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Best College Football Coaches


ironchapman

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-UT FACTS!!!!!!

-95-98 the vols had college football's best record. 45-5 (.900). Thats pretty good.

-6 national title

-8th in NCAA history with 736 victories

-23 AP top ten finishes

-2nd nationally in win percentage since neyland opened (.732)

-SEC's Best record last 10 years (.798)

-Second all time in bowl appearences with 44

-Bowl bids past 15 seasons with 22 of past 23

-Led SEC in attendance past 30 years and Nationally top 3 for 28 consecuative seasons

-Tennessee's 23 bowl victories rank 3rd all-time in NCAA history

These are all real facts IM NOT LYING

This year will be a great year. Sorry Brickell will it be two or three times in a row the vols have beaten the gators in the swamp.

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whoa Brewer,

question is best coaches not best all time team. UT got it no doubt.

Couple points prior to the 1980s bowl games don't really mean much (there has been Divsion I-A teams with one loss or no losses that have not gone to a bowl game prior to the mid 1980s, let alone the bowl setup today where if you have a winning record you can get invited to the Motor City Bowl or Diamond Walnut Bowl etc., back in the day 30's, 50's, 70's you really had to be a top 10 team to get an invite, and even then it wasn't a sure thing).

As far as poll rankings (very very fair) and the others hats off Brewer UT is definetly one of the top 25 all-time programs in the country.

I would be interested what you think of Pitt vs. UT . . . I would consider UT slightly better then Pitt overall but UT only has 6 rings to Pitt's 9 (actually 10 if you consider the NYT poll).

:)

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Currently I think UT would overpower PIT. But if they have 9 rings they must have been pretty great in the past. (pit prob would have won most games except when great old Neyland was at UT.) Didnt Majors coach at Pit?

And sorry, i was visiting Phillipfulmer.com and found all those facts. I didnt think that we had that many great facts until yesterday.

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NCAA Div Ia Record for Most Wins

1. Bobby Bowden 351

2. Joe Paterno 343

3. Not even close

End of story

FYI, Joe Paterno started at a school that was very established and a wealthy university. When Bobby took over at FSU, they were about to close down the football program and FSU didn't have a pot to piss in. The football team had no history and was 0-11 the year before Bobby took over. So many PSU fans ignore those facts.

Joe Paternot can't touch what Bobby has done. Not to mention JoePa has what? 4 lossing season in a row? Or 4 out of 5.

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^^First I hate "JoePa" being a Pitt fan but your not giving him the cred he deserves.

Penn State was established and was on more solid footing then FSU when Bowden took over BUT it was not an OU or Nebraska or USC or anything of the kind. In fact before Paterno could make a 10 year impact there the biggest football programs in Pennsylvania were the now second tier Pittsburgh and the third and fourth class Pennsylvania University, Washington&Jefferson and Temple. Penn State had a few good years but was nothing compared to the following of those now "lesser programs" heck even Carnegie Mellon and Duquesne had bigger followings then Penn State up to a decade before JoePa arrived!

Bowden also garnered many of his wins at VERY WELL ESTABLISHED Stamford and even more well established West Virginia (at the time he was there WVU it could be argued was an even bigger program with more pull then Penn State was in the early 1970s!)

Bowden came to FSU well accomplished and from 2 universities that made him one of the hottest coaching properties in the country, he chose FSU because he could be Mr. Football and wouldn't have huge shoes to fill. Paterno while not having big shoes to fill had the heat on him from Day one in Happy Valley all while not having the Pull of a Nebraska, Ohio State, or USC or not even a Pittsburgh, Villanova or Duquesne!

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Currently  I think UT would overpower PIT. But if they have 9 rings they must have been pretty great in the past. (pit prob would have won most games except when great old Neyland was at UT.) Didnt Majors coach at Pit?

And sorry, i was visiting Phillipfulmer.com and found all those facts. I didnt think that we had that many great facts until yesterday.

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UT probably would, but I wouldn't be surprised if Pitt made it a contest at least ;) maybe even an upset.

Pitt has throughout the years clutched defeat from the jaws of victory letting Majors get swooned by UT after 4 amazing years a unamious National Title and a Heisman, letting Jackie Sherrill get swooned by Texas A&M after 5 years and the recruiting of Mark May and Dan Marino as well as a 33-3 record from 1979 to 1981 (with a New York Times National Championship in 1980). Having Foge Fazio leave for the NFL in the mid 1980s and the program almost collapsing but then having a coaching miracle happen with Mike Gottfried in the late 1980s with Tony Siragusa, Curtis Martin and Ironhead Heyward and two bowl games, but alas Gottfried was cornered by unhappy faculty and unceremonisly dumped the night before the 1989 bowl game. The program spun out of control under now Jets Coordinator Paul Hackett and a short stint by Carolina Panthers coach Sal Sunseri to finally embrace a beaten and tired Johnny Majors all over again in the mid 90s, the magic didn't strike twice for Majors over a 4 year period but he did rebuild the structure of the program and the fundamentals which Walt Harris capitalized on with a bowl bid in 1997 and 5 consecutive ones this decade (as well as the first Major Bowl Game invite since 1984!), Harris burned his bridges though and left for Stanford.

What might have been if Majors or Sherrill or even Fazio or Gottfried had stayed past 4-5-6 seasons, could have gotten some huge momentum with the recruiting base and the boosters, its tough to manage a college program when every 4/5 years everything from the coaching to the play selection to the recruiting changes overnight. Even during Paternos or Bowdens darkest days recruits and supporters and fans knew the product and what they were rooting for, its tough to keep their interest when things change so radically every half decade like at Pitt the last 40 years. Hopefully Wannstedt who is a Pittsburgh boy with SuperBowl rings and played for Pitt in the early 1970s under Majors (and collected the 1976 National Championship ring as an assistant coach). Wannstedt is still pretty young for a head coach so hopefully the foundation Majors and Harris started in the mid 90s and that bore fruit of 6 bowl games (5 consecutive and a major bowl) will fully develop under Wanny and we can have the "beasts of the east" again in the 'burgh like it was in the late 1970s with two national titles and 3 other seasons with only one loss per season! ;)

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^^ any particular reason, I do think he's kinda cocky and has been "Jerry Jones-ized" when he was the Def. Coordinator for the Cowboys their first few SuperBowls. But hey Cockiness is what u want in a coach of your team right?

If not that, I am interested in what rubs you the wrong way about him?

For Pitt he has really energized the recruiting base through Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and W.V. as well as going back to the Florida Football goldmine using his Dolphins connections.

;)

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I dont know, i just dont think he was that good of a head football coach in the NFL. I mean look at his team 2 or 3 years ago. They barely made the playoffs and had all kinds of talent. He was Much better at deffensive coordinator. I think he'll be great in college though. College and Pro are almost totally different. Look at Spurrier. He was amazing at Flordia but he was not so much in the NFL.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I don't know where you're getting your info on Bowden from PGH, but it isn't correct.

I graduated from Florida State in 1984, and am pretty familiar with all things Bobby.

You say that Bobby took the job at FSU because he wouldn't have to worry about playing in a former FSU coach's shadow. Actually, Bobby took the job in Tallahassee hoping it would be a stepping stone to a bigger coaching job - preferably in the SEC.

I also don't think you realize what kind of pressure the man was under when he took the job after 1976. He was coaching a team that had won a total of four games over the three previous seasons. To keep the program alive, FSU was forced to schedule road games against national powerhouses. As a result, Bobby inherited a schedule that would force him to play LSU six times, Nebraska three times, Ohio State twice and Notre Dame - all on the road. That's not a recipe for success.

Bobby went 5-1 against LSU, 2-1 against Nebraska and 1-0 against Notre Dame.

In thirty years he's had one losing season - his first. He's the only coach in the history of college football to have fourteen consecutive top-five finishes, the only coach with ten consecutive bowl wins. He's got two national titles, and his 1999 championship was the first wire-to-wire title in fifty years, until USC matched it last season.

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never pretended Bobby B wasn't one of the greatest coaches in the game today.

Just was replying to the earlier comment that JoePa took over an "established program", PSU wasn't all that established in the mid-60s it wasn't a perenial top 25 program (though it did have some good years from time to time).

Bowden came from moderate successful runs at Stamford and WVU (a program in my neighborhood), so coming to FSU was not similar to Paterno's coming to PSU, Bowden could chose which program he wanted to coach at that point in his life, Paterno wanted the PSU job and wanted to stay there, he was an absolute nobody in the coaching world when he took over at Happy Valley. Bowden was a candidate at several different schools or at least should have been with his resume at Morgantown and Birmingham. FSU was in a shambles at that point, don't know all that much about it but I do know it wasn't that great of a program, but then again Bowden chose that, he was a pro by that time that knew it'd be a hard road up but wanted it that way. Similar to Dave Wannstedt in some ways now at Pittsburgh (though Pitt is coming off of some moderate success of late). My sole point in all that was that Paterno did something no one can really lay claim to, deal with the same University community, the same boosters, the same media year after year and have great success at it. Paterno never had the "choice" that Bowden had in 1976, he chose to stay and tough things out after multiple perfect seasons while being snubbed for #1--talk about press and booster pressure--Bowden chose to pick his project two different times, and although he chose tough turnaround jobs, he did have the option of where he wanted to go with his coaching.

I'm no huge fan of JoePa (and that's putting it nicely) but I do have to give him credit for being a true instituion there at StateCollege, being a Pitt fan I know how jumping coaches like Bowden can dim the pathos of the college game IMHO.

By the way, there was always a few questions I had about Bowden, why did he leave WVU and why did he leave Stamford, he is from N. Florida originally, or Alabama originally? Was there a "falling out" at Morgantown or Birmingham? Thanks. :)

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never pretended Bobby B wasn't one of the greatest coaches in the game today.

Just was replying to the earlier comment that JoePa took over an "established program", PSU wasn't all that established in the mid-60s it wasn't a perenial top 25 program (though it did have some good years from time to time).

Bowden came from moderate successful runs at Stamford and WVU (a program in my neighborhood), so coming to FSU was not similar to Paterno's coming to PSU, Bowden could chose which program he wanted to coach at that point in his life, Paterno wanted the PSU job and wanted to stay there, he was an absolute nobody in the coaching world when he took over at Happy Valley.

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If I said "hot commodity" then maybe I went a bit far, my only point was that by the time the FSU opportunity rolled around Bowden was a proven coach and a proven winner, Paterno was not when he landed in State College. So comparatively Paterno taking over at Penn State was not what "coach" Bowden taking over at FSU was.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Satalac, Majors was a Tennessee boy so we were lucky to have him at Pitt . . . it's a shame he could never take the Vols to a National Title let alone a unamious national title (in his 4th year no less),

0110_large.jpg

its also a shame that when he got some health problems the Vols nation threw him out the window like a rented mule and he "CAME HOME" to finish his legendary coaching career at the school he said later he "should have never left" ;)  Tennessee got some great years with Majors, unfortunately they never got what Pitt got from him, a unamious National Title and his ascension into legend status

1108_large.jpg

and his final seaons as a coaching legend.  And oh lots of love and unconditional fan support.  Sad how he ended up leaving Knoxville.

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette peice on Lee Majors the actor:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04180/338553.stm

by the way the hotlink isn't working to the subsite but just scroll down the main page and click "coaching records" it really is the most extensive site on the net I've ever found (and I have a collection of very detailed sport stat sites if anyone wants them).

http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/

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There was a world of difference between when Johnny Majors started coaching at Tennessee and when he started coaching at Pittsburgh. When he started coaching at Tennessee, limits had been placed on the number of recruits that a school could sign. The first year that Majors was at Pittsburgh, he signed 95 recruits. Basically he signed everybody that he could and he landed some truely unbelievable talent. In the days of unlimited signees, coaches could stockpile and teams that were on top could just remain on top by signing all of the talent and if some of the talent didn't turn out to be as good as predicted there were others bodies, four and five deep that could make up for it. Today with the limits and prop 10, a coach not only has to be a good recruitor and coach, but someone who can look at a 17 or 18 year old kid and project how they are going to turn out over the next four years. If they make a mistake or there are too many injuries, there isn't the depth to cover it up. But back to Johnny Majors, when he finally beat JoePa while at Pittsburgh he had much more talent than Penn State at the time. Johnny Majors was a good coach and someone that Tennessee will always remember both as the only player to lose out in the Heisman to the only winner of the Heisman that played on a losing team. He will also be remembered both at Pittsburgh and Tennessee as a coach that led both schools through some of the very best moments in their histories.

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  • 2 weeks later...

There was a world of difference between when Johnny Majors started coaching at Tennessee and when he started coaching at Pittsburgh.  When he started coaching at Tennessee, limits had been placed on the number of recruits that a school could sign. The first year that Majors was at Pittsburgh, he signed 95 recruits. Basically he signed everybody that he could and he landed some truely unbelievable talent. In the days of unlimited signees, coaches could stockpile and teams that were on top could just remain on top by signing all of the talent and if some of the talent didn't turn out to be as good as predicted there were others bodies, four and five deep that could make up for it. Today with the limits and prop 10, a coach not only has to be a good recruitor and coach, but someone who can look at a 17 or 18 year old kid and project how they are going to turn out over the next four years. If they make a mistake or there are too many injuries, there isn't the depth to cover it up. But back to Johnny Majors, when he finally beat JoePa while at Pittsburgh he had much more talent than Penn State at the time. Johnny Majors was a good coach and someone that Tennessee will always remember both as the only player to lose out in the Heisman to the only winner of the Heisman that played on a losing team. He will also be remembered both at Pittsburgh and Tennessee as a coach that led both schools through some of the very best moments in their histories.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I know Fulmer has had a lot of success. But I also think a lot of that was based on what Majors started. Majors was a class act, while Fulmer might have a lot of success I just can't say that about him. Granted I am also probably biased after that game Arkansas should have beaten Tennessee when Matt Jones funbled the ball and Tennessee went on to win the national championship. Fulmer made a comment that God was on Tennessee's side. Sorry but that's a pretty lame statement to make.

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I know Fulmer has had a lot of success.  But I also think a lot of that was based on what Majors started.  Majors was a class act, while Fulmer might have a lot of success I just can't say that about him.  Granted I am also probably biased after that game Arkansas should have beaten Tennessee when Matt Jones funbled the ball and Tennessee went on to win the national championship.  Fulmer made a comment that God was on Tennessee's side.  Sorry but that's a pretty lame statement to make.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Mith,

I don't remember Fulmer's quote, but I can certainly see him making it. I don't ever like to hear anyone using the 'God is on our side' quote for anything. It always makes me think of all the wars that people claimed God was on their side. Fulmer is good in this era of football because he is a very good recruiter and a good coach. Nutt gets a lot out of his players, but he isn't the recruiter that several others are. That has hurt Arkansas in being consistant.

My comment about Johnny Majors fits in with what I just said about Nutt. He was not the recruiter that Fulmer is. I have never said anything bad about him. He hurt himself when he tried to get the AD job and created a big enemy. That and Fulmer taking over as temporary coach and beating both Georgia and Florida when Tennessee wasn't supposed too to put Tennessee in the drivers seat to win the SEC East and having Majors come back and losing out on it was the Deathnail.

As far as the game, Arkansas should have won. On every year, it seems that the team that wins the championship won at leat once on a fluke. Nebraska getting 5 downs at Missouri is another example. Arkansas should have won a Liberty Bowl contest against Tennessee too.

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....He got the job offer at FSU and he took it because he hoped it would land him his dream job of Alabama (Bear was his idol).

http://seminoles.collegesports.com/sports/...en_bobby01.html

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Coach Bowden, a Birmingham native, was ready to accept the Alabama job in 1988, but the university president flubbed the deal. I'm still PO'd that we didn't bring him home.

Back in the 1950's he had turned down a scholarship offer from Alabama so that he could go to Samford (then Howard College) to be with his future wife, so we missed out on him all the way around.

I'd rate him way above Paterno. Joe Pa took over an established winning program and continued to win, never testing himself in a rebuilding situation. Coach Bowden brought FSU from doormat to national power and sustained the program for decades, without losing consistently near the end.

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Mith,

I don't remember Fulmer's quote, but I can certainly see him making it. I don't ever like to hear anyone using the 'God is on our side' quote for anything. It always makes me think of all the wars that people claimed God was on their side. Fulmer is good in this era of football because he is a very good recruiter and a good coach. Nutt gets a lot out of his players, but he isn't the recruiter that several others are. That has hurt Arkansas in being consistant.

My comment about Johnny Majors fits in with what I just said about Nutt. He was not the recruiter that Fulmer is. I have never said anything bad about him. He hurt himself when he tried to get the AD job and created a big enemy. That and Fulmer taking over as temporary coach and beating both Georgia and Florida when Tennessee wasn't supposed too to put Tennessee in the drivers seat to win the SEC East and having Majors come back and losing out on it was the Deathnail.

As far as the game, Arkansas should have won. On every year, it seems that the team that wins the championship won at leat once on a fluke. Nebraska getting 5 downs at Missouri is another example. Arkansas should have won a Liberty Bowl contest against Tennessee too.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying he's bad coach or anything like that. I'm just saying on a personal level I liked Majors better than Fulmer. I'm sure there's many people in the SEC who don't like Spurrier on a personal level, but he certainly was successful in the SEC. And what you said about Nutt is true, although I don't know if I'd blame all the recruiting on him. It's just hard to get a lot of people to come to Arkansas period.

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  • 2 weeks later...

TennBear, the first Majors run at Pittsburgh was not an easy road to travel, he inherited a team that one just ONE game the season before and had not had a winning season for over ten years (since 1963). Pittsburgh was in decline from it's five decade long dominance in college football. Majors may have signed up a lot of players his first few seasons but any "blue chippers" really were taking a chance with the newly fallen Pittsburgh, not knowing if it'd be eleven, twelve or thirteen years of losing there.

After this season, I think some might be saying Dave Wannstedt ;). lol

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TennBear, the first Majors run at Pittsburgh was not an easy road to travel, he inherited a team that one just ONE game the season before and had not had a winning season for over ten years (since 1963).  Pittsburgh was in decline from it's five decade long dominance in college football.  Majors may have signed up a lot of players his first few seasons but any "blue chippers" really were taking a chance with the newly fallen Pittsburgh, not knowing if it'd be eleven, twelve or thirteen years of losing there. 

After this season, I think some might be saying Dave Wannstedt ;). lol

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

PghUSA, Interesting insight. Winning a National Championship is never easy and taking a program that has been down for a number of years and building up makes it harder still. I was making the point that it was a different world from when he went to Pittsburgh and when he entered at Tennessee. Johnny Majors did sign a multitude of players and maybe he had the vision to spot some blue chippers that others missed. Pennsylvania and Western Pennslyvania has always been known for producing excellent ballplayers. Johnny Majors may have had more motivation then may have been able to work on the motivation of state pride or beating Penn State. I don't know. I do know that he produced a power house at Pittsburgh that Jackie Sherrill continued. Tennessee, on the other hand, does not have the home grown talent that Pennslyvania does. It does not have even the proportional talent. Still, one could say that if he had gone to Tennessee instead of Bill Battle following the departure of Doug Dickie that Tennessee may have won one or more championships at the beginning of the 70's. When Bill Battle took over at Tennessee, he probibly had as good of talent as any school in the nation. In his first three years, he went 11-1, 10-2, and 10-2. He was not even a very good game coach and he could not recruit. By the time he left Tennessee was looking for talent. Trying to build up talent in the days of 25 players per year versus 95 players is a tough road and not having homegrown talent makes it tougher still. I like Johnny Majors and I do not think that winning a National Championship is not a great achievement. Many excellent coaches have never achieved that feat.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I'm just wondering if the Pittsburgh fans are rethinking the firing of Walt Harris and the hiring of Dave Wannstedt now. I know that the season started out with a lot of optimism and hasn't turned out the way you would like. Walt Harris has Stanford very competitive this year and of course won the Big East last year with Pittsburgh prior to his firing. Do people think that this is an ajustment year for Pitt or have people gotten down on Wannstedt?

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