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Top 20 college football head coaches heading into 2017

By Nicholas Ian Allen

COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 26: (R-L) Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)
COLUMBUS, OH - NOVEMBER 26: (R-L) Head coach Urban Meyer of the Ohio State Buckeyes and Head coach Jim Harbaugh of the Michigan Wolverines (Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images) /
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OXFORD, MS – NOVEMBER 26: Head Coach Dan Mullen of the Mississippi State Bulldogs (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images)
OXFORD, MS – NOVEMBER 26: Head Coach Dan Mullen of the Mississippi State Bulldogs (Photo by Wesley Hitt/Getty Images) /

15. Dan Mullen, Mississippi State Bulldogs

  • Career Record: 61-42 (.592), eight seasons
  • Record at Mississippi State: 61-42 (.592), eight seasons
  • Championships and Awards: 2014 SEC Coach of the Year

We talk a lot about the Nick Saban coaching tree, and whether or not former Saban assistants are deserving of the jobs they get, but the Urban Meyer coaching tree is pretty good as well. Tom Herman, Charlie Strong, Kyle Whittingham, Steve Addazio, Gary Andersen and Doc Holliday are among the former Meyer assistants to go on to success as head coaches.

But Meyer’s right-hand man during his early days as a head coach, is Mississippi State head coach Dan Mullen. Meyer and Mullen first worked together at Notre Dame, and there the two developed many of the spread option concepts Meyer would implement at Bowling Green, Utah and Florida. The two were instrumental in winning the 2008 national championship with the Gators, which helped Mullen get the job at Mississippi State.

Starkville is not an easy place to win. With all due respect to the university and the residents that call it home, the name is a fair representation of the city. It’s no surprise the Bulldogs consistently rank in the bottom half of the SEC in recruiting.

However, Mullen has attracted some talented players to Mississippi State, and he has done an even better job of developing under-the-radar players. Former Bulldogs quarterback Dak Prescott, who helped lead State to the No. 1 in the very first College Football Playoff committee rankings in 2014, is a perfect example.

The Mississippi State fanbase is rabid (CLANGA!), but also appreciative of the work Mullen has done with the program, as well as his loyalty to it. The Bulldogs have played in a school record seven straight bowl games, and are a consistent thorn in the side of most SEC programs.

Given his success in the win column, and his track record of finding, and then polishing, diamonds in the rough in recruiting, Mullen is a obvious choice as one of college football’s Top 20 coaches.