25 best college football coaches never to win a national title
- Head Coaching Record: 192-84-6 at Tulsa 1977-84, Arizona State 1985-87, and Ohio State 1988-2000
- Closest He Came to Winning a National Championship: 1996 and 1998; 11-1 Rose Bowl and Fiesta Bowl Champions, respectively, No. 2 Final Ranking
- Notable: Nine Conference Championships (1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984 Missouri Valley Conference, 1986 Pac-10 Championship, 1993, 1996 and 1998 Big Ten Championships), 1986 Sporting News College Football Coach of the Year, 1986 Pac-10 Coach of the Year, College Football Hall of Fame (2008)
Though his legacy was marred because of a 2-10-1 record against Michigan while he was the head coach at Ohio State (including three losses in which the Buckeyes entered the regular season finale undefeated), John Cooper is certainly one of the greatest college football coaches never to win a national championship.
Cooper led the Buckeyes to Big Ten titles in 1993, 1996 and 1998, with the ’96 and ’98 seasons being the most successful (and perhaps the most painful) of his tenure because Ohio State finished 11-1, won the Rose Bowl, and ended with a final ranking of No. 2 in the AP Top 25. Cooper’s 111-43-4 record as Ohio State’s head coach made him the second winningest coach in school history behind the legendary Woody Hayes.
Prior to taking the job in Columbus, Cooper compiled a 56-32 record at Tulsa and guided the Golden Hurricane to five straight conference titles in his final five seasons. He then spent three years as the head coach at Arizona State, the best being a 10-1-1 campaign in 1986 in which the Sun Devils won the Pac-10 and the Rose Bowl and finished No. 4 in the AP Poll.
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