30 best college football coaches of all time, ranked

17. Jimmy Johnson, Oklahoma State 1979-1983, Miami 1984-1988

Jimmy Johnson may be known for leading those great Dallas Cowboys teams in the late 80s, but he was just as good a college coach as he was an NFL coach. Johnson was a man who was always looking for promotion until he finally got his first head coaching job in 1979. By that time, he had seven different jobs including a high school job between 1965 and 1978. It was a long road with a lot of options, but he finally took the Oklahoma State job after he was the assistant head coach under Jackie Sherill in Pittsburgh.

He was able to turn an inconsistent Oklahoma State team around. The Cowboys immediately won seven games under Johnson, and they enjoyed a nice five-year run in Stillwater. There were still inconsistencies as Johnson got his recruits in, but he left the program better than when he got there. Johnson eventually got a call from Arkansas, his alma matter, and the University of Miami. He was not a fan of how the Razorbacks went about the process, so they eventually set up a home and home with the Hurricanes and beat them by more than 40.

Johnson’s first season in Miami wasn’t the best. It had a lot of iconic moments, but Miami was on the wrong side. That includes Doug Flutie’s Hail Mary with Boston College and 21-point lead blown to Maryland. Things turned around in his second season, and he never looked back.

Johnson won at least 11 games in his last four seasons with Miami. He won the 1987 National Championship and helped Vinny Testaverde win the Heisman Trophy. That includes Miami’s first undefeated regular season in 1986. He finished off the job in 1987, winning every single game including the championship.