Ranking All 34 Big Ten and SEC Football Coaches

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60's Guy

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I got PJ at #18...do you have him higher? Not completely on top of all these guys but first 17 seem fairly sensible? Can always flip guys a spot or two on any list but...
 




Always curious as to what criteria is used. Is it straight wins/losses? Is it football acuman? Is it ability to manage a program?

Fleck at 23....might be accurate. He's probably closer to around the 15-20 range. But I'm happy with him overall. Campbell at 11 is a joke.
 




Venables is one I've always wondered how good of a head coach he really is. He did great things at Clemson as DC. He has two good seasons and two bad seasons at Oklahoma. Just on notoriety alone any coach at Oklahoma is going to stumble in recruits and transfers that get you 8-10 wins. He did make the playoff last year so maybe I'm off base here. I've just wondered others thoughts on him as a head coach.
 




60's Guy said:
View attachment 44628
I got PJ at #18...do you have him higher? Not completely on top of all these guys but first 17 seem fairly sensible? Can always flip guys a spot or two on any list but...
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I would go
Kirby
Day
Cig
Lanning
Daborer
Bielema
Whitingham
Riley
Shark
Ferentz
Kiffin
Heupel
Elko
Lea
Drinkwitz
Venables
Fleck
Campbell
Beamer
Fickell
Fitz
Rhule
Braun
Schiano
Golding
Odom
Fisch
Locksley at 34
Everyone else I didn't say because I don't care T-28
 

The Deliberate Stranger said:
I would go
Kirby
Day
Cig
Lanning
Daborer
Bielema
Whitingham
Riley
Shark
Ferentz
Kiffin
Heupel
Elko
Lea
Drinkwitz
Venables
Fleck
Campbell
Beamer
Fickell
Fitz
Rhule
Braun
Schiano
Golding
Odom
Fisch
Locksley at 34
Everyone else I didn't say because I don't care T-28
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What's your logic on Fickell at #20? (#26 on the list seems plenty high) and Fitzgerald at #21? (The list had him at #22 and I thought that was high since he hasn't coached for three years and he kinda has a cloud hanging over him he needs to prove he can escape)
Anxious to see who comes out on top in 2026 between Cignetti and Day...I'm leaning Cignetti.
 

60's Guy said:
What's your logic on Fickell at #20? (#26 on the list seems plenty high) and Fitzgerald at #21? (The list had him at #22 and I thought that was high since he hasn't coached for three years and he kinda has a cloud hanging over him he needs to prove he can escape)
Anxious to see who comes out on top in 2026 between Cignetti and Day...I'm leaning Cignetti.
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I have Fickell at #1 and think Wisconsin should give him a lifetime contract.
 

60's Guy said:
What's your logic on Fickell at #20? (#26 on the list seems plenty high) and Fitzgerald at #21? (The list had him at #22 and I thought that was high since he hasn't coached for three years and he kinda has a cloud hanging over him he needs to prove he can escape)
Anxious to see who comes out on top in 2026 between Cignetti and Day...I'm leaning Cignetti.
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Fickell I considered his Cincinnati years, and making the four team playoff as a G6 is pretty impressive. He probably would have been top five on this list four years ago. Fitz had some really good years at NW, besides the winning the West twice, he had some nice years pre divisions, but he really crashed and burned at the end of NW, which is probably more relevant to the current landscape
 



What has Golding done? Sumrall seems overrated as well. Riley has coached blue bloods for nearly a decade and has yet to win a playoff game, and still does not appear to have the Trojans very close to doing so.
 

Fitz at Northwestern: 110-101 (65-76)
Fleck at Minnesota: 66-44 (39-40)
Beamer at South Carolina: 33-30 (16-32)

One could argue Fitz's peak seasons justify ranking him ahead of PJ, but I think PJ is a tier above both of the coaches ranked above and below him on this list. I'd take him over everyone on the right-hand side of the graphic.
 


btowngopher said:
What has Golding done? Sumrall seems overrated as well. Riley has coached blue bloods for nearly a decade and has yet to win a playoff game, and still does not appear to have the Trojans very close to doing so.
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Not much, but navigating Ole Miss through the shit show that Lane Kiffin created and managing to win two playoff games (knocking off Georgia in the process) was a nice start to his tenure.

It's a small sample of work to put him that high, but he's the only coach with two playoff wins under his belt on the right-hand side of the list.
 

btowngopher said:
What has Golding done? Sumrall seems overrated as well. Riley has coached blue bloods for nearly a decade and has yet to win a playoff game, and still does not appear to have the Trojans very close to doing so.
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Golding has been a head coach for 3 games in his life

Sumrall went 20-8 in two seasons at Tulane which sounds good until you see that Tulane was 23-5 in the two years before he got there. So he made them a little worse. He has never been a P4 head coach.
 

DarrenTheGreek said:
Always curious as to what criteria is used. Is it straight wins/losses? Is it football acuman? Is it ability to manage a program?

Fleck at 23....might be accurate. He's probably closer to around the 15-20 range. But I'm happy with him overall. Campbell at 11 is a joke.
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Strictly vibes based


The list is amazing. Everyone on the list has some merit as a major college coach.

Makes you wonder how we ended up with Brewster 😂
 

These rankings are so lazy! They basically look at won-loss and move them a round a little bit. The resources and talent at places like Iowa, Utah & Northwestern are totally different than at Ohio State, Oregon, and USC. Ryan Day and Dan Lanning were coordinators that got their first head coaching jobs at schools that are absolutely machines. Do you really think they'd do better at a school like Minnesota than PJ or Iowa? They may have been very meh! It's a totally different thing.

I'd have Ferentz #3 right behind Curt Cignetti (#1) and Kirby Smart (#2), and I don't like Iowa. He's done a once in a lifetime coaching job there. Kyle Whittingham is getting credit for Utah which makes sense and I get Fitzgerald being lower because he has to prove he's still got it, but he did an absolutely amazing job at Northwestern.

Matt Campbell deserves a lot of credit doing things at Iowa State that have never been done, but most B1G coaches that moved up a level could say that, including PJ. He's in the big time now. Everyone's the best of the best. Let's see how he does. I actually have a feeling he'll do very well.

PJ should be higher based on the success he's had at a resource and recruiting poor school.
 

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