Kirby Smart stands alone.
Nick Saban is playing golf, hunting fairways in retirement, while Jim Harbaugh is off to chase the Lombardi Trophy.
A year ago, we could’ve debated who ranked as college football’s best coach: Smart or Saban?
Smart had won back-to-back national championships, but Saban owned seven rings, and although his Alabama dynasty was past its peak, Saban remained nearly unmatched on the recruiting trail. Harbaugh, himself a skilled motivator and proven tactician, headed up the tier behind Smart and Saban.
With Saban and Harbaugh departing, there can be no debate: Smart is college football’s best coach.
Who checks in behind him?
Here’s how I rank the top 10:
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10. James Franklin (Penn State)
Franklin’s 18 victories in his final two seasons at Vanderbilt remain one of the greatest low-key accomplishments of this millennium. He’s a steady performer, with five double-digit-win seasons at Penn State. The main downside? He’s not a great big-game coach, and Ryan Day owns him, although Ohio State owning Penn State predated Franklin.
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9. Dan Lanning (Oregon)
Oregon’s 37-year-old wunderkind worked for Saban and Smart, and he shares at least two qualities with his former bosses: He recruits well, and he knows how to motivate. The lingering question is whether he can match wits with the best of them. He’s 0-3 against Kalen DeBoer and got crushed in a head-to-head with Smart in 2022. At least Lanning won’t have to face DeBoer as frequently after he left for Alabama.
8. Dabo Swinney (Clemson)
Swinney joins Smart and North Carolina’s Mack Brown as the only active coaches to…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/heres-ranking-college-football-coaches-110857220.html
Author : The Tennessean
Publish date : 2024-02-01 11:08:57
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