CFB51 College Football Fan Community
The Power Four => Big Ten => Topic started by: OrangeAfroMan on March 15, 2026, 02:11:06 AM
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4 and only 4....your Mt Rushmore of college football HCs.
Probably just rank them by Super Bowl wins, right?
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Bill Snyder
Barry Alvarez
Frank Beamer
Hayden Fry
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I think most today would include Saban first and then it would get more murky. How can one judge coaches "back in the day", Heisman, Bryant, Vaught, compared with those today? I don't know, so I don't have a list.
I just muse about which coaches I think did a lot with a little, and a lot with a lot.
I do like Bill Snyder on any list.
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Bobby Bowden also brought a program up from very little
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Bobby Bowden also brought a program up from very little
Cheating helps.
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agreed, verified cheaters not allowed
sorry Sooners
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Feel like the modern ones are Saban and Meyer. It's not just about winning NCs, but it's about the fact that both were successful coaches pretty much anywhere they went. Even Saban who didn't have a completely illustrious time record-wise at MSU, he was digging a team out of a big hole so he proved he could do a rebuild. (And hell, 'Bama was practically a rebuild when he took it over.) Meyer simply won wherever he went.
And neither of them did anything in the NFL, so it'll make OAM happy :57:
I think they dominate the recent era so completely that you have to look to some previous era coaches to fill out the monument. Given that I didn't really follow CFB until '97, I'm going to recuse myself from the discussion beyond that.
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I think about Spurrier and Meyer who both won at, um, lesser schools, and then again at elite programs.
Bryant won at Kentucky.
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agreed, verified cheaters not allowed
sorry Sooners
Sorry Harbaugh :57:
(Not that I think he quite compares to the moderns like Saban or Meyer--but he has a track record of winning anywhere he goes, from mid-majors to doormat P4 teams to helmets.)
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I think about Spurrier and Meyer who both won at, um, lesser schools, and then again at elite programs.
Bryant won at Kentucky.
I think about Spurrier and Meyer who both won in, um, the SEC.
known cheaters
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Feel like the modern ones are Saban and Meyer. It's not just about winning NCs, but it's about the fact that both were successful coaches pretty much anywhere they went. Even Saban who didn't have a completely illustrious time record-wise at MSU, he was digging a team out of a big hole so he proved he could do a rebuild. (And hell, 'Bama was practically a rebuild when he took it over.) Meyer simply won wherever he went.
And neither of them did anything in the NFL, so it'll make OAM happy :57:
I think they dominate the recent era so completely that you have to look to some previous era coaches to fill out the monument. Given that I didn't really follow CFB until '97, I'm going to recuse myself from the discussion beyond that.
not sure if he's EVER happy
but, he wouldn't be quite so grumpy!
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Tress is on my Mount Rushmore
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No.
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I think about Spurrier and Meyer who both won in, um, the SEC.
known cheaters
I am no Urban fan, and he definitely has his sleazy moments. But he has never been credibly accused of cheating.
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No.
Could do worse than five national championships
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I am no Urban fan, and he definitely has his sleazy moments. But he has never been credibly accused of cheating.
not even at Florida?
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Urban won at BGSU and then Utah. Spurrier won at Duke FCOL. Bryant won at UK. That indicates good coaching, to me. It would be akin to some coach taking over at say "Indiana" or some such and winning the NC (I know, I use a ridiculous semile).
That is a strange term. It's like something something, metaphorically speaking.
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not even at Florida?
31 players went to the slammer in his 6 yrs there. But Fla. recruits weren't shooting to make the Dean's list,just the team. Or just shooting :017:
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not even at Florida?
Nope
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Wilkinson, Oklahoma
Bowden, Florida St
Bryant, Alabama
Saban, Alabama, LSU
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Wilkinson, Oklahoma
OU football was placed on major NCAA probation twice in a five-year span (1955 and 1960) during Wilkinson's tenure for illegally paying players out of a $125,000 slush fund for a decade and a half
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Wilkinson, Oklahoma
Bowden, Florida St
Bryant, Alabama
Saban, Alabama, LSU
Replace Wilkinson with Bill Snyder, and I can roll with that.
Arguables: Urban, JoePa, Tom Osborne, Frank Beamer, Hayden Fry, Barry Alvarez. Kirby Smart is climbing the list fast.
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Dabo?
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nope
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Saban
Bryant
Rockne
...
#4 is the only tough one for me: Bowden, Hayes, McCay, Osborne, Leahy, Meyer, Wilkinson, Switzer (on this list there's a little if you ain't cheatin', you ain't tryin'), Pop Warner, Darrell Royal, JoPa (but I can't forgive the scandal)...
Leaning into the MNCs, Woody Hayes it is.
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Dabo?
He, like a lot of great coaches, are hitting the wall in the new era. Will be interesting to see if he rights the ship. Saban, arguably the greatest ever, suddenly quit over the changes, as did our coach this last year.
If Cignetti continues what he has done for a few more years, he would be on the rock. It's really unbelievable--woulda never thunk it 5 years ago.
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hell, Cignetti could be on my top 4 today
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He, like a lot of great coaches, are hitting the wall in the new era. Will be interesting to see if he rights the ship. Saban, arguably the greatest ever, suddenly quit over the changes, as did our coach this last year.
If Cignetti continues what he has done for a few more years, he would be on the rock. It's really unbelievable--woulda never thunk it 5 years ago.
I agree with all of that. We need to save space for Cig if he keeps this up.
My list was more about coaches who brought programs up from the dead.
Hayden Fry did it himself and he spawned a few others who did it too. We know who they are.
OU was a mess before Stoops showed up. Yeah, it's Oklahoma, but still.
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hell, Cignetti could be on my top 4 today
Google him.
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I dunno... I want to see Cignetti do it at another school first.
As soon as possible.
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I dunno... I want to see Cignetti do it at another school first.
In Indiana - As soon as possible.
FIFY
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As long as you don't mean ND.
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send him to the SEC SEC SEC
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a mess at Oklahoma is WAY different than a mess at Iowa, or Wisconsin, or K-State, or Indiana
and how they got into that mess is different as well
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Imagine a scenario where two head coaches had done really well in college football. Let's say Coach A won 3 NCs and a slew of other things, and Coach B had won 3 NCs and a comparable slew of other things. Both had success at three different programs.
Pretty close, but imagine Coach B also won a Super Bowl and his team played in another. Should that matter if we're judging coaching proficiency?
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Jimmy cheated at Miami and got a whole team in Dallas from a trade with some dumbass in Minnie.
He didn't do as well as the Dolphins' coach, or at Okie State.
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but, his hair was perfect
cocaine with the Caines and the cowboy crackwagon
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Paul Brown
Woody Hayes
Jim Tressel
Urban Meyer
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Thought for sure you'd have Bo from Miami (OH no).
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Thought for sure you'd have Bo from Miami (OH no).
I would have if he did anything worthwhile after leaving Miami
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Paul Brown
IMHO, Paul Brown is the greatest Football Coach ever.
That said, I don't think he belongs on a "Mount Rushmore of COLLEGE Football Head Coaches" because even if you include his two seasons as the HC at Great Lakes Navy during WWII he still only coached five total seasons of CFB. If you don't count those it is only the three at Ohio State.
He gets too little credit, IMHO from Ohio State fans because he was overshadowed by Woody but one of the things that some other people have discussed in this thread is elevating a program and when Woody won NC's at Ohio State it had been done before. When Paul Brown did it, he was the first.
Paul Brown's record:
HS:
- He coached the Severn School Prep Admirals in Maryland for two years and won one State title.
- He coached the Massillon Washington Tigers for nine years, won five State titles and four "national titles" (note, HS national titles are even more 'mythical' than college ones but still this is impressive).
- Overall he coached 11 seasons of HS football and won six state titles.
College/wartime military:
- He coached the Ohio State Buckeyes for three seasons and won Ohio State's first NC in 1942. The team fell off in 1943 but that was Tojo's and Hitler's fault not Paul Brown's. All of Ohio State's players left to go fight the war.
- He coached Great Lakes Navy for two seasons finishing #17 in the College AP Poll in one of them.
Pro:
- He coached the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC for four seasons and won the AAFC Title all four years.
- He coached the Cleveland Browns in the NFL for 13 seasons and won 4 NFL titles and eight conference titles.
- He coached the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFL for two seasons and didn't do much.
- He coached the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL for six seasons and won two divisional titles.
Brown was only 33 when Ohio State made him their HC straight from the Massillon HS job. He was so young that he was actually drafted in WWII because he was still draft age. Not only did he win Ohio State's first NC, he was the first Ohio State HC to get the Buckeyes to #1 in any AP Poll.
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The OP title says head coaches. It could be soccer.
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Imagine a scenario where two head coaches had done really well in college football. Let's say Coach A won 3 NCs and a slew of other things, and Coach B had won 3 NCs and a comparable slew of other things. Both had success at three different programs.
Pretty close, but imagine Coach B also won a Super Bowl and his team played in another. Should that matter if we're judging coaching proficiency?
You're a jackass.
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Saban, obviously. You just can’t leave him out.
Spurrier should be up there, and Bowden too.
I’d say Paterno, just for longevity.
Last, that’s a tough one. I’d go with Bob Stoops.
Honorable mention. Bill Snyder, Mack Brown, Darrel Royal, Bo, Woody.
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You listed 5....
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(https://i.imgur.com/3Hqpw4O.jpeg)
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You listed 5....
My bad.
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Name calling often results from an inability to discuss another’s ideas.
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Name calling often results from an inability to discuss another’s ideas.
Why would anyone want to discuss your ideas?!?
Post: Name your favorite type of apple.
@Cincydawg (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=870): Banana!
I am identifying you and your behavior very precisely, not calling you names.
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Why would anyone want to discuss your ideas?!?
Post: Name your favorite type of apple.
@Cincydawg (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=870): Banana!
I am identifying you and your behavior very precisely, not calling you names.
Don't forget the follow up:
"I'm just trying to figure out why people hate bananas so much."
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IMHO, Paul Brown is the greatest Football Coach ever.
That said, I don't think he belongs on a "Mount Rushmore of COLLEGE Football Head Coaches" because even if you include his two seasons as the HC at Great Lakes Navy during WWII he still only coached five total seasons of CFB. If you don't count those it is only the three at Ohio State.
He gets too little credit, IMHO from Ohio State fans because he was overshadowed by Woody but one of the things that some other people have discussed in this thread is elevating a program and when Woody won NC's at Ohio State it had been done before. When Paul Brown did it, he was the first.
Paul Brown's record:
HS:
- He coached the Severn School Prep Admirals in Maryland for two years and won one State title.
- He coached the Massillon Washington Tigers for nine years, won five State titles and four "national titles" (note, HS national titles are even more 'mythical' than college ones but still this is impressive).
- Overall he coached 11 seasons of HS football and won six state titles.
College/wartime military:
- He coached the Ohio State Buckeyes for three seasons and won Ohio State's first NC in 1942. The team fell off in 1943 but that was Tojo's and Hitler's fault not Paul Brown's. All of Ohio State's players left to go fight the war.
- He coached Great Lakes Navy for two seasons finishing #17 in the College AP Poll in one of them.
Pro:
- He coached the Cleveland Browns in the AAFC for four seasons and won the AAFC Title all four years.
- He coached the Cleveland Browns in the NFL for 13 seasons and won 4 NFL titles and eight conference titles.
- He coached the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFL for two seasons and didn't do much.
- He coached the Cincinnati Bengals in the NFL for six seasons and won two divisional titles.
Brown was only 33 when Ohio State made him their HC straight from the Massillon HS job. He was so young that he was actually drafted in WWII because he was still draft age. Not only did he win Ohio State's first NC, he was the first Ohio State HC to get the Buckeyes to #1 in any AP Poll.
So you are moving Ryan Day ahead of Paul Brown?
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Post: Name your favorite type of apple.
@Cincydawg (https://www.cfb51.com/index.php?action=profile;u=870): Banana!
If that were a good analogy, I'd agree, that would be annoying.
But it's not.
It's more like:
Post: Name your favorite type of apple.
Cincydawg: If the apples are equal in apple-y attributes, is it warranted to bring in another category which applies to, but is not limited to, apples? Thereby not strictly being an apple attribute?
This is still probably not warranted, since the original question was asking to weigh apple attributes. You would just have a tie, and not worry about tie-breakers coming from non-apple categories. It would be nonsensical, for example, to tie-break them based on which one makes a better paperweight, because it's an irrelevant category. In your actual question, in the real world, it's unlikely two coaches are perfectly tied in multiple college coaching categories, so you'd just pick one based on the criteria you select.
While his question goes down the wrong path, erroneous reasoning seems like a more forgiveable error than mere "jackassery."
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College/wartime military:
- He coached the Ohio State Buckeyes for three seasons and won Ohio State's first NC in 1942. The team fell off in 1943 but that was Tojo's and Hitler's fault not Paul Brown's. All of Ohio State's players left to go fight the war.
- He coached Great Lakes Navy for two seasons finishing #17 in the College AP Poll in one of them.
Pre-Brown, but Great Lakes Navy went 10-2 in 1943, beating #1 Notre Dame in the season finale.
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Nick Saban
Bobby Bowden
Tom Osborne
Bear Bryant
(https://i.imgur.com/dt0MC90.jpeg)
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(https://i.imgur.com/ePAfhkn.png)
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Bo does not belong on that list. Sorry not sorry.
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I agree. Wholeheartedly
I would also knock Switzer for cheating
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Nick Saban
Bobby Bowden
Tom Osborne
Bear Bryant
(https://i.imgur.com/dt0MC90.jpeg)
2 of the 4 didn't win as many NCs as Woody
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2 of the 4 didn't win as many NCs as Woody
K
Maybe more than 1 criterion is a good idea.
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yes it is well in most cases