Urban Meyer thinks Nick Saban is the best coach in College Football right now

Urban Meyer knows fully Nick Saban is the best coach in college football.

Urban Meyer handed out a ton of respect for his former rival Nick Saban on Wednesday night.

Meyer, now two years removed from coaching the Ohio State Buckeyes, said on FOX’s Big Noon Kickoff webcast Wednesday that no matter how you slice it, Saban is the best coach in college football today. If you look at it from the aspect of championships, he’s got everyone beat. When it comes to building a championship program in the 2020s, he’s got everyone beat as well.

In Meyer’s traditional metrics that prioritize winning championships above all else, Saban is at the top of his list, edging out Dabo Swinney of the Clemson Tigers, Mack Brown now of the North Carolina Tar Heels, Ed Orgeron of the LSU Tigers, Les Miles now of the Kansas Jayhawks and Jimbo Fisher now of the Texas A&M Aggies.

But upon further inspection of different criteria, he still has Saban coming out on top. In terms of leading a winning program in 2020, Saban beats out Swinney, Kirby Smart of the Georgia Bulldogs, Lincoln Riley of the Oklahoma Sooners and former Meyer protege Ryan Day of the Ohio State Buckeyes. Either way, Meyer heaped a ton of praise on his former college football rival.

Even the rest of Meyer’s Big Noon Kickoff colleagues of Reggie Bush, Joel Klatt, Matt Leinart and Rob Stone had Saban atop the list of their five best coaches in football today. Even approaching 70 years old, Saban is still thought of as the very best in his business.

Nick Saban is the best college football head coach in Urban Meyer’s eyes.

If there was any coach who could have honestly challenged Saban for the top spot, it would be Swinney. The Clemson head coach has led his ACC powerhouse to the College Football Playoff the last five years. Clemson has played in four of the last five national title bouts, beating Saban’s Crimson Tide twice for national championships in 2016 and again two years later in 2018.

What does give Saban the leg up on Swinney is a larger body of work. Saban has been the head coach in Tuscaloosa since 2007. He has won five national titles and made the College Football Playoff five of the last six years. Under the new postseason format, Alabama has played for the national championship four times, winning over Clemson in 2015 and over Georgia in 2017.

Swinney might be creeping up, but Meyer and his FOX colleagues know Saban is the best coach.

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