Top 5 college coaches of all-time

[LordJeffBuck]

lol not one vote for John McKay? 4 NCs, 2-time national coach of the year

McKay's overall record at Southern Cal was 127-40-8 in 16 seasons, for a winning percentage of .749 ... so it was a lot of "boom and bust" with him (4 NC's, but 7 seasons with 7 wins or less). I guess that he wasn't too dissimiliar to Woody Hayes, but Hayes had more longevity and a slightly better winning percentage, and his team played in a tougher conference.

 

[Jaxbuck]

I know he didn't coach at the college level for 10 years but its hard for me to leave Paul Brown off any all time top 5 coaches list.

 

[Jake]

Bryant, Wilkinson, Hayes, Paterno, Bowden

 

[OH HSKR FAN]

I'm a homer but what about Bob Devaney? Two national titles in the early 70s?

 

[HineyBuck]

lol not one vote for John McKay? 4 NCs, 2-time national coach of the year

Quit yer bitchin'. You could change that by . . . what? . . . voting for him!!

Truth be told, I almost voted for McKay, but gave my last vote instead to Bo (don't tell anyone) as an homage to '69 and The Rivalry. But I would not argue with a list that included John McKay.

 

[cincibuck]

I didn't vote for anyone in the dark ages of college football, so guys like Knute Rockne (.881 pct, 3 NC's), Fielding Yost (.832 pct, 3 NC's), Walter Camp, and Pop Warner didn't make the cut.

1. Frank Leahy, Notre Dame (1941-1953), 87-11-9 (.855), 5 NC's (1943, 1946, 1947, 1949, 1953); Leahy's five NC's in 13 years is truly an amazing achievement.
2. Bear Bryant, Alabama (1958-1982), 232-46-9 (.824), 4 NC's (1961, 1965, 1978, 1979); Bryant reigned in the SEC before the rise of southern football (especially Big Three football), but he still put together a stellar record.
3. Barry Switzer, Oklahoma (1973-1988), 157-29-4 (.837), 3 NC's (1974, 1975, 1985); slightly over Bud Wilkinson (145-29-4, 2 NC's) because Switzer faced tougher competition in the Big 8.
4. Tom Osborne, Nebraska (1973-1997), 255-29-3 (.836), 3 NC's (1994, 1995, 1997); known as a choke artist until he won 3 NC's in 4 years at the end of his career.
5. Woody Hayes, Ohio State (1951-1978), 205-61-10 (.761), 3 NC's (1954, 1957, 1968); somewhat of a homer pick; Woody would have been at the top of the list if he could've "closed" a couple of times between 1969 and 1975.
HM. Ara Parseghian, Notre Dame (1964-1974), 95-17-4 (.836), 2 NC's (1966, 1973). Notre Dame football would have been a joke a couple of decades earlier if it hadn't been for Ara. In the ten years between Leahy and Parsehian, the Irish went 51-48-0 (.515) with no NC; Ara's worst season in South Bend was 8-3-0 (.727), and he brought ND back to the top of the CFB world.

"Of all the Domer coaches," he said wile fighting off the gag reflex, "I like Ara best."

Bary Switzer ranks right up there with Bobby Bowden with a total disregard for anything but another W in the win column, and I'm not real crazy about Dr. Osbourn either. I reluctantly put Bryant on my list despite the fact that it wasn't until he had his ass kicked in by USC that he recruited a black, even after Alabama was integrated and most of his wins came in a "whites only" setting. I gave him credit that once he saw the quality of black athletes he found it in his heart to accept them on his team.

 

[OregonBuckeye]

3. Barry Switzer, Oklahoma (1973-1988), 157-29-4 (.837), 3 NC's (1974, 1975, 1985); slightly over Bud Wilkinson (145-29-4, 2 NC's) because Switzer faced tougher competition in the Big 8.

Switzer was about as dirty as they come. I don't think he deserves a spot in the top 5.

 

[OH HSKR FAN]

Switzer was a snake oils salesman if you have ever seen one. This is urban legend. On recruiting trips he would arrive unnecessarily early at a prospects and rummage through a garbage can looking for the beer that the old man drank. Oh how convenient! He shows up for the recruiting visit with the old man's favorite beer.


Snake oil salesman!

 

[NFBuck]

In no particular order:

Bryant
Woody
Wilkinson
Rockne
JoePa

 

[Flocka]

Only one other vote for Frank Leahy?

 

[LordJeffBuck]

Switzer was about as dirty as they come. I don't think he deserves a spot in the top 5.

Switzer was a snake oils salesman if you have ever seen one. This is urban legend. On recruiting trips he would arrive unnecessarily early at a prospects and rummage through a garbage can looking for the beer that the old man drank. Oh how convenient! He shows up for the recruiting visit with the old man's favorite beer.


Snake oil salesman!

Hey, these guys aren't hired to be saints, they're hired to win football games. Switzer was pretty damned good at accomplishing that task.

 

[GaTechBuckeye]

Heisman's winning percentage 171-66-16 (.708) doesn't measure up to most of the names on the list.

Dodd's 165-64-8 (.713) isn't much better. They both have significant awards named after them, but I don't think either one has much of a case for the top-5 of all time.

Legend at Tech is that Heisman "invented" the forward pass. I also kind of was looking at his main stops before the divorce. It may be "homerish" but just for fun...

John Heisman Total - 171-66-16 (.708)
Before divorce - 141-38-11 (.771)

As the originator of the "hike" step, the quarter system, shifts, and was at the very least a proponent of the forward pass I think he's one of the top coaches the game has ever seen.

 

[cincibuck]

Hey, these guys aren't hired to be saints, they're hired to win football games. Switzer was pretty damned good at accomplishing that task.

I'm still old school. One of the things I admired most about Woody was his insistence upon teaching two courses and insisting that his salary would never exceed that of a tenured professor of the same number of years. Both of those actions cost him time and money, but are a part of being a member of an academic community and therefore responsible for teaching values of honesty, integrity, dignity and playing by the rules.

I'll take that over Bowden's and Switzer's "measureables" anyday.

 

[ulukinatme]

Only one other vote for Frank Leahy?

Leahy isn't as well known being one of the older ND coaches that isn't named Rockne I guess. He did coach 4 Heisman Trophy winners, had the honor to coach Vince Lombardi at Fordham, and had a hell of a winning record.
Ara Parseghian is a good mention as someone pointed out. While he only had two National Championships, ND abstained from attending bowl games for half of Ara's coaching career at ND.
My list, no order:

Frank Leahy
Woody
Knute Rockne
Bear Bryant
Tom Osborne

 

[Fungo Squiggly]

My list:

1. Ty Willingham
2. Charlie Weis
3. Rich Rodriguez
4. Ron Zook
5. John Cooper

Leahy isn't as well known being one of the older ND coaches that isn't named Rockne I guess. He did coach 4 Heisman Trophy winners, had the honor to coach Vince Lombardi at Fordham, and had a hell of a winning record.
Ara Parseghian is a good mention as someone pointed out. While he only had two National Championships, ND abstained from attending bowl games for half of Ara's coaching career at ND.
My list, no order:

Frank Leahy
Woody
Knute Rockne
Bear Bryant
Tom Osborne

Are you sure it doesn't look like this? :p

1. Frank Leahy
2. Knute Rockne
3. Ara Parseghian
4. Lou Holtsh
T-5. Bob Davie, Tyrone Willingham, Charlie Weis