With much of a player’s potential and skills in college football being greatly dependent on the nature of training he gets, coaches in college football deservedly hold a lot of clout, charged with leading the players both in the locker room and on the practice field. Essentially, this is the reason why poorly coached football teams rarely attain any sustained success in the league and colleges have been investing heavily in getting the best coaches to lead their schools. Taking stock of the current teams in the league and their respective coaches, here is our 2015 power rankings of the top 7 coaches for College Football Odds.
Let’s Get Going With the Best Coaches NCAA Football Odds Scene Power Ranking
When you play for Ohio State and park in Urban Meyer’s spot…well, you leave when he leaves. http://t.co/hpfcgamldm pic.twitter.com/G9GSyRky8i
— ESPN (@espn) June 15, 2015
Urban Meyer, Ohio State
Boasting of crazily impressive 142-26 record as a head coach, Meyer is undeniably the best coach in college football. Following his dominant display in 2015 that included a national championship, things can only get better for Meyer and his team.
Nick Saban, Alabama
With double-digit win seasons in all his last 7 years with the Tide, and a career record of 177-59-1, Saban is another dominant performer in the world of college football. His good recruitment style and the manner in which he has replenished the NFL with copious talent puts him several classes ahead of many coaches in the NCAA. Remarkably, Saban is one of the currently active college football coaches that have won the national championship, with the other being Urban Meyer, Jimbo Fisher, Les Miles and Bob Stoops.
Gary Patterson, TCU
Boasting of a decent career record of 132-45, Patterson has been a real coaching gem in his career, especially for those players who have an affinity of simple–but very efficient–old school coaching tactics. Interestingly, Patterson is renowned for being a defensive maestro, but his Frogs have lately been doing more of their hopping on the offensive end of things. More notably, Gary has won 11 or more games in 8 of his last 12 seasons, and going by the strong TCU showing in 2014, be sure that the Frogs will be amongst the strongest challengers in the 2015 NCAAF playoff odds.
Art Briles, Baylor
With his average career numbers of just 89-62, it may not look like Briles has much to offer, but wait until you hear what he’s been doing recently. In his last two seasons with the Bears, Briles has led them to two successive Big 12 titles. When he was previously at Houston, he also left a great legacy, turning around the school from a laughing stock to one of the best teams in the league. Like Patterson and TCU, Briles and Baylor should be keenly watched in 2015, following an outstanding 2014 campaign.
Mark Dantonio, Michigan State
At 75-31 in his career, Mark Dantonio is another coach whose numbers speak loudly about the coach’s potential. The Spartans have seen some slight regression in the Big Ten, following the dominant rise of the Buckeyes. Still, if his signature mean defensive-minded style of play is once again witnessed this year, Dantonio’s boys should be able to build on winning the Rose Bowl in 2014 (their first in over 25 years) and challenge strongly in the conference. Notably, Dantonio has led Michigan State to 11 or more wins in 4 of his past 5 seasons.
Jimbo Fisher, Florida State
Checking in with a career record of 58-11, including just one loss in his last two seasons at Florida (and a National Championship in the 2013-14 season), Fisher is no stranger to success and doing it big. His ability to churn out talented players is also a noteworthy fact about him, with 2015 No. 1 over NFL pick Jameis Winston (a 2013-14 Heisman Trophy Winner) standing out as a perfect example to that point. It will be interesting to see how FSU performs without Winston, who was the heart and soul for the team over the past two seasons.
Jim Harbaugh, Michigan
We just had to save one of the best for last…specifically for all you Harbaugh fans. Coming off a successful tenure with NFL’s San Francisco 49ers, plus positive turnarounds for San Diego and Stanford in his past coaching career, Harbaugh (sporting a career record of 58-27) is a man to watch, particularly now that he has returned to his Alma matter.
Honorable Mentions: Les Miles (LSU), Bob Stoops (Oklahoma), Gus Malzahn (Auburn), Jim Mora (UCLA), Todd Graham (Arizona State), David Cutcliffe (Duke), Bobby Petrino (Louisville), Kevin Sumlin (Texas A&M), David Shaw (Stanford)
