So I have thoughts and a few qualifiers.
Qualifiers. 1. I lean toward modernity. I get that old coaches were great, but it's such a weird world. You could literally kidnap recruits. If someone from way back when blows me away, maybe, but it was such an uneven game/sport, I trend toward modern. 2. At some point, you have to chase the big stuff. I love a good turnaround, even if I think the maintenance is the more important part, but at some point, the payoff is in the big stuff. 3. I value maintenance (not just quick bursts and up and downs) and I value that top five percent.
What to I mean by top 5 percent? Those are the gaps between Cooper and Tress, or Tress and Urban. That's what Michigan has been chasing, that little, super hard to hit thing above your Lloyd Carr.
That's why I can't go for Snyder or Alvarez. Snyder was awesome, but Snyder also won two conference titles. Total. He believed in a cupcake-heavy scheduling approach. He's a great coach, but I can't go GOAT there. Barry had his chance. he turned it down to go 39-25 in the twilight of his career with some 7th and 8th place finishes. I appreciate it and everything, but hard to GOAT that.
I DQ Spurrier for a reason I'll get to with Meyer in a bit. Spurrier had all these contender quality teams at UF, and didn't manage to be there right at the end that much. He could coach, but maybe not get that extra little bit in recruiting. His lone national title was one he needed an assist for. The USCe work was great, but even there, he went 11-2 three times in a row and didn't earn a division title (he did the year before with a 5-loss team).
I would hear Dr. Tom, whose career is perfect in its own way outside a winning percentage a hair worse than Switzer. Switzer has a case, Hayes does and I could also see JoePa or Bowden in certain lights.
Why I don't go with Urban comes down to this. Urban had six unsanctioned years at the best college program in sport's history. Over that stretch, he had the third-best program in the land behind Bama and Clemson. In that stretch, he had three conference titles, two playoff spots in five tries, which were one fortuitous title run and a 31-0 shutout. He got blocked by less talented MSU teams twice, nearly by PSU and then by five-loss Iowa and seven-loss Purdue. I don't need a lot more, but I need a little more to lock it down.
I end up back at Nick. He has the one very nice mid-major year. He had a rebuild that took 5 years, though it hurts he didn't stay to maintain. He went off to LSU, a program with a good but inconsistent history. He made it what it had the ability to be, moving from a nice team to a contender no matter who is there. He left such a mark, Les Miles has a title and was one Iowa State game from a second. Then Bama, with seven top-2 finishes in 10 years, plus a 10th, a 7th a 4th and 6th the year before.
