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College Football National Coach Of The Year Candidates - Part 2
Published by MoonDog on October 22, 2008
I’m finally getting around to writing the second part of this mini series highlighting those coaches I believe are worthy candidates for college football’s National Coach of the Year.
In Part 1, I made a case for Vanderbilt’s Bobby Johnson, North Carolina’s Butch Davis and Utah’s Kyle Whittingham.
Some of the luster has been knocked off of Vanderbilt’s 5-0 start with consecutive losses to Kentucky and Georgia, but Johnson has still earned consideration for his efforts this season.
The same hold true for Davis even though his team lost to Virginia last week. The Tar Heels are still in line to earn a major bowl bid and despite the loss, Davis has done a great job of getting North Carolina turned around.
Utah keeps rolling and of all the non-BCS teams in the hunt for the national championship, the Utes are clearly in the best position to make a run for the title. Whittingham has guided Utah to huge wins over Michigan and Oregon State and needs to beat TCU and BYU to earn a BCS bowl bid.
The next group of candidates are familiar names, one of which is a legend. These coaches have led their respective teams to surprising results so far this season and all of them deserve consideration for coach of the year honors.
Joe Paterno, Penn State
Since arriving in Happy Valley as an assistant in 1950, no coach in the history of American sports has spent as much time with one team longer than Joe Paterno.
JoePa began his 59th season at Penn State this year and has his team among the top three in the nation in every poll, including the initial BCS standings.
Penn State Head Coach Joe Paterno
After last week’s win over Michigan, Paterno has compiled a 380-125-3 record as the Nittany Lions head coach, making him the all-time winningest coach in college football history.
Preseason expectations had the Nittany Lions among the top 20 programs in the country, but no one expected Penn State to be as good as they’ve been this season.
Taking into account the Nittany Lions lost linebacker Sean Lee for the season when he blew out his knee in spring practice, the Penn State defense has performed well.
With quarterback Daryll Clark and running back Evan Royster leading a strong offense, Penn State has roared past every opponent en route to their current 8-0 record.
Clark wasn’t thought of as being one of the nation’s better prospects when Paterno signed him in 2004. Clark was listed as a two-star prep player by Scout and didn’t receive many offers, but Paterno apparently saw something the others didn’t.
Royster was a three-star prospect when he signed with the Nittany Lions in 2006. He’s currently rushed for over 800 yards, has a 7.7 yards per carry average and had a season-high 174 yards rushing against Michigan last week.
Paterno has only one top 15 recruiting class in the past four years, but the Nittany Lions have gone 37-9 from 2005 to the present. It wasn’t long ago when many were questioning Paterno’s ability to coach when Penn State had four losing seasons in 2000, ‘01, ‘03 and ‘04.
Penn State has a shot at earning a berth in the BCS national championship game with a victory over Ohio State this Saturday. Even a loss to the Buckeyes puts them in position to earn a Rose Bowl berth, the most prestigious of any bowl.
He may be 81 years old and relegated to the coaches box, but Paterno has clearly made a strong case for being the national coach of the year.
Mack Brown, Texas
Since his arrival in 1998, Mack Brown has put the Texas Longhorns back among the nation’s elite college football programs.
When legendary Longhorns coach Darrell Royal retired in 1976, Texas enjoyed some success with his predecessor Fred Akers coaching the team. When Akers left in 1986, David McWilliams and John Mackovic compiled a combined record of 72-54-2 in 11 seasons, well below the lofty standards set by Royal.
Texas Head Coach Mack Brown
When Brown took over at Texas, he immediately made the Longhorns competitive again by winning nine games. Widely considered to be among the nation’s best recruiters, Brown was able to attract some of the most talented prep players in the country to Texas.
Those early recruiting successes helped him build the Longhorns into annual contenders for the Big 12 Conference title. Although he had a lot of critics during his first eight seasons, Brown has won 10 or more games since 2001 and currently has the Longhorns ranked No. 1 in the nation.
With Heisman Trophy candidate Colt McCoy leading one of the most explosive offenses in the nation, Texas has vaulted to the top of the polls with huge wins over bitter rival Oklahoma and a beatdown of Missouri last Saturday in Austin.
While Texas was ranked among the top 15 in most preseason polls, few believed the Longhorns could get past the Sooners or Missouri to win the Big 12 title, much less be in a position to win their second BCS national championship.
Brown has proven to be one of the nation’s best college coaches, having turned around North Carolina prior to taking the job at Texas. He’s currently second behind Florida State’s Bobby Bowden for consecutive winning seasons with 17.
The Longhorns have a long way to go before they can earn a berth in the BCS national championship game. With remaining games against No. 6 Texas Tech, No. 8 Oklahoma State, No. 23 Kansas and bitter rival Texas A&M, the Longhorns path to Miami is filled with potential land mines.
Brown may actually be in the midst of his best coaching performance this season, winning with a team not considered to be the most talented he’s had while at Texas.
Even if he doesn’t win the national championship, Brown has put himself among the coaches that should be considered for national coach of the year.
Nick Saban, Alabama
Outside of Tuscaloosa, they’re aren’t many too fond of Nick Saban, but at the end of the day, you can’t dismiss the fact he knows how to win. In his 19 years as a head coach, starting with the Toledo Rockets in 1990, Saban has never had a losing season.
Alabama Head Coach Nick Saban
When Saban took the LSU job in 2000, he built the Tigers into one of the elite programs in the nation, winning the 2001 BCS national championship.
His recruiting efforts paid huge dividends last year when LSU again won the BCS championship, and did so with many of the players Saban brought to the program.
After a two-year stint as the head coach of the Miami Dolphins, Saban was hired to take over the head coaching job at Alabama. He became the highest paid coach in the SEC when he signed a contract paying him $4 million annually.
While Saban’s departure from the Dolphins was strongly criticized by many in the media, Alabama’s rabid fan base was ecstatic to learn they had a coach that could get the Tide back among the nation’s best.
Saban’s first year didn’t do much to create a lot of excitement when the Tide closed at 7-6.
Saban’s ability to recruit talented players has always served him well, and earlier this year he landed by all accounts the nation’s top recruiting class. To date, Alabama is among the top 15 classes for 2009 according to Scout.
Entering 2008, most expected the Crimson Tide to improve, but not to the extent they’ve shown to date.
Saban has the Tide at 7-0 and No. 2 in all of the polls, including the BCS standings. The Tide opened the season with a nationally televised thrashing of then No. 9 Clemson and also defeated then No. 3 Georgia in Athens.
Of all the teams with national championship aspirations, Alabama has one of the more difficult paths to Miami.
The Tide’s remaining games include No. 13 LSU in Baton Rouge on November 8, a home date against hated rival Auburn on November 29 and a potential SEC championship game against Florida or Georgia.
Alabama may not win the SEC championship or earn a berth in the BCS championship game, but there’s little doubt Saban has the Tide on the right track.
He may be disliked, but there’s a lot to be said for his ability to get programs turned around, especially one like Alabama that is among the most storied programs in the nation.
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CK0712 on Wed, 22nd Oct 2008 04:14
JOE PA! money write up Moondoggy! his commitment to his team is 1 for the history books alone!
NESW Sports Headlines 10/22/2008 | NESW Sports, Sports Videos on Wed, 22nd Oct 2008 10:55
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