Perhaps the BEST B1G Forum anywhere, here at College Football Fan Site, CFB51!!!

meh, people always like to label certain jobs as good/better/worse/etc like it's a fixed thing or absolute. or they look at it like it's definitive, clear separating lines.
neither of those are true.

as for bama, anyone that thinks it's not routinely among the best is fooling themselves. you don't have the history of attracting the coaches and recruits, success on the field, and consistent excellence throughout cfb history without being one of the best stops.

bama has several of the most important aspects a program can have.
1 - rabid fanbase - alabama is among the largest and most committed fanbases in sports.
2 - admin committment - they have a board and admin that is committed to making football, and all other sports for that matter, the best it can be.
3 - funding - bama doesn't have the billions of dollars in endowments, but that's not what runs a football program anyway, so bringing them into the conversation is moot. bama does have an extremely profitable program, with a fanbase willing to support it. that's why fanbases matter.
4 - recruiting - i think this might be where most people find their hangup, but i don't know why. alabama isn't sitting in a huge metropolitan hotbed, but it's centrally located for several. and the states of alabama and mississippi produce top line recruits at a clip that's really impressive, especially for their size. but atlanta, nashville, memphis, and new orleans are all in 4-5 hrs of tuscaloosa. and then there's florida, which produces enough for teams like bama to reach in a steal some.
5 - history - second to none. it's been proven time and again, the top of the sport can be achieved at bama.

if bama wasn't a good job, among the best, then it would have multiple periods or tremendous success that it's had. bama isn't just bear and saban. we have 3 other national title winning coaches besides those 2. even the bad coaches have had successes at bama. bill curry and dubose won sec titles. fran would have played for one if we weren't on probation. shula had a 10 win season.

osu, mich, uf, uga, lsu, ou, texas, and a few others are right there too.

and in the future, this can change. for better or worse. but as it stands right now and has been for the last century, it's not just average, it's elite.

So, USC has all the tools, but no toolbox.

I'm going to take a minute here to brag on my school's amazing consistency.  Here are all of Ohio State's multiple-year coaches with the years and their winning percentage:
 - Urban Meyer, 2012-2018:  .901
 - Jim Tressel, 2001-2010:  .810
 - John Cooper, 1988-2000:  .715
 - Earle Bruce, 1979-1987:  .755
 - Woody Hayes, 1951-1978:  .761
 - Wes Fesler, 1947-1950:  .608
 - Carroll Widdoes, 1944-45:  .889
 - Paul Brown, 1941-1943:  .685
 - Francis Schmidt, 1934-1940:  .705
 - Sam Willaman, 1929-1933:  .695
 - John Wilce, 1913-1928:  .688
 - Albert Hernstein, 1906-1909:  .731
 - Edwin Sweetland, 1904-05:  .652
 - Frederick Ryder, 1892-95 and 1898:  .500
 - Alexander Lilley, 1890-91:  .375

Willaman and Fesler also starred as Buckeye players under Dr John Wilce's tutelage.

In fact Fesler played for both Wilce and Willaman, as he was the top player on the team during that particular coaching change. 

Youth participation out west has plummeted due to concussions. 

That just goes back the question of are all HCs alphas, because I can't fathom an alpha wanting a less-pressurized job.

That just goes back the question of are all HCs alphas, because I can't fathom an alpha wanting a less-pressurized job.

Pete the cheat is obviously an alpha coach.  He did alright there w/o the pressure of the SEC.

maybe Pete left because there wasn't enuff pressure.......... not because he was caught cheating and fled

That just goes back the question of are all HCs alphas, because I can't fathom an alpha wanting a less-pressurized job.

I dunno... If you look at the list of current FBS head coaches, and sort it by the year they were hired, you see a lot of guys who have been at their current coach for a long time, could certainly move up to more "premier" jobs if they wanted, but haven't.

Patterson at TCU. Gundy at OkSU. Frank Solich who has tasted "pressure" jobs and seems to enjoy killing it in the MAC. Kyle Whittingham at Utah. Fitz at NW (although that's a special case as it's his alma mater). And that's leaving Ferentz off the list as the longest-tenured in the business. I'd say that several of them (Patterson, Gundy, Whittingham) would be looked at for "bigger" jobs if they wanted to move.

I do think there are some coaches who are "climbers", in that they want to always move up to the next biggest job. But personality-wise, would you say that Gundy, or Whittingham, or Fitz aren't "alphas"?