College football head coach rankings: Dabo or Saban? Who is the best young coach?
By Dante Pryor
College football head coach rankings entering the 2020 season. Has Dabo Swinney surpassed Nick Saban? Who is the best among the young coaches?
What makes a good college football coach? In the past, good coaches were either defensive gurus or offensive maestros. In more recent times, coaches — like former Baylor head coach Matt Rhule — are experts on both sides of the ball.
Many coaches remain play-callers or coordinators where their expertise lies. What many coaches learn, however, to move into the category of greatness, many head coaches turn their play-calling duties to coordinators.
Great coaches are experts at four things. First, they grind on the recruiting trail. They have their system of recruiting and execute that system nearly flawlessly. Great head coaches are impeccable at in-game adjustments.
Third, great coaches hire great assistants. Nick Saban has said he wants assistants who want to be head coaches someday. Most of the top coaches have extensive coaching trees. In today’s ever-evolving landscape of how the game is played, great coaches are open to change.
Coaches that are willing to evolve and adapt stay at the top of the coaching food chain. These men are eager to adjust their offensive and defensive philosophies to win championships.
Of the many fantastic coaches in college football, here are 10 of the best.
- Career Record: 25 yrs. 248-65-1
- Conference Championships: 8
- National Titles: 6
Nick Saban is the greatest football coach in the history of the modern game and possibly the best college football coach in the history of the game. Even if you take away the five National Championships — six overall — his run of 12 consecutive 10-win seasons and top 10 finishes are impressive by themselves.
Adding the National Championships, the recruiting numbers, the first-round draft picks elevate coach Saban to legendary status. To think, had it not been for a phone call from his college head coach Don James, Saban could have been selling used cars.
What makes what Saban continues to do in Tuscaloosa so impressive is that he’s done it during the most competitive time in college football. Between national recruiting and fewer scholarships, Saban and his staff seem to get their fair share of five-stars every season.
Nick Saban is infamous for how much of a grinder he is on the recruiting trail. From 2011-2018, Alabama had the No. 1 recruiting class in the country–the best recruiting streak in college football history. When the streak was over, the Tide finished fifth.
Saban has recruited the likes of Julio Jones, Heisman Trophy winners Mark Ingram and Derrick Henry and defensive standouts like Quinnen Williams, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Jonathan Allen. One thing you don’t often say about a young man who played for Saban, “Boy, he underachieved.”
He has one of the most extensive coaching trees in the history of college football. However, his tree during his time at the University of Alabama is impressive on its own. However, the coaching tree begins at Michigan State — his first Power 5 job.
His time at Michigan State produced two head coaches; Bobby Williams and Mark Dantonio. Williams was Saban’s offensive coordinator and Dantonio worked on the defensive staff. Both became head coaches at Michigan State and Dantonio became Michigan State’s all-time winningest coach.
At LSU, he continued hiring great assistant coaches. Kirby Smart, Jimbo Fisher, Derek Dooley, Mel Tucker, Will Muschamp and Michael Haywood all went on to become head coaches.
While at Alabama, Lane Kiffin, Jeremy Pruitt, Billy Napier, Curt Cignetti, Mario Cristobal, Mike Locksley and Major Applewhite are among the assistants who became coordinators.
Saban’s willingness to adjust his system to keep up with current trends might be the primary reason he is the greatest coach in the modern game. After his big, strong physical defense was run out of the Superdome by Oklahoma’s tempo offense in 2013’s Sugar Bowl, he re-thought everything.
After embracing the spread, RPO-offense over a more run-centric attack he began to recruit smaller, faster defenders to defend tempo, spread offenses.