The top 29 FBS coaches?

[Liut]

Thanks, goalie! Snyder has gotta be some kind of sanctimonious to let it be called Snyder Family Stadium. Is he still an a-hole toward media?

Well, he does want his kid to succeed him (insert smiley face here). I personally think he's mellowed a bit. Maybe it's the health scare, maybe not. Getting a decent quote from him still seems to be like squeezing juice out of a rock.

 

[Batman]

Isn't part of the reason becuase he's never coached a mid-major and becuase his FBS coaching coaching career is 6 1/2 years old? Not saying there's not too much sizzle, but if you're on a 36-7 run, there's some steak.

Maybe, but the others in the top 10 on this list have all won Power 5 conference titles this decade, and several (Shaw, Swinney, Fisher, Peterson, maybe even Gundy) were no more accomplished as a coach as Harbaugh when they took over.
I'll grant that part of the reason Harbaugh hasn't won one is that he left Stanford just as they were cresting the hill. Considering Shaw won one, it's fair to say Harbaugh probably would have won a Pac-12 title or two if he'd stayed another 2-3 years. And I'm sure he'll eventually get Michigan over the hump in the Big Ten if he stays long enough.
Doesn't change the fact that, to this point, he hasn't won anything of consequence while plenty of others have.

 

[Dick Whitman]

Isn't part of the reason becuase he's never coached a mid-major and becuase his FBS coaching coaching career is 6 1/2 years old? Not saying there's not too much sizzle, but if you're on a 36-7 run, there's some steak.

Didn’t he coach San Diego?

 

[Buck]

Didn’t he coach San Diego?

He did.

 

[Pilot]

Thanks, goalie! Snyder has gotta be some kind of sanctimonious to let it be called Snyder Family Stadium. Is he still an a-hole toward media?

They named it that the day he retired the first time. The plan wasn't ever for him to coach in a stadium named after himself. And he's the one who insisted on Snyder "family stadium," not so much to recognize his family, but because all the fans are the family, see, so it makes perfect sense.

(As someone who lived through the turnaround as a kid in the stands, the family thing actually strikes a chord with me, because K-State football was a huge thing with my family. But I won't deny it's a little silly.)

 

[Pilot]

As for could Snyder's rank, someone made a good point earlier that perhaps he couldn't do what Saban's doing, or Meyer's done. I think a compelling could be made they couldn't do what he's done, either. He almost, almost, almost took a job at UCLA once upon a time. He'd be remembered nationally totally different now if he had, of course. I think it's a 50/50 shot if he'd have ended up ranked higher, or have ended up off the list entirely. His detailed, methodical approach to football might not work with different athletes. Then again, he had his best team with he had some superstar athletes, and he overhauled his offense a number of times through the years so he's shown flexibility.

 

[dirtybird]

Didn’t he coach San Diego?

San Diego is an FCS school that at the time was in one of three conferences with out a playoff bid.

 

[Donny in his element]

Adding to Michael Gee's point about the playing field not being equal . . . it may be the case that Bill Snyder couldn't do what people like Saban and Meyer do at places where they have all the advantages; I'm not sure his personality type would work in that kind of spotlight. But what he's done at Kansas State, where he has precisely zero advantages, but was able to finish in the year-end top ten five times in a six-year span from 1997-2002, is probably the greatest coaching job in the history of college sports.

I raise you Bobby Bowden.

 

[BadgerBeer]

I might come off as a homer but Paul Chryst belongs on that list.

 

[mateen]

I raise you Bobby Bowden.

I'll grant that in 1975 nobody would have predicted that FSU would become what it did under Bowden, but he at least had something to work with - they weren't nearly as down as K-State was, and they had the advantages of nice weather and being in a state chock full of football talent. It's hard to think of a major conference school with less going for it than Kansas State, which is why I think what Snyder did was so amazing.

 

[Donny in his element]

I'll grant that in 1975 nobody would have predicted that FSU would become what it did under Bowden, but he at least had something to work with - they weren't nearly as down as K-State was, and they had the advantages of nice weather and being in a state chock full of football talent. It's hard to think of a major conference school with less going for it than Kansas State, which is why I think what Snyder did was so amazing.

Some good points and I won't argue that the KSU rebirth wasn't amazing, but people have forgotten that FSU was a girls' school not in a major conference -- any conference -- and was a cannon fodder independent that had to play on the road -- "anyone, anywhere" -- to earn its keep while its home field was an tiny erector set in an unglamorous part of a state that wasn't yet THE state for football talent.

The three years before Bowden: 3-8, 1-10, 0-11.

 

[mpcincal]

I don't know that he is one of the 30 best, but just wanted to add that New Mexico was always very competitive under Rocky Long, and since moving to San Diego State, he has had a hell of a run.

I remember him at New Mexico and remembering he did a heck of a job with that program. At the time Brady Hoke took over and brought Long in as the defensive coordinator, I thought it was a great move, not only because he's a good defensive coach, but I figured at the time that if Hoke improved the program like I hoped, he would probably be hired away by a bigger school and the Aztecs would have someone good to easily promote to the top job. And that's exactly what happened.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Adding to Michael Gee's point about the playing field not being equal . . . it may be the case that Bill Snyder couldn't do what people like Saban and Meyer do at places where they have all the advantages; I'm not sure his personality type would work in that kind of spotlight. But what he's done at Kansas State, where he has precisely zero advantages, but was able to finish in the year-end top ten five times in a six-year span from 1997-2002, is probably the greatest coaching job in the history of college sports.

I would agree with much of that. Using your criteria I would toss in Bob Devaney, who started the great Nebraska dynasty in the early 60's and Ladell Edwards at BYU as two other guys who built monster programs in the middle of nowhere. I have a particular admiration for Anderson because his offenses changed football permanently.

There a re other coaches that built powerhouses such as Bobby Bowden but they worked in more fertile recruiting territory.

 

[Batman]

I would agree with much of that. Using your criteria I would toss in Bob Devaney, who started the great Nebraska dynasty in the early 60's and Lavell Anderson at BYU as two other guys who built monster programs int he middle of nowhere. I have a particular admiration for Anderson because his offenses changed football permanently.

There a re other coaches that built powerhouses such as Bobby Bowden but they worked in more fertile recruiting territory.

Not sure about that Lavell Anderson guy, but Lavell Edwards did pretty well :)

 

[BitterYoungMatador2]

LaVell Anderson coached Oregon Young.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Not sure about that Lavell Anderson guy, but Lavell Edwards did pretty well :)

Ladell Anderson was the head basketball coach at Utah State, with the Utah Stars and at BYU in the 80's. I had a brain lock.

 

[LanceyHoward]

Some good points and I won't argue that the KSU rebirth wasn't amazing, but people have forgotten that FSU was a girls' school not in a major conference -- any conference -- and was a cannon fodder independent that had to play on the road -- "anyone, anywhere" -- to earn its keep while its home field was an tiny erector set in an unglamorous part of a state that wasn't yet THE state for football talent.

The three years before Bowden: 3-8, 1-10, 0-11.

True. But from 1964 until 1971 FSU finished the season ranked in the AP Top 20 four times. The Seminoles had a fair amount of success in the 60's. Kansas State, Nebraska and BYU were three programs that had done nothing.