches want to do at their respective schools.
Is is a bull's eye that G
May 11th, 2012
9:20 am
Obiously, as a UGA grad, I am 100% biased. However, all of that aside, the red jersies and that red helmet with that G is a BRAND KNOWN ALL OVER the USA. Like it or not, that BRAND will inspire teams to play their best.
UGA has a fine program and if we do not win that MNC again ………………..fine with me, cause I love my Dogs, win or tie.
UGA class of 71 & 73
Kelly
May 11th, 2012
9:22 am
Some of these comments are, uh, amusing. But the rankings aren’t tarded, necessarily, just incredibly subjective and therefore incredibly, ahem, flawed. Not on you Jeff, but this obviously filler .
robodawg
May 11th, 2012
9:23 am
List looks about right. Glad to see them giving credit to those coaches who do more with less like June Jones.
Richard
May 11th, 2012
9:24 am
Not sure I have many gripes although I’d probably rank Cutcliffe higher.
GTFan
May 11th, 2012
9:25 am
Mr. Schultz, you might do some proofreading and spell checking regarding SEC for ACC and Stature for Statue.
Dumb Dawgs
May 11th, 2012
9:55 am
“Richt will own him for years. Dogs–win the SEC east again in 2012–book it!”
Same lame prediction, different delusional dawg fan.
FLASHBACK to 2008: DAWGS GONE WIN DA NATIONAL TITLE CUZ DAY WUZ PRESEASON CHAMPS!!!!! WOOF WOOF
Dumb Dawgs
May 11th, 2012
9:56 am
“I’m A uga fan, & I do think that Chizik is probably a pretty good coach, but he really did only have one really good season so far.”
He’s been there for 3 seasons now. How long has CMR been at UGAG? Oh yeah, over 10 years.
Dumb Dawgs
May 11th, 2012
9:58 am
“Coach Mark Richt not being in the top 5 makes me wonder where people’s heads are at?”
Yeah, imagine that! A coach like Saban who has won 2 national titles at Bama and CMR not winning any. Yeah, lets put CMR ahead of Saban.
Geez, it’s amazing how stupid some dawg fans really are. Other schools are winning titles and all UGAG fans can do is mock and talk about how those other coaches aren’t any good.