Top five worst college football coaches to deal with?

O'Leary certainly doesn't carry a bag of warm fuzzies with him. Gruff and brusque only scratch the surface with Georgie.
Never had to interview Mumme, but I was around him on the sidelines during a game once. It was fourth-and-5 and called his defense together. Asked them, "If we don't make this, can you hold them right here?" They didn't make it, but the D didn't give up anything on the ensuing drive, either.
Had to call Bowden for a game week opponent preview once in the 1980s. Nothing like talking to him on my phone from my two-room apartment and going to class right after that, telling the seven classmates I had that I just got off the phone with Bobby Bowden. What'd you guys do today?
Bowden, BTW, was terrific and gracious with a snot-nosed 21-year-old punk ass kid like me.
Brian VanGorder, now the Falcons DC and former Georgia DC, was no prince in his reign of error at Georgia Southern from what I hear. I think the appropriate term would be fucking shitbag.
Met Gerry Faust once. Great guy. Lousy (college) coach.

 

Dealing with Ed Orgeron was like going into some kind of strange cajun twilight zone. Especially in his last year.

 

I love the infamous USC tryout video where his kid yells, "Whistle! Whistle! Whistle! We don't have a whistle, we just say whistle!" among other unintentionally hilarious things.

 

Oh my god, Snyder. Hell yeah. ... At least during his first incarnation. Have no idea what he's like today.

 

If you can indulge an oldtimer from the past millenium for a moment:

Woody Hayes, Bo Schembechler, Gene Stallings.

Hayes was a bully just because he could be; Schembechler was, too, if you had the nerve to ask a difficult question; but my all-time worst was Stallings.

Long before I worked in Detroit, I worked in San Antonio -- in the 1960s. Stallings was brought to Texas A&M to revive a long-depressed program and the paper sent me to College Station to do a long takeout with him. I spent the day and he was a delight, cordiaal, entertaining, honest to the point of answering -- when I asked if he would be recruiting blacks -- "No. The program here has been down for a long time and we need a team that can work together and have a feeling of unity and we can't accomplish that if we recruit blacks."

The Express-News lifted that quote and boxed it when we ran the story but there was no comment that I recall, either of outrage or support. But Sports Illustrated picked up the quote and ran it and Stallings began getting flack from around the country, causing him to tell anyone who would listen that he had never said that and that the reporter had simply made it up.

Late in my career, I dealt with Saban, too, but he was at worst distant and defensive. Hew was not a bully and he was not a liar.

 

That's the perfect comparison...

I love the story about when Saban was at MSU and they were trying to get all of the Big 10 (11) coaches together for a photo and Saban was holding the whole thing up and Paterno said, "Nick for once in your life, don't be an asshole..."

I might not be telling the story properly, but it is a good one.

I've had two one-on-ones with Paterno over the years and he was good both times, but I was in from out of town working on very positive stories. Both times I was told I would get 20 minutes and almost to the second, that's what I got.

 

Great anecdote, cv.

 

Worst (either for outright jerkdom or being a tight-ass with access for himself or players, which, by the way, has no correlation to winning games. As proof, I offer Bobby Bowden, Peter Carroll, Frank Beamer and any UM coach from Schnellenberger to Coker)

1. Saban
2. Meyer
3. Snyder
4. Al Groh
5. Paterno

Best
1. Bowden
2. Carroll
3. Beamer
4. Any UM coach from 1980-2002.
5. Ralph Friedgen

Good Al Groh story, told to me by a Va. beat writer. Two years ago at the Gator Bowl, writers were given five minutes after the end of each practice to interview players. About one minute into the five-minute period, assistant coaches started screaming at the players to get their asses on the bus. Groh would walk right past the writers, go back to the hotel, then conduct a conference call. Not once during the week did he talk face-to-face with the media until a mandatory news conference the day before a game -- which he had to do, under terms of the game contract.
Then, in the same week, you had Leach, who allowed only two players per day to talk after practice, and none of them were named Harrell or Crabtree. He allowed Harrell to come to the mandatory news conference, with two offensive linemen. The only time the media talked to Crabtree the entire week was after the game.
The Gator Bowl president was heard to tell people that it would be a cold day in hell before either team got invited back.

 

Never had a problem with O'Leary, post-disgrace. Talked about his heart disease and he was very pleasant.

 

when mumme was at Valdosta State, he didn't seem bad. But that was several stops and scandals ago.

 

Across the street from me is a high school coach with some big time D-I talent in his program and dealing with the media is not the only off-the-field thing the UVA staff does not understand.

For a team to hand deliver four first-round draft picks (two top-fives!!!) in the last few years and have the Barber brothers as alums, they should recruit much better than they do.