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